These soft gingerbread cookies use almond butter to replace most of the butter, wheat flour for a few extra nutrients, and applesauce to keep them soft.
Here it is: a recipe that’s been years in the making. Each holiday season, Alex and I try to create “healthier” takes on our favorite cookies, and gingerbread men have been on our list for at least four years, mainly because of nostalgia.
Growing up outside of Minneapolis, my family used to take my sister and me to a Dayton’s holiday display at Christmas, a life-sized department store window display filled with animated characters from stories like Pinocchio or the Velveteen Rabbit. We would wait for hours to walk through, my sister and I waiting in expectation for the end so we could have huge, soft gingerbread cookies.
How to make soft gingerbread cookies
Ever since then I’ve been on a quest for perfect soft gingerbread cookies: spicy, soft, and gooey. And I think (*hope*) we’ve finally got it! Since our recipes focus on healthy eating, we’ve also tried to keep these cookies a bit healthier than the standard: we’ve used almond butter to replace most of the butter, and thrown in some wheat flour a few extra nutrients. A bit of apple sauce helps keep them soft. And this gingerbread cookie recipe is finished with turbinado sugar instead of icing, which is a more “natural” sugar (plus it’s much easier than icing!).
We’ve found throughout the years that healthy cookies are, well, just not that good. Healthy cookies taste weird and leave you wanting someting more. But “healthier” cookies—like these soft gingerbread cookie recipe—while they’re not quite as healthy, they’re completely delicious and satisfying.
Tips for making “healthier” Christmas cookies
- Cookies do need fat, typically butter, to create that cookie-like texture. Omitting or replacing all the fat (with a substitute like apple sauce) usually lends for a cake-like texture, which is not altogether satisfying for a cookie. A good alternative is almond butter, which we’ve used in these gingerbread men: it’s a natural fat with plenty of nutrients and protein. We combined it with a small amount of butter, as well as a bit of applesauce to keep the cookies soft and moist, but not too much to become cake-y.
- Cookies do need sugar, either refined or natural. We love cooking with natural sugars like honey or maple syrup, but have found they change the taste of a cookie more than sugar. For this cookie, we used a combination of brown sugar and molasses, with turbinado sugar (a less processed sugar) as the garnish. Medjool dates can also be used to add natural sweetness (like in our healthy buckeyes), but we find dates work best in no-bake cookies, not baked goods.
- Baked cookies generally need a flour-like substance. Fat, sugar, and flour are generally frowned upon in the health food world, but if you want to make cookies, you’ve generally got to incorporate these ingredients. Alternatives include flourless cookies and using substitutes like oat flour. For these gingerbread cookies, we’ve used all-purpose flour with a bit of wheat flour for flavor and a small amount of health benefits. We’ve found that replacing white flour with up to 1/4 wheat flour in baked goods works well, but adding more than 1/4 wheat flour results in a dense, tough texture.
- Make smaller portion sizes. We love to make mini-desserts; they’re not only cute, but give you less of everything while still feeling satisfied.
Looking for healthy cookie recipes?
Now, for some healthy cookie ideas! We’ve also teamed up with our friend Ashley over at Edible Perspective, who is a healthier cookie aficionado like ourselves. Here are a few of our combined ideas from our blogs:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes – A Couple Cooks (gf / vegan)
- Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cranberry Clusters – A Couple Cooks (gf / vegan)
- Mint Chocolate Brownie Bites – A Couple Cooks (gf / vegan)
- Gingerbread Dough Truffles – A Couple Cooks (gf / vegan)
- Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pistachios – Edible Perspective (gf)
- Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies – Edible Perspective (gf)
- 1-Bowl Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Edible Perspective (gf/vegan)
- 1-Bowl Soft-Batch Pumpkin Spice Cookies – Edible Perspective (gf/vegan)
- Chocolate Dipped Buckeyes – Edible Perspective (gf/vegan)
- 1-Bowl Lemon Cornbread Cookies – Edible Perspective (gf/vegan)
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Peppermint Meringues
- Chai Spiced Snowball Cookies
- Cherry Quinoa Chocolate Bark
- Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies
- Cranberry Pistachio Chocolate Clusters
- Easy Peppermint Bark
This recipe is…
This soft gingerbread cookies are vegetarian.
PrintSoft Gingerbread Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 33 minutes
- Yield: 25 to 35 1x
Description
These soft gingerbread cookies use almond butter to replace most of the butter, wheat flour for a few extra nutrients, and applesauce to keep them soft.
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup wheat flour
- Turbinado sugar (for garnish)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add 1 egg, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup molasses, ¼ cup almond butter, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and 2 tablespoons applesauce; vigorously whisk to thoroughly combine.
- To the wet ingredients, stir in 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons allspice, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, and ½ cup wheat flour until well combined. Turn out onto plastic wrap and form into a rough ball; cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Flour a flat surface and a rolling pin, then roll out the dough ¼-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread men, about 25-35 total. Place gingerbread men on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake about 8 minutes, until puffed and slightly firmed. Let rest on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store covered at room temperature for several days or freeze for several months.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: soft gingerbread cookies
37 Comments
Baby June
December 9, 2014 at 5:53 amThose look wonderful! Love the use of almond butter, great idea for making a healthier cookie :)
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
December 9, 2014 at 6:00 amI love when you guys make healthier versions of cookies and am so pleased you managed to nail this gingerbread recipe! They’re so pretty too!
Erica { EricaDHouse.com }
December 9, 2014 at 7:34 amThese look divine!
Ksenia @ At the Immigrant's Table
December 9, 2014 at 7:42 amI have been playing around with gingerbread cookies for a few days now, and this recipe provides great inspiration (I love the upping of the moist game with almond butter, regular butter AND applesauce!). Great work!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
December 9, 2014 at 9:32 amI love these little men! After trying so hard to make cookies sans fat, I found out that it just isn’t good, at all!
Ashley
December 9, 2014 at 9:53 amOh my word, love the photos, especially the last one! Too cute! Great tips for making “healthier” cookies! Thanks for asking me to collaborate on this with you. :) I’ve got to try making these gluten-free sometime.
Rebecca @ it's a nourishing thing
December 9, 2014 at 10:09 amAlmond butter instead of actual butter?! Brilliant! I can’t wait to give these cookies a try!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
December 9, 2014 at 11:42 amI absolutely love this! And the distinction between “healthy” and “healthier” is just spot on.
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
December 9, 2014 at 6:33 pmThose are soo cute! Obviously, I love that they’re healthier, too! Who doesn’t love a less guilt ridden cookie that still tastes amazing?! :)
Robyn
December 9, 2014 at 11:05 pmThese look perfect you guys. Thanks for all your work in perfecting the recipe!
Nirosha
December 17, 2014 at 3:01 pmThis is just what I’ve been looking for today – a healthier Christmas cookie recipe. I will try this over the weekend with my little boy. They look scrumptious. Thank you!
Anonymous
January 1, 2015 at 6:30 pmI have been looking for the perfect soft gingerbread cookie for years . This is it. They have the perfect taste and texture; it is an incredible bonus that they are relatively low in fat and sugar. This is one for the family Christmas recipe box. Next time I make them will up the spice a bit. Thank you.
Nimrodel
November 10, 2015 at 8:59 pmThese turned out amazingly delicious! Definitely going to make them yearly. The only thing that threw me off at first was their stickiness.. Had to flour countertops and rolling pin constantly and well, but once I figured that out, it went smoothly. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Alex
November 12, 2015 at 1:20 pmGlad you enjoyed them!
Clare
November 29, 2015 at 6:01 pmThese cookies look so delicious! I will have to bake them soon. I love using coconut palm sugar. It tastes a little like brown sugar, but it’s completely unrefined and natural. Thanks for the recipe!
Lisa
December 6, 2015 at 3:43 pmDo you think it would be ok to still icing & decorate a soft gingerbread man? I thought it would be fun for the children at school and thought they would prefer them over the Hard break your teeth cookie. : )
Sonja
December 6, 2015 at 7:03 pmLisa, I think this would be fantastic! Let us know if they work out — we’d love to see a photo of them decorated!
Kim
December 14, 2015 at 6:12 pmI made these cookies tonight for a work party (and put them a little more in the “ish” category with some royal icing…), and they are delicious! You guys always come through with great recipes :) Thanks!
Sonja
December 18, 2015 at 5:40 pmHooray, so glad to hear it! And love the “ish” category too, haha! :)
Rachel
December 18, 2015 at 5:29 pmCould I possibily use maple syrup instead of molasses?
Sonja
December 18, 2015 at 5:39 pmHi Rachel! I would not substitute for molasses here since molasses is an integral flavor in gingerbread! Thanks for asking!
Jess
December 24, 2015 at 1:14 pmDo you think it would be possible to substitute the 1 egg for a flax egg?
Sonja
January 11, 2016 at 1:36 pmHi Jess! We have not tried with a flax egg so can’t comment, but if you try it out and it works (or doesn’t!), let us know!
Maria
December 24, 2015 at 8:17 pmhello, just wondering about substituting white flour with spelt flour. Also curious about the texture of the dough before refrigerating. Mine came out a bit runny. I used spelt flour with the same quantities you recommended. Thanks for the advice :)
Sonja
January 11, 2016 at 1:17 pmMaria — apologies for missing your comment here! We’ve never used spelt flour so unfortunately can’t speak to that. Our dough was pretty firm before refrigerating – did you make any substitutions (like spelt flour)?
Savannah
December 7, 2016 at 12:35 pmOH MY GOODNESS!!!! Sonja, I grew up and currently still live outside of Minneapolis and hold the tradition of visiting Dayton’s, now Macy’s, 8th floor and ate the same gingerbread cookies! Unfortunately this is it’s last year as I believe the store is closing. in 2017 :( But I’m so glad y’all created this recipe!
Sonja
December 8, 2016 at 1:36 pmNo way!!! So glad to hear from a fellow Minnesotan! I think I will try to go this year when we’re home because I heard that too! :) Did you find this based on our latest podcast? I just talked about it, so I was thinking you were commenting on that but you may have found this online too. Either way, glad to connect!
Whitney
December 18, 2016 at 10:45 pmsonja these are divine, my darling. xoxo
David Norton
December 23, 2016 at 10:45 amHi, do you have a less-healthy version? My wife, a native Minnesotan, is trying in vain to recreate the Dayton’s/Macy’s recipe and nothing is as chewy.
Sonja
December 23, 2016 at 11:37 amHaha! Good question; no we just have this version! Have you tried it? It’s not quite the same but still delicious :)
David Norton
December 23, 2016 at 3:32 pmWe did Sonja, thank you, it was very good! Just a little different than she remembered.
Sonja
December 28, 2016 at 4:32 pmHaha yes, it’s not too close! We’ll have to try to do a copycat recipe sometime!
Molly
December 19, 2017 at 7:57 amLooking forward to trying these today! Love your blog. Just FYI, the Pinterest link isn’t working – would love to browse that also when brainstorming some other kinds to try with my littles.
Sonja
December 19, 2017 at 3:24 pmWe’ll troubleshoot and fix! In the meantime, here’s a new post with our favorite healthyish cookies that might be an even better resource! Let us know if you try any :) https://www.acouplecooks.com/10-healthy-holiday-cookie-recipes/
Molly
December 19, 2017 at 4:06 pmThanks!
Sue
December 23, 2020 at 1:18 pmHi!
Can I substitute regular butter for the almond butter? Also I don’t have applesauce on hand so what can I use instead?
Sonja Overhiser
December 26, 2020 at 2:40 pmGood question! We think it would probably work to use butter for the almond butter, but we’ve never tried it. So do it at your own risk! For the 2 tablespoons applesauce, you could probably get away with mashed banana or canned pumpkin — it’s not a large amount. If you don’t have that, you could probably use Greek yogurt. Good luck!