Gingerbread cutout cookies with maple glaze (low carb, grain free)

✨ A bonus holiday recipe ✨

Holiday baking is one of my favorite things to do this time of year, and lots of holiday cookies are always on the agenda for December.

I love these deliciously soft and tender gingerbread cookies from the blog, but I wanted to give you a cutout gingerbread recipe that you can use with cookie cutters. My daughter Posey is always begging me to use cookie cutters whenever we do any sort of cookie baking, so this one is for her. ♥️

The recipe is very similar to my sugar-free Christmas cookies (basically a sugar-free “sugar” cutout cookie), a blog post from the archives that I recently refreshed.

I made a few changes to that recipe to create this gingerbread version, which includes a touch of molasses, ground ginger, and cinnamon. Enjoy them plain or make the optional maple glaze or pipe on a simple, sugar-free buttercream (our favorite, just use the recipe here!).

They’re fun, festive, and make a dairy optional, gluten and grain-free, low-carb gingerbread cookie that you can decorate.

My kids and I made a couple of batches over the weekend and enjoyed them with hot chocolate and a holiday movie (A Christmas Story Christmas has been on repeat and I don’t mind one bit 🎄).

This recipe is a bonus— I hope it makes your holidays a little more festive!

Abby

Cutout gingerbread cookies with maple glaze

Yield: 18-24 cookies (will vary based on cookie cutters used)

Prep time: 30 minutes (plus cooling time)

Bake time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients

cookies

• 1/2 cup grass-fed butter, melted (or sub coconut oil)

• 3/4 cup granulated golden monkfruit sweetener with allulose

• 1-2 tablespoons molasses (see notes)

• 1 egg, at room temperature

• 2 cups fine/blanched almond flour, spooned and leveled

• 1/2 cup coconut flour, spooned and leveled

• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

• pinch of salt

• 1-2 teaspoons ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

maple glaze

• 1 teaspoon melted butter or coconut oil

• 1/2 cup powdered monkfruit sweetener

• 1 teaspoon sugar-free maple flavored syrup (like Rx Sugar or Lakanto) OR 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor

• 1-2 teaspoons unsweetened almond milk

• tiny pinch of salt

• optional decorative ingredients: sprinkles, shredded coconut, chopped pistachios or chopped chocolate, etc.

Instructions

1. Add the melted butter (or coconut oil) and the granulated sweetener to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a handheld mixer and mixing bowl). Mix for 1 minute to combine.

2. Add the molasses and egg, then mix another minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula about halfway through.

3. Add the almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed for about 10 seconds, then increase to medium speed and continue mixing until the mixture forms a thick dough.

4. Transfer the dough to a sheet of wax paper, parchment paper, or plastic wrap. Shape it into a disc, then wrap it and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

5. To bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.

6. Place the cookie dough on a piece of parchment paper or baking mat, then place another sheet on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough between the two sheets of parchment (this prevents it from sticking) until it is about 1/4-inch thick.

7. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, then carefully transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are a little bit golden around the edges. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

9. Make the glaze (or frosting): In a small bowl, combine all of the glaze ingredients. Whisk until it forms a thick glaze (add another splash of almond milk if needed). Alternative: make the keto buttercream from this recipe.

10. Decorate: Dip each cooled cookie into the glaze or use a piping bag to pipe a decorative design on top of each cookie. Decorate however you like, then let the glaze set for 10-15 minutes to harden. ENJOY!

Notes

• Molasses will add a small amount of sugar per cookie serving, and you can decide how much to add. Two tablespoons will give your cookies more of a classic gingerbread flavor, but 1 tablespoon is ideal if you’re really trying to keep the sugar to a minimum (e.g. keto, diabetic, etc.).

• Almond flour and coconut flour give these cookies the best texture. I don’t recommend substituting one for the other. Also, make sure you’re using blanched almond flour and not almond meal.

• Cool the cookies completely before decorating them.

• If you prefer a frosting to a glaze, decorate these with my buttercream frosting recipe found on this Christmas cookie post.

About the sweetener

My favorite baking sweetener is granulated monkfruit sweetener with allulose. The difference between this one and others labeled “monkfruit sweetener” is that the latter is usually a blend of erythritol and monkfruit.

Erythritol is known to have a sort of cooling after taste which some people really don’t enjoy. Allulose and monkfruit are my preferred combination because both are natural sweeteners that have a clean taste.

You can always swap in your own favorite 1:1 sugar substitute. You can also use regular sugar if you’re simply looking for a gluten-free/grain-free recipe and don’t mind the sugar. Or, you can use a combination of sweeteners to reduce the overall sugar but not make this entirely sugar free (half real sugar, half monkfruit/allulose).

Nutrition

Nutritional information is calculated by MyFitnessPal and is based on an estimate of 20 cookies, with a serving size of 1 cookie.

Calories: 124

Total fat: 10 g

Cholesterol: 21mg

Total carbohydrate: 5 g

Dietary fiber: 2 g

Total sugar: 1 g

Protein: 3 g

Total net carbs: 3 g

Gingerbread Cutout Cookies

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