Paleo Gingerbread Men Cookies

One of my earliest memories is from Christmastime in preschool. We spent a whole day making gingerbread cookies. We mixed the dough together, rolled the dough out, cut out cookies, put them on a cookie sheet, and then popped them in the oven. We got them out of the oven, and set them in the school kitchenette to cool. Only when we went back to eat them, they were mysteriously gone! Can you believe that those little guys got up off the cookie sheet and walked away? We looked everywhere for them, finding gingerbread parts randomly strewn through the hallway – a crumb here, a Red Hot button there… Until we finally found them! We then proceeded to eat them all.

I don’t know why certain memories stand out in my mind, but this one fairly clear. It was definitely a great day, and a fun little trick/activity for us. I hadn’t had a real gingerbread man cookie in several years but the memory randomly popped into my mind a few weeks ago and I’ve been craving them ever since. After doing Whole30 diet for several weeks, I was in the mood for something sweet, but not too sweet. These cookies definitely have that perfect balance! They are also perfectly crunchy but still slightly chewy – so tasty!

Servings: 18-24

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• pinch salt

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix together melted coconut oil, molasses, maple syrup, and egg.
• Add in the almond flour, starch, oat flour, spices, and salt.
• Mix together with an electric mixer until crumbly and starting to come together.
• Combine together until it forms one large ball of dough.
• Roll out on the counter or pastry board until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out gingerbread men with a cookie cutter and place on a cookie sheet.
• Bake for around 12 minutes until just starting to turn golden around the edges.
• Decorate with icing and enjoy!