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!
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.
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.