Anybody has a healthy recipe for Ginger Bread Men?

[MrsBigD]

all ds (2.3) wants to eat atm is ginger bread men or milk. Most other things get heavily pouted upon and thrown across the room... so wondering whether one of the wonderful mn community members have a healthy/wholesome ginger bread man recipe I could use?

Got a recipe for healthy muffins a while back on here and dd loved them. Not going to tell her that there's heaps of carrots in them LOL

anybody?

I may have one at home - will post if I do (healthy being a relative term - it has brown flour, milk and eggs in but apart from that is mostly butter and sugar - def no veg!)

The one I have is ok. Has lots of molasses in, which is good for iron. No eggs. I did it with 50/50 wholemeal and white flour, and it came out fine. Any use? No fruit or veg in it, though. (I can point you at very tasty lemon courgette cake, though, if that helps?)

thanks for the replies not too worried about it not containing veg. It's just that I have no idea what additives are in the shop bought men and I'm trying to reduce 'hyper making' food to some degree . Mum on health trip

Mine is from Joy of Cooking, and I made it last week:

Preheat oven to 350

Blend until creamy: 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup white or brown sugar
Beat in: 1/2 cup dark molasses
Sift:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I did 50/50 brown and white)
Resift with: 1 tsp bicarb of soda, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp salt

Add sifted ingredients to the butter mixture in about 3 parts, alternately with 1/4 cup water if you roll the dough, or 1/2 cup if you model it. (NB: I was rolling, and tried adding 1/4 cup, and needed a bit more.)

You may have to work in the last of the flour mixture with your hands.

You can either mould the gingerbread men, by making balls and sticks and sticking them together, or you can make your own pattern, or (duh) use a form.

Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes or longer, according to their thickness. Test them for doneness by pressing the dough with your finger. If it springs back after pressing, the gingerbread cookies are ready to be cooled on a rack.

Then it goes on about icing, which may not be something you want? You could decorate with raisins, actually ...

I'm getting hungry reading this LOL

thanks for the recipe. as for decorating... I'll have the kids do it with some raisins and other dried fruit

They were really quite tasty. I like anything with molasses in, but DH, the boys, and some guests, all liked them very much.