These nut free gingerbread cookies are fun, easy, and so tasty, and you’ll never know that they are paleo and AIP! Made with tapioca starch and coconut flour, and sweetened with maple syrup.
Gingerbread cookies always get me in such a fun and festive mood. It’s everything about it, from cutting out the shapes, seeing them plump up while baking, and decorating them at the end. All with holiday music playing in the background. That’s why I loved making these nut free gingerbread cookies and I’m so excited to share them with you.
AIP and Paleo Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
These nut free gingerbread cookies use tapioca starch and coconut flour, and they are sweetened with maple syrup and no refined sugars. They use healthier ingredients, but don’t worry, they taste as indulgent as the traditional kind and they are easy to roll out too!
I thought the texture might be more difficult to work with, but that’s definitely not the case. The dough doesn’t break easily, it’s flexible, and yield the most adorable gluten free gingerbread men. I’m so excited to have these paleo cut out cookies in my life and I’ll be making them every holiday season!
Coconut Butter Icing
It’s difficult to find paleo-friendly store-bought icing (this frosting could work, but it won’t harden like icing). Luckily, homemade icing for these paleo cut out cookies are actually quite simple and easy to make! It just requires coconut butter, coconut oil, and honey.
Coconut butter is easy to work with when melted and will harden like icing once cooled. However, there are 2 things to note using this icing:
- Don’t use a cheap brand of coconut butter. I found that some brands separate when melted. This is my favorite coconut butter that works perfectly every time.
- It’s important to heat up coconut butter slowly for it to melt properly. I like to microwave it at 10 second increments. If you don’t have a microwave, you can put the whole jar in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes until liquified. Stir before using.
- Try to work quickly once the icing is made to decorate these nut free gingerbread cookies. It’ll harden once it’s cooled.
Tips For Making These Paleo Gingerbread Men
- Don’t over-mix the batter. Stop when everything is just incorporated together.
- The dough will be wet at first. It’s important to chill it in the fridge so it can firm up. If you are NOT making these into paleo cut out cookies and just want a regular cookie shape, no need to chill. You can just drop them on a prepared baking sheet, flatten them, and bake for the same length of time.
- Cool the cookies completely before icing, so the coconut butter doesn’t melt while icing.
How Do I Make These Paleo Gingerbread Cookies AIP?
These paleo gingerbread men can also easily be made AIP! You don’t have to miss out on cute and fun Christmas cookies, just because you are on a restricted diet. You just need to make 2 simple changes:
- Instead of using an egg, make a gelatin egg. You can see the detailed instructions in the Notes section of the recipe below.
- Substitute ghee with an equal amount of coconut oil.
That’s it! These are such fun and easy paleo gingerbread cookies, and you can cut them into any cute shape you like. They make the holiday season extra fun!
Other recipes you might love…
- AIP & Paleo Sugar Cookies
- Cranberry Pistachio Paleo Chocolate Cookie
- Nut-Free Cassava Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free)
- Paleo & Vegan Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Paleo Nut Free Gingerbread Cookies (AIP Option)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch plus more for rolling
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup ghee or coconut oil for AIP, melted and cooled
- 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 1 egg **See notes for AIP option
Icing
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp honey
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together tapioca starch, coconut flour, sea salt, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon.
- In separate bowl, whisk together maple syrup, ghee, blackstrap molasses, and egg.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix together until a dough form.
- Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap, and let it chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to set.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the dough on another sheet of parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the top with tapioca starch to prevent from sticking, and roll the dough into an even 1/4 inch layer.
- Cut into shapes and place the cut out dough on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes until the cookies are slightly browned on the outside, but still soft at the center.
- Rest for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing: Melt coconut butter by microwaving in 10 second increments. You can also place the jar in a bowl of hot water for several minutes. Be careful not to heat up too quickly as coconut butter can separate if that happens.
- Add coconut oil and and honey and stir together.
- You can drizzle the icing over the cookies, or place it in a piping bag to decorate. Work quickly as the coconut butter will harden as it cools.
- Wait until the icing is completely cooled before enjoying the cookies.
Notes
- 1 tbsp grass-fed gelatin (Use code GREATGRANDMA10 for 10% off your entire order)
- 1 tbsp room temperature water
- 2 tbsp hot water
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Very festive! Great for childrn to join in and make too!
This looks like a great base for all kinds of shapes. I love that you took such a classic recipe and made it paleo + nut-free!
So cute! My kids are gonna love them. 🙂
These are super cute!
These are adorable and held up to the cookie cutter-ing . . which many Paleo cookie recipes don’t I have found! So tasty
These are so cute and very fun to make!
Nothing better than a delicious gingerbread cookie, and even better that these are paleo and nut-free!
These are so cute, fun, and perfect for the holidays!
Wow, these are just the cutest, festive, paleo cookies! Great fun baking these with my kiddos during the holidays.