• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Easy Wholesome

Easy wholesome recipes

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact
  • Breakfast
  • Dessert
    • Brownies
    • Cakes
    • Cheesecake
    • Cookies
    • Frozen Treats
  • Drinks
    • Cold Drinks/Smoothies
    • Hot Drinks
  • Kid-friendly
  • Main
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
  • Salads
Home » Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men

Kid-friendly

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men

Created On: November 29, 2011  |  Updated: October 12, 2013  |   21 Comments

Pin
Yum
Share
WhatsApp
Email
Tweet
Share

Am I the only one that feels sorry for gingerbread men?  I do love them once in a while, but sure, they aren’t the most exciting cookie ever, or the sweetest and often I think they get overlooked.  But they’re really a lot of fun, and compared to a lot of other cookies, they do actually have some nutritional value, just from the molasses alone.  I’ve been quite a bit more interested in the iron content of foods lately so I had to look it up.  It actually contains a ton of other important nutrients, but did you know blackstrap molasses contains about 3.5mg of iron per tablespoon?  That’s awesome!  And it makes a huge difference when combined with everything else in your regular diet.  I know I’m going to be looking for some more ways to add it to my diet, at least for now.

So yeah, gingie isn’t always the most exciting cookie, but he’s a lot of fun to decorate.  Although I almost immediately resorted to doing little laughing XD faces instead of regular smiles because most of them turned out a little “off”.  And then after getting bored we just filled in the rest with squiggles as you can see in the background.  I just used a very basic “recipe” for the icing using a tbsp or two of milk, a dash of vanilla and enough icing sugar to make a fairly stiff icing.  I even pipped it on with a ziploc bag with the corner cut off, so really, no special technology needed 🙂  It may take a while for the icing to dry though depending on how much icing sugar you add so be sure to test it before stacking your cookies up.

We had a few of these with some homemade(and 100% cooked) eggnog that you can see in the background, which I’ll post two variations of, hopefully later this week – a dairy and non dairy version.

[print_this]

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men

Very slightly adapted from Heidi of 101 Cookbooks Gingerbread Man Cookies

 

  • 4 C whole wheat pastry flour, or flour from soft wheat
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 4 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 11 tbsp butter(1 tbsp less than 3/4C of butter)
  • 2/3 C dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2/3 C blackstrap molasses

 

In a medium sized pot, add the butter, molasses, brown sugar and all the spices including the salt.  Put the pot over medium-low heat just until the butter melts and everything can be combined.  Stir well.  Remove from the heat.  The mixture should not be too hot so add the baking soda, eggs and flour right away and mix well with a large spoon.  If your mixture did get hot enough to cook the eggs be sure to cool before adding the eggs and baking soda..  I used freshly ground flour and ended up using about 1/2C more as freshly ground flour is always less packed than anything that’s been sitting for a while.  Use your judgement and add just a little more if needed.  You can always flour your surface extra well before rolling them if your dough is super sticky once it’s cooled.  Divide the dough into two and wrap in plastic wrap before putting in the fridge for 1-2 hours or until cold.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Flour your surface and dough well and roll out one piece of dough at a time to just bigger than 1/8″ thick.  Using whatever cookie cutter you like, cut out your cookies(or using a pastry wheel you can cut cute little squares to decorate with icing later).  Gently transfer them to a lined baking sheet.  Place the sheet in the oven and bake for approximately 7-10 minutes.  Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool on the sheet for a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

[/print_this]

 

posted in: Cookies, Dessert, Kid-friendly

Previous
Vegetarian Quinoa Chili
Next
Individual Apple Crisps

Reader Interactions

    Leave A Reply! Cancel reply

    Share your thoughts!
    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Comments & Reviews

  1. Cheap Recipe Blog says

    Haha – now I’m going to feel sorry for gingerbread men too!
    Great idea… and love the funny expressions on their faces.

    Reply
  2. lara says

    Thanks Heide! Oh and they worked out too! Go my educated guess! ahah Have a good holiday season!

    Reply
  3. lara says

    hi,

    Thanks for putting up this recipe. In the description of what to do you, don’t say anywhere when to put the eggs in. I just guessed and put them in after I put in the baking soda so hopefully they will work out!

    Reply
    • Heidi @ Food Doodles says

      You’re right! Sorry about that, I’ll add it in right now 🙂

      Reply
  4. Joe says

    Can I use this same recipe to make a gingerbread house too? Will the gingerbread be firm enough for walls, roof, etc.?

    Reply
    • Heidi @ Food Doodles says

      Yes! This recipe will work great for a gingerbread house! Just be sure to bake the pieces long enough, larger pieces may need to be baked longer.

      Reply
  5. Eat Good 4 Life says

    Wow these are awesome….I was looking for a healthier gingerbread recipe to do with my kids for Christmas….I found it…thanks 🙂

    Reply
  6. Rawkinmom says

    These are so cute…I love them!!!!

    Reply
  7. gina@gretchalina{food stories} says

    these little guys are so cute! didn’t make any last year! will def be on my list this year and with whole wheat to boot.

    Reply
  8. Denise @ TLT says

    Great idea to make them whole wheat. The concept of gingerbread men isn’t that popular here (yet), but I think they’re cute:)

    Reply
  9. Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather says

    Oh I’m so glad you shared this now!!! I love gingerbread cookies! And im so glad you made them 100% whole wheat. Plus I’m all about getting my iron in my diet too. Weekend baking is happening! Wahoo!

    Reply
  10. Anna says

    Wow! Thanks for the nutritional info. I actually love gingerbread men. I know it started when I was young but continued up until I became an adult. Probably because I like molasses too. Thanks for this post! The whole wheat version is fantastic. Will try this soon…

    Reply
  11. Nicole @ Wonderful Joy Ahead says

    Your little guys caught my eye on Foodgawker, and then I saw it yours. I think I may just need to make these guys this season. I’m not a huge gingerbread fan, but it seems like one of those things that you just do because you should.

    Reply
  12. Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum says

    Cute! I need to make some gingerbread men this year since I just got a gingerbread cookie cutter!

    Reply
  13. Liz @ iheartvegetables says

    Those are so cute! And probably tasty 🙂

    I saw cookie cutters for “Ninjabread men” and I wanted them SO Bad!!! haha

    Reply
  14. Carissa says

    I’ve been so hungry for gingerbread men lately and couldn’t find a recipe that I liked until this one. I can’t wait to make them!

    Reply
  15. The Elegant Eggplant says

    These are SO cute!! Love!

    Reply
  16. Kathryn says

    I love love love gingerbread men, they’re one of my favourite treats! I also love your XD faces – so cute!

    Reply
  17. pure2raw twins says

    love gingerbread cookies! well I love anything with ginger haha
    making (and smelling) gingerbread cookies always makes me think of the holidays!! I need to make some here soon 😉

    Reply
  18. Maryea {Happy Healthy Mama} says

    I can’t believe how perfect these look! I’m really excited you posted this recipe as gingerbread cookies are one of my all-time favorites. Boring? Ummm–I don’t think so! I actually have a gingerbread post coming up. But not cookies. 🙂 I’m saving this one and hopefully I’ll get a chance to make them before Baby gets here!

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Erin - Author of Easy Wholesome.

Hey, I'm Erin!

My aim is to create simple, healthier recipes that – most importantly – taste just as yummy as the original not-so-healthy versions! No cardboard-y or grain-y taste here.

More About Me
Subscribe

Easy + Wholesome Newsletter

Subscribe to get all the latest recipes in your inbox!

Featured Recipes

  • slice of healthy chocolate cake
    Healthy Chocolate Cake
  • blanched broccoli in water bath
    How to Blanch Broccoli (super quick, easy!)
  • You only need 5 ingredients and 5 minutes to put these chicken leg quarters together. This recipe is ridiculously easy and the result is way more flavorful and delicious than you would imagine.
    Chicken Leg Quarters Recipe
  • frozen chicken breasts in air fryer basket
    Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Breast
  • air fryer turkey burgers on parchment paper
    Air Fryer Turkey Burgers
  • Healthy Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Featured on:

Buzzfeed logo.
Huffpost Logo.
Kitchn logo.
LC Lauren Conrad logo.
msn logo.
serious eats logo.
shape logo.
womens health logo.

Easy + Wholesome Newsletter

Subscribe to get all the latest recipes in your inbox!

Easy Wholesome Logo

My aim is to create simple, healthier recipes that – most importantly – taste just as yummy as the original not-so-healthy versions! No cardboard-y or grain-y taste here.

Browse

  • Breakfast
  • Dessert
  • Drinks
  • Kid-friendly
  • Lunch
  • Salads
  • Sides

Diets

  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Grain-free
  • Paleo
  • Keto
  • Whole Wheat

Texanerin Baking

Want even more? Visit my other site for all your baking favorites!

Visit Texanerin Baking
©2023, Easy Wholesome. All Rights Reserved. Press About Contact Disclosure & Privacy Statement
Design by Pixel Me Designs
×

Easy + Wholesome Newsletter

Subscribe to get all the latest recipes in your inbox!

Pin
Yum
Share
WhatsApp
Email