Dark maple syrup, with its rich color and deep sweetness stands up well to the assertive spice of ginger. That blend of complex sweetness and assertive spice makes this maple gingerbread men a particularly nice cookie to serve for Christmas cookie swaps and yuletide parties. It’s something you can tuck into tins and give to friends, or set on a plate for Santa’s visit.
Why You Should Use Dark Maple for Gingerbread Cookies
Maple is a natural pairing for ginger. Its rich flavor and subtle woodsy notes marry beautifully with the fiery, assertive flavor of ginger. It can also stand up well to another traditional gingerbread flavor: molasses.
Real maple syrup is classified by color which ranges from a light golden to a very deep, dark brown. And flavor corresponds with color. The lighter the syrup, the lighter its flavor, and the darker the syrup, the deeper and more robust its flavor.
So while a light Amber-colored maple syrup does particularly well as a topping for fresh berries, sourdough pancakes or homemade yogurt as well as in maple vinaigrette, dark maple, with its deep flavor, pairs nicely with stronger and more assertive flavors. So while a light maple syrup might get lost between the molasses and ginger in these gingerbread cookies, a dark maple stands up well to these flavors, bringing greater depth of flavor to the cookie.
As a minimally processed, natural sweetener, maple syrup is also richer in micronutrients than refined sweeteners like white sugar. It contains various antioxidants, as well as minerals like manganese, zinc, potassium, calcium and iron.
Maple Gingerbread Men
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup maple sugar
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup dark maple syrup
- 3 cups all-purpose einkorn flour
- 3 tablespoons powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the fresh ginger, butter, maple sugar, molasses and maple syrup together in a small saucepan set over low heat. Whisk them together until the butter melts, and then turn off the heat.
- Add the flour, powdered ginger, baking soda and sea salt to the bowl of a stand mixer, and then pour the liquid ingredients and the egg into the dry ingredients. Using the paddle attachment, beat the dry ingredients together with the wet ingredients until they form a firm dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap, wrap the dough well and refrigerate it for 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Turn the chilled dough out onto a floured work surface, and roll it out until it’s about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out the cookies, and place them on the lined baking sheets. Bake the cookies about 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on their baking sheets, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Where to Find Sustainably Produced Maple Syrup
We worked with Coomb’s Family Farms to develop this recipe for Maple Gingerbread Cookies. Their dark maple syrup, which has a rich flavor stands up well to the fiery notes of ginger and the deep flavor of molasses.
They’ve been producing maple syrup in New England for seven generations, and you can find them in your local health food store as well as online here.
Like Maple Gingerbread Cookies? Try these other healthy Christmas cookies.
Cookies, sweets and other treats are celebratory foods, but you can make them a little bit healthier and more wholesome when you use whole grains, natural sweeteners and plenty of grass-fed butter and pasture-raised eggs. Here’s some of our favorite versions.
Spelt Thumbprint Cookies are made with whole grains, sesame seeds, nutmeg and a splash of rum.
Einkorn and Almond Cookies are dusted with a little powdered sugar and a have a lovely almond flavor.
Spiced Molasses Cookies are soft and pleasantly sweet, and excellent served with warm cider.
These look superb! I’m not seeing the frosting recipe here tho’. Am I missing something, or is that listed elsewhere? Thanks so much.
It’s just a recipe for cookies, but you can use a royal icing or any kind of frosting recipe you happen to like.
Superb recipe. I just loved it!
I will be making these Gingerbread Cookies this New Year’s Eve Party. My kids love gingerbread cookies. Also, this one looks ‘Instagrammable’. Thanks for this. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Xoxo.
Absolutely delicious! I was just thinking about how I wanted a gingerbread cookie recipe that used einkorn flour by didn’t use a ton but sugar, and then I saw this newly posted recipe! They turned out moist, sweet, chewy and amazing! Thank you, Jenny, for all the work that you put it to creating all your recipes! I love your cookbooks as well!