The perfect healthy gingerbread recipe that does not taste even the slightest bit healthy!
This healthy gingerbread has three secret ingredients.
The cake turns out soft and incredibly moist, with the same deeply rich flavor as traditional gingerbread laden with eggs and butter and sugar…
Yet this is probably the healthiest gingerbread recipe you’ll ever eat!
It is especially delicious with Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting on top.
The Secret Ingredients:
The gingerbread recipe is sweetened with blackstrap molasses – a sweetener that is actually good for you! Unlike regular white sugar, blackstrap molasses is a great source of calcium and iron (20% RDA of each in just one tablespoon!), copper, manganese, magnesium, and potassium.
The recipe also employs Omega-3-rich flaxmeal instead of eggs, allowing this gingerbread to be completely cholesterol-free.
And the final secret healthy ingredient in this gingerbread recipe is…
Carrot Juice.
Did you see that one coming?!
I added the carrot juice in a spell of creativity, believing the sweet and earthy flavor of the carrots would complement both the cinnamon and molasses in the gingerbread.
The carrot juice also adds moisture to the recipe, which keeps the fat content low without sacrificing richness.
Healthy Gingerbread Recipe
Healthy Gingerbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup milk of choice
- 1/4 cup molasses (blackstrap or regular) (50g)
- 1/4 cup liquid sweetener, such as pure maple syrup (60g)
- 1/3 cup carrot juice (80g)
- 1 tbsp white or apple cider vinegar (15g)
- 2 tbsp vegetable or melted coconut oil (20g)
- 2 tbsp ground flaxmeal (12g) (or 2 tsp energ)
- 1 cup ww pastry, white, spelt or bob's gf flour (120g)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp each powdered ginger and cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 cup xylitol or brown sugar (45g)
- 1/2 cup raisins, optional
Instructions
Gingerbread Recipe: Preheat oven to 400 F and grease an 8×8 pan. In a large measuring bowl, whisk together the first seven ingredients (all liquid ingredients and the flax). Let sit at least 5 minutes. In a separate measuring bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry, and stir until just evenly combined. Do not overmix. Pour into the pan and bake 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and let sit another 20 minutes to cool and achieve the correct texture. If desired, frost with my homemade cream cheese icing recipe linked below the second photo in this post.
Link Of The Day:
I made this for breakfast this morning (using applesauce instead of the carrots. I don’t have any carrots in the house. How did that happen?!) and it was awesome. I got to have TWO pieces of cake and an apple and milk all in my calorie “budget.” Merry Christmas to me! Thank you, Katie!
This is one of my FAVORITE recipes!!! I add a small diced apple to the batter, and sometimes a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped candied ginger.
We topped it with DREAM™ Sea Salt Caramel Almond Gelato. Delicious!
I was so excited to see you have a cookbook coming out. I have mine on reserve already. can’t wait to get it. I love your blog and recipes. they are so easy and healthy. keep up the good work and have a happy holiday.
Judy
Is there anything else I could use besides carrot juice? Or where do I get carrot juice do I just blend up a carrot?
Apple juice works!
Oh my gosh. I am making this. Stat. Thank you, thank you!!!
I made this yesterday and it’s absolutely awesome. I didn’t have carrot juice though so I used 1/3 cup brewed coffee as someone suggested, came out great. Thanks for the recipe Katie, gingerbread is one of my favourite festive treats and this is honestly the best gingerbread I’ve tried all year. 🙂
Thank you what you wrote down that I’d like to know about substitute carrot juice !
Hi Katie,
I just made this Gingerbread recipe! Wow! LOVE this Gingerbread! So moist and yummy!
I like it without any frosting…just as it is! The carrot juice really makes the difference, I think! You go girl!
Happy New year! Can’t wait to get your cook book!
❤️ Barbara
I thought I ruined the batter, I added the melted coconut butter to the liquid; it solidified into droplets of coconut butter. I added the flax seeds to the dry ingredients portion instead of the wet portion. (I was in a hurry, my kid came home from college for the holiday & I was working off my phone with the too-small print) Talk about a failsafe recipe!!!! IT STILL TURNED OUT WONDERFULLY!!! My daughter LOVES gingerbread, and this was a HUGE hit! I sent her off this morning with the remainder wrapped up to go. THANK YOU KATIE!! 🙂
Do you think it works Apple sauce instead Carrot Juice ??
Can I using apple sauce instead of Carrot Juice ?
I love these. It’s getting close to the holidays and I will be making these for sure.
I made this last night using spelt flour, no other alterations, and it came out kind of wet on the bottom. It tastes great, it is almost a little like a caramel on the bottom of the cake, but nonetheless, it is still kind of wet. It also baked a little unevenly, the center was kind of sunken. It is definitely not stopping us from eating it, however. Wondering if anyone else has had this happen? Is it as simple as cooking it longer? I’m using a newer oven that does really well with everything else I make, so that’s probably not the problem.
This totally nailed my gingerbread craving!!? I used buckwheat flour and chickpea flour to make it GF and omitted the honey. Came out so delicious!!
Hi Katie – I made this but with Cranberry Juice – delicious, with a sprinkle of cardamon – yum!
Really want to make this but I have two questions… 1. How many carrots would you juice up to get the juice? 2. How could I use purely molasses as a sweetener and no maple syrup or sugar? Would it work if I just used an extra 1/4 of a cup of molasses?
FYI I didn’t have carrots or carrot juice on me, but I squeezed some juice from half an orange – which gave me 1/3 cup – and it works well too! 🙂