Drop Dead Recipes – Gingerbread Men

December’s Drop Dead Recipe was a really fun one to make. Not only are these delicious gingerbread men vegan, but they are decorated in a most…untraditional,  yet very “Koko’s Kitchen” style. They are full of spice and use coconut sugar and molasses as sweetener. You can find some super creative gingerbread cookie cutters out there now at places like Michael’s. I was shopping for a regular ol’ gingerbread man and came across gingerbread ninjas, snowmen, Star Wars characters, and more. Get creative!

I’ve always loved “Christmas Baking” and cut-out cookies like gingerbread men and sugar cookies are my absolute favourite. The whole decorating process is so fun. I consider this recipe to be pretty indulgent (non-dairy margarine, icing sugar, etc.) but I think if you live a healthy lifestyle and regularly eat wholesome, nutritious foods then there are worse things you could do than treat yourself to a few cookies at Christmas time! Last year, I made Vegan Sugar Cookies for #DropDeadRecipes which you can see for yourself HERE!

My roommates and I (a.k.a. “Bad Manor”) put up our Christmas tree in early December and even though we only had ornaments from my childhood, we love it. Our neighbours across the street have gone completely nuts with lights and decorations…it’s like living next door to the Griswold’s. I think we need to step up our game 😉

Let’s get the holiday parties started!

You can use any type of cookie cutter you like, but I thought it was rad to take a regular gingerbread man cookie cutter and then…y’know….chop his head or leg off! This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. You can freeze ½ the dough and use it at a later date, or you can bake all the cookies and store them in the freezer if you’re worried about there being too many- but seriously, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Merry Christmas!

Koko xx

Drop Dead Gingerbread Men

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp cloves
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp allspice
• ½ cup Earth Balance (or other non-dairy margarine. You can use butter if you are not concerned with these being vegan)
• 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 flax egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/177 degrees C.

Prepare a ‘flax egg’ by stirring together 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds with 3 Tbsp of water. Let sit for at least 5 minutes, until thickened.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

Beat together the Earth Balance and coconut sugar until well mixed. Mix in the molasses and flax egg until smooth.

Mix in the dry ingredients, until just combined and no lumps remain.

Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Shape it into a little square and place in the freezer for half an hour or so- just until chilled.

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out until it is about ¼ inch ( ½ cm ) thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many gingerbread men as you can, and then gather the excess dough and repeat the process. Use a small knife or toothpick to decapitate or amputate the limbs of these poor little guys.

Place the gingerbread men (and any excess limbs) on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and prepare the icing as they cool.

Icing

• ½ cup Earth Balance, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp almond milk

Using a hand mixer, beat together all of the icing ingredients until smooth. Stir in any food colouring if you want to. Place icing in a piping bag, or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Have fun decorating! You can also find some cool icing ‘gels’ now that work well for this, and lots are vegan.