Sugar Free Gingerbread Biscuits

Get the kiddos to put on aprons and wash their hands, as they are going to get stuck in with making these delicious, sugar-free gingerbread biscuits! Beate Baldry @flavourforager, mom to two and Senior Editor at Sassy Mama Singapore, shares her family recipe.

Instead of refined sugar, this recipe uses iron-rich molasses and honey and is super easy to make with kids.  Your home will smell just divine afterwards as well!

Ingredients

• ¾ cup wholewheat flour + 1 ¼ cup plain flour (if you don’t have wholewheat you can just use 2 cups plain flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice (or ground cinnamon)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
• Pinch salt
• 100g unsalted butter, softened 
• ¼ cup molasses
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons water
  
  

Let's start!

#1 In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients: both flours, baking soda, ginger, mixed spice/cinnamon, turmeric if using and salt.

#2 In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and molasses until well combined. Add the honey and water and mix further.

#3 Using a wooden spoon (or your mixer on very low speed), gradually incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture until it comes together. Don’t over mix. Then knead gently on a floured surface until it becomes a smooth dough. If it feels too sticky, add a little more flour while kneading. If it is too dry, you can add a small amount (1 teaspoon at a time) of water.

#4 Shape into a ball, cover with cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to rest and make it easier to work with later. Meanwhile heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

#5 Once dough has chilled, roll it out between two sheets of non-stick baking paper. Use your favourite cookie cutters to make different gingerbread biscuit shapes or you could even try making all the pieces to assemble a gingerbread house!

#6 Place the gingerbread biscuits back into the fridge for about 15 minutes before baking as they tend to hold their shape a lot better.

#7 Bake gingerbread biscuits for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove trays from the oven and cool biscuits on the tray to help them crisp up. Once mostly cool, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

#8 When the biscuits are completely cool, the kids can eat them as is. 

Meet Beate, the lady who cooks, writes & shared this recipe!

Why did you select this recipe?

I chose this sugar-free gingerbread biscuit recipe as it’s a family favourite with lots of fond memories of kids’ birthday parties and festive holidays. Plus nothing quite beats a house smelling of warm spices, cinnamon, ginger and clove! Sugar seems to creep into every store-bought product so we try to make most things from scratch from pasta sauces to pizza and sourdough bread. These biscuits have no refined sugar, instead, the recipe calls for iron-rich molasses and honey. You can serve them unfrosted for kids' snack time (or put them in lunchboxes) but for special occasions decorate them with icing and sprinkles (ideally with the kids!)

What does food/cooking mean to you? 

Good food makes me happy! I love going to food markets on holiday and exploring the local vegetables, fruits and cuisine. I don’t mind how simple a dish is, if it’s cooked or prepared with good ingredients and made with love, you can taste it. I like eating as colourful and varied a diet as possible and thankfully my kids are both adventurous eaters too (my daughter surprised us by loving stinky tofu when we went to Taiwan when she was 4, and both kids love everything from salads to sushi!)

How will your family be celebrating the festive season this year?

We are celebrating the festive season in the UK with the grandparents! It’s the first time we’ve been out of Singapore in 2 years. 

How does your family incorporate sustainability into your day to day? 

I grew up in Kenya with occasional severe water shortages and there were times when there was no butter or sugar in the shops. So I’m conscious of not wasting food and saving electricity (lights off when not in a room) and water (no running water while brushing teeth, showers instead of baths).

We recycle. We don’t often order takeaway (I prefer to eat at restaurants or cook from scratch) but when we do, we take our tiffin boxes to collect the food which cuts down on plastic. My heart aches for what we have done to our planet (and the pandemic with all the Covid test kits, masks etc hasn’t helped) so every little effort we can make is worth it. 

How do you get your kids involved in cooking?

My kids love cooking! They helped make and decorate these gingerbread biscuits. I want my kids to have an interest in food so this started very early (we gave them a mix of purees and did baby-led weaning) and I involved them in the kitchen when they were toddlers.

Cooking with kids takes longer and is for sure messier so it’s not for every meal but I try to involve both my 10-year-old and 7-year-old in making savoury and sweet dishes. My eldest makes a mean salad dressing and likes coming up with pasta concoctions while my youngest loves making sushi. Both of course will be first in line to help with any baking (and yes little chefs get to lick the bowl while big chefs deserve a cheeky glass of wine while things are in the oven!)

Follow Beate on her foodie Instagram account @flavourforager for more cooking adventures!