We have loads of family traditions at Christmas – mainly centred around baking and cooking together. Stir up Sunday is a favourite and even though the boys are older we all help make the Christmas puddings, stirring and making a wish & prayer. Baking gingerbread cookies is another popular weekend treat and this year we decided to create this fabulous paleo version. Instead of the usual icing sugar to top I created this delicious cacao butter icing. OOH this is heavenly and so easy to make. You need to start with the icing first as it takes a while to cool and thicken. These cookies freeze well too so you could make up a big batch for the family.
Overview
Difficulty – Easy
Time – 15 minutes preparation, 10 minutes cooking
Serves – 12-14 cookies
What’s good about it?
Almonds are such a great base for cookies – Almonds are high in healthy monounsaturated fats, fibre, protein and provide plenty of vitamin E, magnesium and manganese. A great cookie for keeping you satisfied and balancing blood sugar levels.
- To make the icing simply place all the ingredients in a pan and heat gently to dissolve the cacao butter. Pour into a bowl and whisk well. Place in the fridge to chill and every 15 minutes give it a stir – it needs to thicken to a pouring consistency – don’t let it cool too much or it will completely set.
- Preheat the oven to 180C, gas mark 4.
- Place the almond flour and ground almonds in the food processor with the rest of the dry ingredients and mix briefly.
- Melt the coconut oil. Add the oil with the rest of the wet ingredients and process to form a dough.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 15-20 minutes.
- Roll the dough between two sheets of greaseproof paper or cling film. Use cutters to stamp out cookies. Place on a lined baking tray and bake until golden – about 10 minutes
- Cool completely. Ice the biscuits if wished.
If you cannot get hold of almond flour simply use ground almonds instead. Nuts like almonds are low in carbs, but high in protein and fibre. Studies show that eating almonds (and other nuts) can increase satiety and help you eat fewer calories. If you want to keep this egg free use chia seeds as a replacer. Soak 1tbsp chia seeds in 2-3tbsp almond milk or water for 10 minutes before adding to the dough instead of the egg.