I didn’t grow up eating gingerbread as part of the holiday tradition. Just didn’t do it. We made our gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and ate mountains of puppy chow (AKA muddy buddies). In fact, it has never occurred to me to make gingerbread… ever. But for some reason it is all I’ve been able to think about this month.

That’s all well and good but there are several problems with this desire to make gingerbread…

1. I don’t have a mixer of any kind. Not even a hand mixer. Nope.

2. I don’t have a rolling pin.

3. I don’t have cookie cutters… or do I?

4. Stew can’t eat gluten.

5. And for some reason I enjoy trying to veganize baked goods.

As it turns out, Stew got me a cat cookie cutter forever ago that I had forgotten about. So while gingerbread men were out of the question, gingerbread cats were not.

I don’t have a rolling pin but I do have a jar of spaghetti sauce that worked just as nicely.

And boyfriends make just fine mixers. As for the gluten and the vegan… child’s play. A quick Google search returned a wealth of vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookies. This one was the easiest and called for the least number of weird ingredients. It’s not vegan but that’s a quick fix. Sub 1 tbsp of ground flax + 3 tbsp water for one egg and use Earth Balance vegan spread rather than butter. I used Arrowhead Mills all-purpose gluten-free flour and was very pleased with the result.

So here’s my take on the recipe…

Vegan Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

2 cups gluten-free flour (Arrowhead Mills gluten-free all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 pinch salt
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
1 stick vegan spread (Earth Balance)
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Mix together “butter” and sugar. Add “egg” and molasses.

2. In a separate bowl, sift all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Combine then place in refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. Roll dough out and cut into shapes. Baked on greased cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

I was really surprised how nicely the dough turned out considering the modifications.

 And it was perfectly simple to cut into cats.

 I even added some raisins for eyes.

And they were ready to bake.

I made Stew a special heart cookie and he thought it was a mitten. Fail.

I am so excited about these. I think they turned out perfectly. Simply on taste preference, I think I’d go a little lighter on the ginger. It was a bit intense for me. Other than that, love it. I recommend this.

Yes, Scrooge is getting into the Christmas spirit. Trying anyway. Today I rounded up a bunch of food to donate, made gingerbread cats and went to see The Rockettes.

We were supposed to get a “wintry mix” today but got only rain. Cold.ass.rain. Gross.

There’s Scrooge. You missed her.