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Paleo Gingerbread House Recipe

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 2 Houses
Author: Jaclyn

Ingredients

  • 2 cups blanched finely ground almond flour
  • 1 cup pecans or walnuts
  • 1/2 cup pitted dates
  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup butter or palm shortening room temp
  • 1 tsbp molasses omit for GAPS diet
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350*.
  • In the container of a high-powered blender or food processor, combine nuts, dates, molasses, eggs, butter, vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon. Blend on high until smooth, using the tamper or scraping the sides as you go.
  • Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir until a thick, sticky dough forms.
  • Chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
  • Turn dough out onto large piece of parchment paper or floured surface (tapioca/arrowroot starches are paleo-friendly choices). Place another piece of parchment paper on top, or lightly dust with starch before using a rolling pin to roll dough to 1/4" thickness. (You can divide dough in 2-3 balls to do this in order to have less dough to work with.)
  • Use gingerbread house cutters like this to cut out two of each shape: two walls, two roof pieces, and two pointed front and back pieces. 
  • Transfer to a lined cookie sheet, then ball up remaining dough and repeat. 
  • Bake 15-18 minutes, until cookies begin to brown on edges.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before assembling and decorating.

To put houses together and decorate:

  • Fill a piping bag, fixed with a small/medium tip or with a small hole cut in the tip, with frosting. We used this organic frosting and it worked well, though it will not get stiff like conventional frosting. It was thick enough to hold things together though. You could try a buttercream made with honey and keep it refrigerated in order to avoid sugar, but it will be hard to get a stiff enough frosting without starch or sugar.
  • Use frosting to attach the smaller rectangle pieces on the sides of each of the tall, pointed front and back pieces. Place the larger rectangle pieces on either upper side as the roof. Fill in any gaps with frosting.
  • Use the frosting to decorate the houses and affix dye-free candies to them. We used these and these. You could also use nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips to be more GAPS- or paleo-friendly, as candy still contains sugar, even if it's dye-free and organic!