December 1st. Hot chocolate, sweet treats, sledding, Elf, Holiday décor, gatherings with family and friends, cozy nights by the fire, Bing Crosby and jolly Santa Clause. Standing in front of a frosty window and drawing little smiley faces or hearts with your warm finger tip… it’s time to embrace the warm spirit of the season and share your love with the ones who mean the most. Remember, it’s not about the receiving, it’s the giving. Take a moment this month the let the ones dear to your heart that you love them. And if you cannot make new memories, cherish the ones that already exist.
For the next 25 days, I am going to be counting down with a new cookie recipe everyday. So go pre-heat your oven, synch up your apron and get baking!
Gingerbread Men : how fitting! Oh gingerbread, how I love thee! With your chewy texture and molasses perfection… run little man, run!
Photo courtesy of http://www.ildiariogastronomico.com/
Vegan Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies
Makes about 16 cookies (depending on the size of your cutters)
Recipe courtesy of The Post Punk Kitchen
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup plain soymilk
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix of both)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
Directions
In a large bowl whisk together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and soymilk. The molasses and soymilk won’t really blend with the oil but that’s ok.
Sift in all of the other dry ingredients, mixing about half way through. When all of the dry ingredients are added, mix until a stiff dough is formed. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to warm up a bit before proceeding.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and use a thin spatula to gently place on cookie sheets. If you are using them to decorate a tree or something, remember to punch a hole in their heads (!) before baking. Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.
Photo courtesy of Pickle
The Clean Eating Mama 