December 10th, 2012

Gingerbread Man Kit (plus sugar-free frosting)

Today’s installment is less of a recipe, and more of an assembly. It’s a literal day-in-the-life snapshot of how we make it work, one issue at a time.

My daughter’s class is making and decorating gingerbread men today. No big deal, just send in a GF man-shaped cookie for her, right? Except in addition to being GFCF, we currently have the kids on a strict sugar-free diet as well, including artificial sweeteners. No frosting face, no candy buttons.

I didn’t stress though, because I’ve done this before. (Many times. It seems every teacher must do a gingerbread man unit, every year. I’m apprehensively awaiting the Great Convergence, wherein some teacher will attempt a simultaneous Gingerbread-Flat-Stanley unit, and accidentally open a wormhole into another dimension where educational topics are never repeated… but I digress.) Here’s the kit I sent with her to school:

 

Of course you can see the almond-flour cookie cut into the shape of a little man. I didn’t bother adding ginger to the recipe or anything, because let’s be honest, cookies are cookies and kids don’t give a damn. I carved the shape out by hand with a sharp wet knife when it was fresh out of the oven, but a wet cookie cutter would probably work well too. Don’t bother cutting before baking though, only after, because almond flour spreads a lot in the oven and you’ll end up with a blobby Michelin Man cookie at best.

Now, up in the top left you can see a little cup of homemade frosting. This is a very simple recipe, I just mix Spectrum Organic shortening and honey in equal amounts. The result is only a little sweet, more like honey butter than the traditional send-you-into-a-diabetic-coma kind of frosting. But it’s spreadable, and tastes good enough to pass the ultimate test: I have decorated a cake with it and served it to a class of neurotypical peers, and they ate every bite.

On the left are two honey candies, made of 100% honey. These are our go-to candy substitutes for any occasion. (They’re also available in bulk if you want to save a little on shipping.)

And finally, two more souffle cups with a few peas and blueberries, for eyes and additional decoration as necessary. Who cares if it’s weird to put peas on a cookie? It’s colorful, and my daughter loves them, and that’s all I care about. By the way, I get the tiny souffle cups at a local restaurant supply store. They have an infinite number of uses.

 

Happy Eating!

 

2 comments to Gingerbread Man Kit (plus sugar-free frosting)

  • xoxoxoBruce

    You never cease to amaze. OK, the peas and berries are eyes, nose, and buttons. But the candies, hmm… mouth and fig leaf, I guess.

  • trishsouthard

    Thank you for an extraordinary recipe! The coaching is key with the almond flour! Thank you for explaining we need to cut the gingerbread or other shape after baking.

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