Monday, December 14, 2009

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE- WHEAT AND WHEAT FREE



The idea of eating Gingerbread at Christmas time comes from Germany, primarily because at one stage Germany was the centre of the spice trade market and ginger was in abundance, but more romantically because ginger was good for the body and the medieval women used to give it their knights as a sign of their love!


Now gingerbread has a place in the westernized world, hence these recipes today. One traditional, one wheat free and two RAW! Hope that you enjoy!!




GINGERBREAD PEOPLE-Wheat



  • 125g organic butter, at room temperature

  • 60ml (1/2 cup) organic honey/molasses

  • 2 tbs raw organic sugar

  • 300g (2 cups)Wholemeal organic plain flour, sifted

  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

  • 1 tbs organic ground ginger

  • 1 tsp organic mixed spice

  • 1/4 tsp organic ground cloves

  • 1 free range egg white

  • 150g (1 cup) pure organic icing sugar

  • 2-3 tsp fresh organic lemon juice

  • Pure icing sugar, extra




  1. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, honey and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, mixed spice and cloves, and stir until well combined. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Press into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

  2. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 3 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick. Use an 8cm-long bell-shaped biscuit cutter to cut bells from the dough. Place on the lined trays. Use a clean drinking straw to cut a hole from the top of each bell. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

  3. Whisk the egg white in a bowl until foamy. Gradually whisk in the icing sugar until well combined. Gradually add the lemon juice, stirring until a smooth paste forms.

  4. Use a palette knife to spread half the icing over half the biscuits. Add enough extra icing sugar to the remaining icing mixture, stirring, until a firm paste forms. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 2mm plain nozzle. Decorate the remaining bells with different designs, such as dots, stripes and snowflake patterns. Set aside until set.

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE-WHEAT FREE


½ cup brown rice flour ½ cup barley flour ¼ tsp bicarb soda ½ tsp cream of tartar ½-1 tsp organic ground ginger ½ cup pecans ground till oily 1 tbsp organic and raw honey 1 tbs organic maple syrup 2 tbs organic orange juice 2 tsps organic grated orange rind




Sift the dry ingredients. Rub in the ground nuts. Add honey, maple syrup, orange juice and orange rind. Knead lightly and divide in halves. Roll out thinly on a floured board. Cut into shapes. Place on a lightly greased tray and bake for 15-20 mins in a moderate ove. Makes 2 doz thinly rolled cookies or 5 x 13cm thick men.


This recipe is from Recipes to the Rescue,J Bonner, L Kingsmill and S Morrow




GINGERBREAD COOKIES-RAW



1 cup ORGANIC Coconut pulp or shredded coconut
1 cup Ground walnuts
10 organic Dates
1/2 cup Ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp. organic Vanilla
1/4 tsp. organic Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. organic Cloves
1 Tbs. organic Cinnamon
Pinch Salt
1 Tbs. organic Shredded Ginger

Puree all of this in the food processor. You may need to stop the machine and mash the mixture down and re-pulse it.
Then form your cookies onto the teflex sheets and dehydrate for around 10 hrs or so, maybe longer. This recipe


Or for raw to eat right now


1/4 c flax seeds & grind
1/4 c walnuts (or pecans)
1/3 c almond meal (or 1/3 c whole raw almonds that you grind)
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ground Ginger (or fresh ginger if you have it)
1 Tsp Mixed Spice (a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, lemon peel, & cardamom)
3 Tbsp Agave




Form dough into Balls & Refrigerate. The more days/time that elapses that the dough stays in the fridge, the dryer it will naturally become... YUM

ORGANIC EMPIRE, organic home delivery melbourne, local organic foods

1 comment:

  1. We are excited to try out this recipe to kick off the gluten free holidays! We have some great recipes on our blog as well at Gluten Free Promise (www.glutenfreepromise.com). Thanks for the great recipe!

    ReplyDelete