These healthy vegan gingerbread men are a delicious festive treat that kids and adults alike will love. Packed full of nutritious ingredients and easy enough for children to make and decorate.
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Delicious, nutritious, gingery and easy enough that my kids can make them. It's only 6th December and we've already made several batches of these.
But what makes them healthy?
These vegan gingerbread men are made with spelt flour. Spelt is said to be easier to digest than wheat. It's also a wholegrain and is packed with fibre, protein and other nutrients.
I use spelt a lot when I make cakes, biscuits and bread, including pizza dough. It's good to know that the kids are getting some extra goodness from their meal. Plus it has a lovely flavour.
Find out more about baking with spelt flour in this comprehensive post by Tin and Thyme.
I've also added ground almonds to my pastry dough to add extra nutrition.
As a sweetener I've used maple syrup. Although maple syrup still counts as sugar it's a more natural sugar than, say, white caster sugar, and I often use it in my baking.
Read more about healthy sugar alternatives.
These gingerbread men are a little more crumbly than a traditional recipe. Be sure to let them cool completely before decorating them as they firm up and get crunchier as they cool.
What ingredients do you need to make this vegan gingerbread?
You will need the following ingredients:
- wholemeal or spelt flour*
- ground almonds*
- coconut oil* or dairy free spread, melted
- maple syrup*
- ground ginger*
- 2 flax egg (2 tbsp flax seeds* mixed with 4 tbsp cold water)
- non-dairy milk (I used oat milk)
Do you need any special equipment?
You should have most of the equipment in your kitchen that you'll need to make these gingerbread men.
Here's a quick checklist of what you'll need:
How to decorate your gingerbread men
I have opted for a simple icing to decorate my gingerbread men.
However, you could push currants into the gingerbread cookies before baking for a healthier alternative.
Here are some more ideas for how to decorate your gingerbread men:
- vegan royal icing
- using raisins or currants
- let the kids loose with writing icing* and sprinkles*
- stamp* a pattern in before baking
More Christmas sweet treats you might like
- gingerbread stars with passion icing
- healthier Christmas rocky road
- coconut snowballs
- cranberry banana bread
- carrot Christmas tea loaf
- healthy gingerbread chickpea blondies
Pin healthy vegan gingerbread men for later
How to make healthy vegan gingerbread men
Healthy vegan gingerbread men
Ingredients
For the gingerbread men
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds linseed
- 4 tbsp cold water
- 325 g wholemeal or spelt flour
- 75 g ground almonds
- 100 g coconut oil or dairy free spread melted
- 75 g maple syrup
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 4-6 tbsp non-dairy milk
For the icing
- 100 g icing sugar sifted
- 1-2 tbsp water
Instructions
To make the gingerbread men
- First make your flax egg. Place 2 tbsp ground flax seeds in a small bowl and mix with 4 tbsp cold water. Stir and set aside.
- Place 325g spelt flour, 75g ground almonds, 100g melted coconut oil or dairy free spread, 75g maple syrup, 1 tsp ground ginger and your flax eggs into a large mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Slowly add your non-dairy milk, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a soft dough that isn’t too sticky. You may not need it all.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a few seconds.
- Wrap in cling film or place in an airtight container in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will make the dough easier to work with.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6. Line three baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough until it’s around 5mm thick. Cut into gingerbread men using cookie cutters.
- Place on the baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
To make the icing
- Sift 100g icing sugar into a mixing bowl and mix with 1 -2 tbsp water. Be careful not to add too much water or it’ll be too runny.
- Spoon or pipe the icing onto the gingerbread men or decorate with one of the other ideas in the post above.
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Sian Lang
Lovely recipe; not too sweet but very satisfying. went down well with adults and teens in this house (I used 2 eggs instead of the flax seeds). One of those recipes that tastes healthy "but in a good way". I shall be doing them again.
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Sian - so happy that you enjoyed them!