About five years ago, I flew back home to D.C. for a summer visit to see my Mom, Dad and little sister. They all had been busy researching and learning a lot about a sugar-yeast overgrowth called “Candida”. It was nearly 11 pm by the time we got home from the airport and even though it was late, I was excited to hear more about this “Candida” diet. All through the drive home, Mom told me a little about it, but being the personality type that I am, I wanted to SEE and DO it.
When we got in the house, she excitedly handed me a bag of cookies. “Here, try these!”. You can eat cookies on the candida diet? These are made without any sugar? No butter or dairy? I was shocked! I seriously couldn’t believe that these sweet, ginger cookies were not only healthier, but totally delicious and still okay for this special “no yeast, no dairy, no sugar” diet. If I could eat cookies like that on the diet, even I could do it! It was that moment I decided to try the diet myself.
These cookies are not the exact replica of what I had tasted that night, but they are just as good! Our mom couldn’t remember the exact recipe she had used to make those cookies but she did remember the important parts of the recipe. Healthy spelt flour, lots of fresh ginger and nothing but xylitol to sweeten! These puffed up well and created nice pillowy cookies with a delicious soft ginger center. They are so good, even regular dessert loving folks like these! I added a simple coconut sugar coating as an option, which is not for the candida diet, but merely creates a nice crispiness and looked better for pictures. Omit this step if you are in fact, following the candida diet. I promise you won’t miss it with plenty of fresh ginger, lovely vanilla extract and sweet candida friendly xylitol! Enjoy!
Sugar-Free Ginger Cookies (dairy-free)
Print Recipe
2 cups Spelt Flour
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2/3 cup Xylitol
1 Egg*
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger, peeled and grated
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Zest
1/2 cup Grape seed Oil or Coconut Oil
1/2 teaspoon Natural Butter Extract
1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the xylitol, egg, fresh ginger, lemon zest, oil and extracts. Add the dry to the wet and mix until combined.
Roll dough into small balls, gently roll in the coconut sugar if desired and place on the prepared pans. Bake for 7-9 minutes.
*The egg can easily be replaced with a vegan egg-replacement or applesauce. However, if you are following the candida diet, applesauce is not recommended. If using an egg product, check there is no sugar in it.
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Lucy says
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I am diabetic and also have IBS….the only change it looks like I will have to make is substitute the xylitol with Splenda. For many with IBS sugar alcohols, (sugar alcohols, anything ending with ols, ol, is an IBS trigger.) sadly, the world has completely gone sugar alcohol overboard. Foods that were once safe for me are no longer safe. I really prefer a crisp cookie, but these look so good!
Liz Forsyth says
We just tried these for the first time… AMAZING! We didn’t have lemon so I subsituted lime zest and it really turned out great. Puffy texture with a zippy gringer flavor. Will surely add these to our rotation!
Annie says
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed these! Thanks, Liz!!
SHEILA SILVETTI says
It’s now November, 2014, and I just discovered this recipe, which sounds FAHHHHbulous!
In baking, I generally use liquid or powdered Stevia. Did anyone try that and, if so, how does it affect this recipe? I’m going to try it the next moment I have anyway! Thanks!
Annie says
Hi Sheila, we are not sure if anyone has tried this recipe with stevia, but if you dry it out, we would love to hear about the results!
Nicole says
These are great! Very puffy and soft, and the fresh ginger gives them such a pleasant, spicy bite. I didn’t have butter extract, but I’m vegan anyway, so I used Earth Balance margarine instead of grapeseed oil. Also used Ener-G Egg Replacer for the egg (which eliminates the cholesterol completely). I’ll definitely be keeping this recipe!
Annie says
Thanks for your feedback, Nicole! Love your adaptions! They sound great – we’ll have to try them out. :)
Erin | The Emerging Foodie says
These look awesome! Beautiful photos!
Chelsea says
Thank you, Erin!!
Anna @ Your Healthy Place says
These photos are great, they look so freshly baked and delicious! Nothing like a good ginger cookie – I especially like one right after dinner, something about ginger and digestion. Yum!
Chelsea says
Thanks, Anna! We like to use the health benefits of ginger as an excuse to eat more of it! :)
Julia {The Roasted Root} says
You. are. killing. me! These things are perfectly puffy and look so marvelous! Like a snikerdoodle only ten times better! These need to be in my home at all times!