Elisen Gingerbread
My favorite recipe for starting the Christmas season
It’s the middle of November and the time of gingerbread and Christmas cookies is slowly approaching. I know, I also feel like it was just summer – and already it smells like cinnamon and star anise. Has it ever happened to you that you only really realized the day before Christmas that it’s Christmas time again? That’s a pity, because the weeks before Christmas can be really enjoyable: decorating the house, lighting a candle, spoiling ourselves with hot tea and cookies, watching favorite movies … Rituals like these connect us to the season and give us a nice sense of belonging.
This gingerbread recipe comes from my book “Suess&Gesund”. It is naturally gluten-free and sweetened with dried dates. I hope you are as enthusiastic about this gingerbread as I am and I wish you a lot of fun baking it. Have a beautiful start into the Christmas season!
ELISEN GINGERBREAD
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 200 g Medjool dates pitted
- 100 g apple sauce unsweetened
- 100 g almonds roasted and ground
- 100 g hazelnuts roasted and ground
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 organic lemons zest finely cut with a knife and chopped (if the peel is very firm you can also grate it)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp gingerbread spice
For the glaze:
- 80 g dark chocolate
Equipment
- food chopper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- For the dough, puree the dates together with the applesauce in the food processor. Scrape the dough off the sides again and again. If the mixture is too dry and therefore difficult to puree, add a little water.
- Mix the ground almonds and hazelnuts with salt, lemon zest, cinnamon and gingerbread spice. Mix with the date mixture.
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place tablespoon-sized portions of the gingerbread dough on top. Press lightly with the palm of your hand (the gingerbread cookies hardly come apart in the oven).
- Bake for about 15 minutes on the middle rack. The gingerbread should still be soft. They harden a little later.
- Let the gingerbread cool completely.
- For the topping, melt the chocolate in a water bath and use a brush to cover the gingerbread completely with chocolate.