Dairy Free Gingerbread Cookies

I spent last weekend bundled up in a cozy sweater, baking gingerbread cookies and drinking hot cocoa with LOTS of marshmallows.  (Throw in a winter festival and you would have thought that I was filming a Hallmark Christmas movie. 😂) Before you picture Martha Stewart, you should know that it was nearly 60 degrees in Georgia last weekend and I may or may not have been a sweaty mess in my already tacky Christmas sweater.  😅 

So, why add hot cocoa to an already overheated situation?  I guess it's because gingerbread doesn't taste the same without it.   It's not a dunking situation but they're a combination deal.  Gingerbread and cocoa go together like Oreos and milk, biscuits and tea or cake and coffee.  

One year I baked an entire batch of Gingerbread men and hung them on the Christmas tree.  They were the most amazing smelling ornaments EVER!  One morning I woke up to find most of the gingerbread missing from the tree.  I immediately blamed my sweet toothed husband who I was convinced had somehow snuck out of bed in the middle of the night without me knowing, and eaten them.  There was not even a crumb or a metal ornament hanger left on the floor - not a shred of evidence. 

Turns out - I was a little hasty with my judgement. 😬 (Not the first time.)  My husband had been falsely accused because the true gingerbread bandit, was the dog.  🐕 She somehow managed to remove and consume an entire batch of gingerbread ornaments while miraculously keeping the Christmas tree from tipping over.  (And just in case you're concerned about our beloved canine - she was just fine.  Metal ornament hangers and all.)  🤷🏻‍♀️

Dairy Free Gingerbread Cookies

• 3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup + 1 TBS canola oil

Combine flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Beat together brown sugar, molasses, egg and oil.

Add dry ingredients and mix until crumbly.​

Form dough into a ball and divide in half.  

Roll each half into 1/4" thickness on a floured countertop.  Cut with cookie cutters.

Place cookies on a silicone mat lined baking sheet.  

Bake 10 minutes at 350.

If you want to make your gingerbread even a little sweeter - add some royal icing to your cookies.  

This dairy free gingerbread cookies are delicious and even though we do eat dairy, these are the gingerbread cookies that my family prefers.  If you put a hole in the top, these would make great ornaments on your Christmas tree too.  Just keep an eye on the dog.  😂

​Ciao!