Description

A unique twist on gingerbread cookies with sweet potato snuck into the batter for a healthier, tender, moist, chewy cookie. These gluten-free cutout cookies are still full of molasses and all the classic gingerbread baking spices, plus holiday decorated with an easy vegan “royal icing” recipe!

Ingredients

Scale

1 Bako Organic White Single Sweet Potato (1/2 cup flesh or ~120g)
1/4 cup (80g) molasses
1/4 cup (50g) coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup (96g) coconut sugar
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp warm water)*
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (248g) gluten-free all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves

Vegan Royal Icing

1 1/2 cups (180g) powdered sugar
1 tbsp powdered egg replacer
2 tbsp water

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Instructions

Microwave the sweet potato 5-8 minutes on high until tender. Slice in half and cool briefly, then scoop out the flesh.
In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together with the sweet potato, molasses, coconut oil, coconut, sugar, flax egg, and vanilla extract on high speed until well combined with minimal lumps remaining.
Add the dry ingredients, and mix again until just combined.
Shape into a ball of dough, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
Roll out the chilled dough (I like to do so on a piece of wax paper so it doesn’t stick!) to 1/4 inch thickness. Use a little bit of flour on the dough and rolling pin as needed to prevent sticking.
Use a cookie cutter to cut into your desired shape. With a standard 3 inch cookie cutter, you will get about 18 cookies total after re-rolling the leftover dough.
Use a spatula transfer to the prepared baking sheets, six per pan.
Bake for 10 to 11 minutes at 350°F until puffed up and lightly browned around the bottom edges.
Cool for 10 minutes on the pan, then use a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting: Whisk together all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a piping bag or squeeze bottle and decorate your cooled cookies. Allow 1 hour for the frosting to set, it should be completely hard/dry to the touch.
Store in an airtight container for optimal freshness. Or you can freeze unfrosted cookies for longer storage.

Notes

*Can substitute with one chicken egg if not vegan.

Keywords: gluten free, healthy, baking, decorate, icing, royal icing, Christmas, holiday, dairy free