Food / 7 December, 2022 / My Baba
This year, we decided on classic gingerbread cookies, with a superfood twist! For the cookies, we used organic coconut sugar (a low-glycemic sweetener that contains more nutrients than processed sugar), almond butter (an excellent source of vitamin E and trace minerals), blackstrap molasses (which has higher antioxidant levels than refined sugar), ground ginger (an instant tummy-soother and anti-inflammatory), and Philosophie Cacao Magic Superfood + Protein Powder (an energising, nutritional powerhouse of plant-based proteins, cacao, reishi mushrooms, mesquite, maca, chia seeds, and vanilla).
To avoid harmful artificial colouring and flavouring, you can whip up our own batch of frosting, with cashew as the star ingredient. The delicately flavoured nut creates a beautifully creamy frosting and is chock-full of heart-healthy fats, protein, fibre, copper, iron, and eye-protecting antioxidants. My kiddies also liked drizzling melted Philosophie Coconut Magic Coconut Butter onto their cookies as frosting.
After baking our gingerbread, we had a blast dressing up our cookies with superfood toppings like goji berries and unsweetened coconut flakes, perfect for “winter snow”!
For Cookies:
For Vanilla Cashew Frosting:
OR
Topping Ideas:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Add softened butter, almond butter, molasses, sugar, salt, and spices into a mixer and beat on a medium speed until fully combined. Add the egg and continue to mix, then slowly add the flour until it’s fully incorporated. Feel free to grab a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape down all the sides. Your dough should be firm enough to hold its shape. If you find that it is a little too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. If it is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time.
Remove the dough from the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap, forming a ball. Place in the fridge to set for 30-60 minutes.
After the dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and sprinkle your counter space with flour. Place the dough in the centre, and begin rolling out with a pin (flour the pin as well to prevent sticking). Roll your dough to about 1/8 inch thickness, or 1/4 if you prefer a thicker cookie.
Collect your favourite cookie cutters, and press them into the shapes. Transfer the cookies onto a sheet lined with parchment or baking paper. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the cookies start to brown around the edges. Once they are done, remove the cookies from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack until they become firm.
For the frosting, process the cashews in a high-speed blender or food processor until smooth. Add the vanilla, salt, powdered sugar, or stevia. Blend on low, and slowly add the milk or water until desired consistency is reached. You want it to be just firm enough to hold its shape for decorating. If you’d like a super simple, coco-nutty frosting, you could also melt Philosophie Coconut Magic Coconut Butter in a saucepan until it has a creamy, frosting consistency.
Once they are cool to the touch, the cookies are ready to decorate with frosting + superfood toppings!
Sophie Jaffe is a certified Raw Food Nutritionist and Raw Food Chef.