Can we just talk about gingerbread cookies?

Do you make them? Do you painstakingly decorate them? Do you hoard Martha Stewart Magazines in hopes of recreating the cookies found on her pages? Do you even like gingerbread cookies?

Here’s my little gingerbread spiel. When my brothers and I were younger we would beg our mom to make gingerbread cookies, simply so we could decorate the pants off (or on) them. We would grab an arsenal of colorful frostings, piping bags, sprinkles in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors and go to town decorating little men, houses, trees, snowflakes, and other festive holiday shapes. After spending nearly an entire day making and decorating dozens of gingerbread cookies and covering half the kitchen in red frosting and a sticky layer of sprinkles, my brothers and I refused to eat them. You see, we hated the taste of gingerbread cookies.

Cue mom – joyful of her precious children helping out in the kitchen, but utterly frustrated as to why we had just wasted so many baking supplies, sugar, frosting, and sprinkles. We always promised that we would eat the cookies after decorating, but after one bite, we were done for the holiday season. Santa could just eat them, we argued. Duh.

That’s why this year I’m making gingerbread cookies that I actually enjoy eating. Bonus – they lack all the refined sugars, flours, sprinkles, and decorating mayhem of my childhood. Instead of using sugary sprinkles, we’re using fun little whole foods – like goji berries, nuts, chia seeds, mini chocolate chips and raisins. To top it all off, our icing is made from coconut butter and a hint of maple syrup for the most perfect gingerbread frosting ever to be made. Dates, raisins, and nuts spiced with cinnamon and ginger make the cookies spectacular and wholesome and ensures that they have the sweetest, stickiest texture and flavor.

These Gingerbread Cookies are definitely the cookies of Christmas future; raw, sweet, wholesome, and completely nourishing for your entire body. Have fun decorating – and try not to cover your kitchen in chia seeds and frosting!

Decorate your Gingerbread Cookies with: goji berries, chia seeds, nuts, seeds, almond butter, raisins, mini chocolate chips, little pieces of pretzel, a drizzle of chocolate, oats, or any other delicious whole food you can think of!

Raw Gingerbread Cookies

Makes about 16-18 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters & how much cookie dough you eat!

Cookies:
1 cup medjool dates, pits removed
¼ cup raisins
½ cup cashews
½ cup almonds
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Coconut Vanilla Frosting:
½ cup coconut butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Add all cookie ingredients to a food processor and process until a big, sticky ball of dough forms – it should take about a minute or two.

Wrap the dough in wax paper and let chill in the refrigerator for 40-60 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, make the frosting. Add coconut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to a bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on high for 1 minute or so, until the mixture resembles frosting. Let set at room temperature until you’re ready to decorate.

Lay flat a piece of wax paper. Once dough is chilled, place on wax paper and cover with another piece of wax paper. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough flat. Cut shapes with cookie cutters and lay on a separate piece of wax paper to decorate. Continue re-rolling dough until it’s all used up!

Decorate your cookies & store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

The cookies will keep for around 2 weeks.

Notes //

• You can find coconut butter at Whole Foods, Sprouts, or another natural grocery store by nut butters.
• You can use a piping bag with the frosting to decorate your cookies. If you don’t have one (like me) just scoop the frosting into a plastic bag and snip off a corner.