Healthier gingerbread cookies
‘Tis the holiday season, friends! And yes, it has been so for a little while now. Like so much of this year, it’s been kind of a blur. A deceptively standstill roller coaster kind of ride.
All year, I’ve been musing on how magnified the fluid nature of time has been. I’ve let myself be baffled by the way we ostensibly may appear to have time yet without having space. The near oxymoron of not having places to get to while feeling respite so elusive, even at home.
Lately, looking through a holiday lens, it’s been dawning more fully why this is. Of course, we are doing all the things, in new ways. We may feel cut off from some connections, but we’re mentally crowded.
So here we are in the midst of the holiday season. Are we enjoying them? While merely posing the question itself would suggest ‘no’, I am going to say YES…on reflection.
I look around and our house is festively, cheerfully decorated. Our family is cozying up for classic and movie night magic, from Harry Potter and Star Wars to Charlie Brown and Elf. We have gingerbread aromas wafting on the regular. We’ve even remembered to pause to take pictures here and there of it all.
Chef F was so pleased with the way these vegan, healthified gingerbread cutouts came out, he suggested we photograph and share them. He thoughtfully staged and shot an assortment of plates, while I got to sneak a few precious snaps of him. They don’t capture his twinkle the way I would have liked to, but oh they are keepers.
I can tell you that my heart welled up with a melting, endearing combination of love and pride only a child emulating your footsteps can inspire. But what may surprise you as it did me is the timing of the feeling. It wasn’t until the day’s end, glancing at the pictures we took together while nibbling on one of those scrummy, not-too-sweet, just-right-crisp-and-soft cookies, that I really felt the glow. And I couldn’t help but wonder, was I wholly present in the moments we documented? Why couldn’t I allow myself to be filled up with feeling until the quiet of the night, alone?
The answer is easy. Because I had work projects on my mind, as well as Chef F’s school lessons to attend to. Because Felix picks up immediately on my distraction—even fleeting—and responds with hurt and frustration, and I had to consciously work at keeping focused. Because I am more tired than I want to be.
These reflections sound like real holiday dampeners, but surprisingly, they were quite the opposite. Freeing. They led me to ask, did I still enjoy the moments, even with a portion of my brain divided? Did I pull it off? Did we have fun? YES.
Any holiday season there is a natural push-pull. Strong desires to relax and enjoy countered by needing to attend to a task list, figure out budgets, and work through certain guilt. This year of all years, we deserve to give ourselves more grace. Be gentler—with everyone, but beginning with ourselves.
So what if the fullest appreciation of a moment is a bit delayed some times? We still made the memories. Some days 50% is the very best we have to give. We can take heart that we are still striving.
It’s the holiday season, and we have much to be grateful and hopeful for. We have our health, and we carry the places and people who mean the most to us in our hearts, always. I hope it is so for you, and onward. Happy holidays, lovelies. xo
Better-for-you gingerbread cookies adapted from Cookie and Kate
3 cups white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon Psyllium
½ cup melted coconut oil
½ cup unsulphured molasses
½ cup packed coconut sugar
1/4 Cup+ Orange juice or unsweetened almond milk
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, baking powder and psyllium. Whisk to blend, making sure the psyllium is evenly incorporated.
In a small mixing bowl or saucepan over low heat, combine the coconut oil and molasses. Add the coconut sugar and 1/4 Cup orange juice or almond milk and whisk to combine.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry and mix just until combined. Add additional juice or milk one tablespoon at a time as needed to form a dough. *No need to refrigerate!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with racks in the middle and upper third of the oven. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour your working surface and roll out one of your discs out until it’s ¼ inch thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes and place each cookie on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about ½ inch of space around each one. Combine your dough scraps into a ball and roll them out again, repeating until you have used up all of your dough.
Place baking sheets in the oven, one on the middle rack and one on the upper. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Allow to cool then decorate as desired (we love a simple glaze of homemade powdered coconut sugar and lemon juice).