About a week ago we noticed a rash on Willa’s face and upon investigation our pediatrician recommended I cut out dairy for potentially up to 6 months to see if she’s having a reaction.

Tough news to swallow for a girl whose favorite food is ice cream lol.

In all seriousness though, I had a mini meltdown after the appointment in the parking lot because I get a lot of my protein from dairy sources. The thought of cutting that out and establishing a whole new food regimen on top of everything else I’m adjusting to was just well… overwhelming. 

But once I dried my tears and Chandler gave me a hug I decided that I’m going to make it fun and I’m determined to make it delicious. 

That’s why today’s recipe is dairy free gingerbread cookies! The great thing about this recipe is the only swap is dairy free butter so if you’re not dairy free, just use the real thing! 

I didn’t grow up loving gingerbread cookies, (I always just thought they were meant for making houses) but I don’t really know why because when they’re made right they are DELICIOUS!! These cookies are loaded with all the yummy warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and of course ginger. Molasses is kind of a weird ingredient and VERY strong but did you know brown sugar is just white sugar mixed with molasses?? and brown sugar makes cookies super chewy so the brown sugar combined WITH molasses in this recipe leaves you with the softest, chewiest bite every time.

I hope your December is off to a great start 🙂 Let me know how you like these!

Dairy Free Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup dairy free butter (can use regular, unsalted butter here if you’re not DF)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 large egg, room temp

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer beat together butter, brown sugar and molasses until smooth – a few minutes.
3. Add the egg and mix.
4. With the mixer on low, gradually add in your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until JUST combined. Do not over mix!
5. Cover your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. I spilt mine in half and made discs and then wrapped it to make it easier to roll out.
6. Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Flour a clean surface and roll out your dough to about 1/2″ thick. Sprinkle flour on the dough as needed to keep it from sticking.
8. Cut out gingerbread men with a cookie cutter and transfer to your baking sheet.
9. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until set (Mine were perfect at 7 min but play around with what works of your oven!)
10. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 min before transferring to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
11. Decorate your gingerbread cookies using royal icing and sprinkles (the decorative icing from the grocery store works great if you don’t want to make it!)
12. ENJOY!!