Last year I feel in love with Elana’s recipe for Gingersnaps. I saw her make them on the video linked in that post, and thought the method was genius. So we made them at home – only we added diced crystalized ginger because I think more ginger is always the answer – and holy moly were they good. I then proceeded to make about seventeen-thousand batches over the winter and give them away for holiday gifts. Even the gluten-gluttons in my life said they were great.
As I’ve mentioned before, however, I’m no longer eating nuts. I found after doing 30 days of a strict autoimmune paleo protocol that the reintroduction of almonds did not go so well (skin and joint issues). So, when I was sick a few weeks ago I begged Matt to make me ginger cookies. I like a bread-like texture when I’m sick, and ginger is a healing food – both for inflammation and digestion.
“You can figure out a way to adapt Elana’s recipe, since it’s already egg-free, right?” I naively asked. Poor Matt, always my prince-chef-to-the-rescue, spent many hours in the kitchen testing a way to make the recipe work without nuts, eggs and grains. But the result is a cookie surely worth his effort. I have to admit that I still like Elana’s recipe better, but at least these won’t give me joint pain from the almonds, since we found that moderate amounts of sunflower seed butter doesn’t both me.
Ingredients
- 1/2 C sunflower seed butter (we like MaraNatha brand, the kind with a bit of a grit to it)
- 1/2 C palm shortening
- 1/4 C soft medjool dates (or soak other dates with boiling water for 10 minutes to soften)
- 3 T blackstrap molasses
- 2 T maple syrup or honey
- 1 T vanilla extract
- 1/3 C coconut flour
- 1/3 C arrowroot flour (tapioca would probably work too)
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 2 t ground ginger
- 1 t cinnamon
- 3 oz (about 1/3 cup) sulphur-free crystallized ginger (we recommend Reed’s), finely diced
- OPTIONAL – 1/3 C unrefined granulated sugar (we used palm, but date or maple syrup granulated sugar would work too)
Instructions
- Combine wet ingredients (listed first) in a food processor
- Add dry ingredients, except crystallized ginger and palm sugar, to wet ingredients and pulse until just combined
- Gently fold in crystallized ginger to finished batter until well combined
- Using a rounded tablespoon, form balls in the palm of your hand with the moist but not runny dough
- Optional – roll dough balls into palm sugar bowl until lightly coated all over
- Set rolled dough on cookie sheet and press down with the palm of your hand or a fork
- Bake at 325 degrees for 10-14 minutes, cookie will be slightly soft due to their chewy inside – let rest for about 10 minutes
- Store at room temperature for a few days, store chilled for weeks, or freeze large batches for holiday gifts!
- Be warned, cooking with sunflower seed butter often produces a green result due to a chemical reaction with baking soda!
The boys call these “Mommy’s spicy cookies”. My kids never turn down a cookie though, so they usually pick the ginger pieces out of their cookies. Although they’re not a kid favorite, the removal of the crystallized ginger would make them like a chewy molasses cookie without the spice.
I, however, refuse to make them that way because the ginger is my favorite part! I look forward to enjoying these throughout the winter and not having to share with anyone but Matt – who I’ve found sneaking quite a few himself…