This recipe is modified from here. I modified it by adding extra flour. The dough in the original recipe is very sticky and impossible to work with.
My Gingerbread Men Recipe:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, I used my homemade canned applesauce
1 egg
1/3 cup dark molasses
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and applesauce until smooth. Add egg and molasses. In another large bowl, combine flours, baking soda and spices. Add to sugar and molasses mixture, stirring well. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough to 1/4 or 1/8-inch thickness. I roll out the dough between two heavily floured pieces of wax paper to help cut down on sticking. Cut gingerbread men, or other shapes, with a cookie cutter. Place on baking sheets sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 8 – 10 minutes. Decorate as desired when cool.
I used this buttercream frosting:
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbs half n half, or milk
Beat butter until creamy. Mix in 1 cup of sugar, vanilla, and half n half until smooth. Add the rest of the sugar and continue mixing until smooth.
These are really good!!! The original recipe says they are lowfat. It was the healthiest gingerbread men recipe I found. Next time I make them, I’m going to substitute more whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. I would like to substitute something healthier for the molasses, but I have a feeling they just wouldn’t be the same.