Gingerbread collagen cookies are a healthy little festive treat. High in protein from the collagen, they’re also gluten-free. A cozy little cookie for winter!
Some recipes are planned out months in advance, others are a spur of the moment, “hey this sounds good” make it one day and post it the next kind of thing.
These gingerbread collagen cookies are the latter.
As I prep for our kitchen renovation in the spring, I’ve been trying to draw down on the excess in the pantry over the past few months.
Besides tea (apparently I’m a tea hoarder) wanna know what the one item I had the most of was?
Collagen peptides.
How random, right?
I’m happy to report after a couple of months of diligence, I’m on my last canister of unflavored collagen peptides and while using a scoop in my coffee yesterday morning I had the thought to make some collagen cookies with it.
I mean, the idea is kind of no different than any other high-protein cookie that uses protein powder, just with collagen peptides (and all their health/immune boosting benefits) instead.
I wasn’t always a big fan of gingerbread but I will say it has grown on me a bit over the past few years.
A hard as a rock gingerbread cookie will never do a damn thing for me but those soft molasses chewy kind (even better if there’s chocolate involved somehow) have my attention.
These healthy chocolate chunk molasses gingerbread cookies were the turning point actually and these gingerbread collagen cookies actually remind me a lot of them in a much more simplistic (and slightly more health focused) way.
If you want to try a more classic gingerbread cookie, these gluten free gingerbread crinkle cookies look delicious too!
And her gf lemon crinkle cookies also have the same perfect chewy texture as these collagen cookies if you’re not in the mood for gingerbread.
The ingredient list may look long but most of it is spices and you can’t have gingerbread flavor without spices!
Any brand of quality collagen will work just make sure it’s unflavored.
I used liquid monk fruit sweetener (a new to me zero calorie sweetener that I’m really liking lately) to sweeten these but you can use whatever kind of sweetener you like.
Maple syrup or honey would work well and you’d likely not need the water in the ingredient list to help bind but you would be adding calories and carbohydrates specifically to the cookies.
Each cookie as the recipe is written is 8.3C | 6.2P | 5.6F
If you’re sensitive to sweetness like me, you might not even want to roll/coat these in the sugar.
Sure, it’s prettier but I actually prefer them without – you get more gingerbread spice and less sweetness in each bite that way.
These gingerbread collagen cookies would make a great edible holiday gift but I won’t judge you if you just eat them all yourself, they’re hard to resist!
More gingerbread goodies for the holidays:
Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Bites
Gingerbread Peanut Butter
Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf
Gingerbread Pudding
Gingerbread Collagen Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 scoops, 20g unflavored collagen
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon liquid monk fruit sweetener, or sweetener of choice
- 1-2 tablespoons water
- sugar of choice for coating, optional
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl except the water and stir until combined.
- Add water 1/2 tablespoon at a time until dough comes together and holds in a ball.
- Place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to chill.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough into 6 even sized balls and place on baking sheet. If coating in optional sugar, roll each dough ball in the sugar before placing on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and gently press down with the back of a fork.
- Transfer to a cooling rack to let cool.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Coming here years later, so I hope you read the comments! Just wondering what I can use as a substitute for the collagen as I do not have any. I have read everything from Psyllium Husk to Chia seeds.
You can actually just omit it. Collagen is great because it doesn’t change the texture of whatever it gets stirred into. So leaving it out is probably the easiest way. Substitutions are hard because they’ll alter things and I haven’t tested any.