What can you say about gingerbread cookies? As children, we joyfully dunked them into hot cocoa or tea after playing outside in the snow. We hung them on Christmas trees and used them to make gingerbread houses. Now, we can share those cozy traditions with our kids and grandkids, too.

These gingerbread cookies are easy to make and so much fun to decorate and share. They are delicious, inviting, and heartwarming. They have just the perfect balance of spicy warmth and sweetness, and one bite will bring you back to all those happy childhood holiday memories.

Yield: 18 cookies

Serving size: 1 cookie

Ingredients for the cookies:

  • 5oz (141.75g) cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tsp. (9.17g) rum
  • 1 tsp. (4g) pure maple extract
  • 3/4 cup (144g) granular erythritol
  • 2 large eggs for softer, more tender cookies or 1 large egg and 2 large egg whites for firmer, more crunchy cookies
  • 3/4 cup (84g) coconut flour
  • 1 tsp. (4.6g) baking powder
  • 1 tsp. (1.8g)ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. (2.6g) ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. (0.48g) ground allspice
  • 1/8 tsp. (0.27g) ground cloves

Ingredients for the royal icing:

Directions to make the cookies:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C)
  2. Place the cream cheese, rum, maple extract, and granulated erythritol into a medium bowl. Cream them together using an electric mixer.
  3. Add the eggs to the bowl one at a time, beating after each addition.
  4. Add the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt to the bowl. Mix well with a spoon to combine.
  5. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and prepare your work surface for rolling out the cookies. I like to use blue painter’s tape to secure my parchment paper to my work surface. Doing this keeps the paper in place, making rolling out the dough much simpler.
  6. Gather the dough into a ball. Break off a chunk of it to roll out, and wrap the rest in a piece of parchment paper to keep it from drying out.
  7. Place the unwrapped portion of the dough onto the taped-down parchment.
  8. Place another piece of parchment over the top, and using your hands, press down gently to flatten it out a bit.
  9. Roll the dough to an even thickness of about one-quarter of an inch (0.64cm) using a rolling pin.
  10. Remove the top sheet of paper.
  11. Use a cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread men or your favorite shaped cookies. Carefully place each cookie onto the lined baking sheet, about a half-inch (1.25cm) apart.
  12. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough, rerolling scraps as necessary.
  13. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are a light golden brown.
  14. Place the baked cookies on a wire cooling rack to cool.
  15. Cool the cookies completely before icing them.

Directions for making the icing:

  1. Place the powdered erythritol and the egg white powder into a bowl.
  2. Use a whisk to break up any lumps and combine the powders.
  3. Add in the water. Using an electric mixer, blend well.
  4. Add in the vanilla.
  5. Scrape down any powder on the sides of the bowl, and using an electric mixer, whip until the mixture forms soft peaks. This part will take some patience and may require switching hands now and then, as it can take a few minutes to reach the desired consistency.
  6. If you like, add a few drops of white food coloring to your icing to give it a bright, snowy look.

Decorating the cookies:

  1. You can use a pastry bag with a small decorating tip or a plastic storage bag with just a tiny bit of the corner cut-off to decorate your cookies.
  2. Use the point of a toothpick to eliminate any air bubbles in the icing.
  3. Let the icing dry completely.
  4. If desired, use food coloring markers over the top of the icing to add some color to the cookies.
  5. Store the cookies in a covered container in the refrigerator.
3 Carbs Per Serving

*Note: Most of the more familiar brands of food coloring contain some form of sugar as the predominant ingredient. The food coloring I use is 100% sugar-free and complies with ketogenic and diabetic diets. 

Links to the food coloring and food coloring markers ⬇️⬇️⬇️

BAKERPAN FOOD COLORING MARKERS: https://amzn.to/3qhdeuv

DECOPAC PREMIUM AIRBRUSH COLOR – WHITE: https://amzn.to/2XelReI

DECOPAC PREMIUM AIRBRUSH COLOR MULTIPACK: https://amzn.to/3pbg45r

DECOPAC PREMIUM AIRBRUSH COLOR – VIOLET: https://amzn.to/3FOqm12

DECOPAC PREMIUM AIRBRUSH COLOR – SUNSET ORANGE: https://amzn.to/3FS4WQA

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