Vegan Gingerbread Men!

Yep, it's been forever since my last post. I'm back though, and just in time for some holiday cheer! I decided it's time for a recipe and what better than some tasty, adorable gingerbread men?! These guys are so fucking cute, you almost feel bad eating them. So, here it goes...

Gingerbread Men:

For the dough--

1/2 C sugar
1/2 C earth balance
1/4 C blackstrap molasses
1/4 C agave nectar
2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 TBS Ener-G egg replacer
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger

In a big ol' bowl, use a hand mixer to blend the earth balance and sugar until well combined. Add the molasses and agave. Mix until well-combined. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Use your hands to form a ball with the dough. If necessary, add more flour, the dough should be pliable, but not sticky, like play-doh. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour, preferably longer, before attempting to roll out.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grab a small chunk of dough out of the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4" thick. Use a gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. Fill up a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. *Be careful moving the shapes to the pan, I use a spatula to get them from the counter to the sheet.

Once finished cooking, remove from oven and place a large piece of tin foil over the entire tray. Carefully flip the entire tray, covered in tin foil, over on the table very quickly. Remove the pan, then remove the parchment or silpat very carefully off the back of the cookies. This is a delicate procedure! Allow to cool for 2 or 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Continue this procedure until all the dough is used and all cookies are baked!

Makes about 18 gingerbread men.

For the icing:

2 C powdered sugar
3 TBS Ener-G egg replacer
3 TBS water

Whip all ingredients with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes. Put into a pastry bag with a small hole, or use a ziplock bag and cut off the tip in one of the corners if you need to do it ghetto-style. First, wait until the cookies are totally cool before icing! Then, pipe that shit on so they look like the ones I made.

Viola! Adorable gingerbread men for the eating! Nom, nom, nom!

I'll try and be back with another post as soon as possible. By the way, I've been short on posts lately because I've been busy becoming a registered dietitian and after six years, I'll be one by February! Finishing my last week of staff rotations right now, wish me luck!!

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