Gingerbread Squares

gingerbread squares
It’s a common theme in our house–we make/buy something sweet, we eat it all in one day. Now–notice I didn’t say we eat it all in one sitting, but that we consume the entire pan throughout the day. That…like…totally makes it better, right? I’d highly recommend storing the squares in the refrigerator, so they’re hidden–and not on the counter, so you don’t pick one up every time you pass by.

Ingredients

  • butter, coconut oil or palm shortening, for the pan
  • 1 (7 0z) package Let’s Do Organic Creamed Coconut*
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 5 tablespoons molasses
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 eggs

Method

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

Lightly grease an 8×8 oven-safe baking dish. Place the coconut butter in a large bowl and warm it in the microwave (or dunk the package/jar in warm water), to make it easier to stir everything together. Whisk until smooth. Add in the rest of the ingredients and whisk well to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake until the center is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

These are delicate little beauties; they’ll firm up if you pop them in the fridge.

*I like to use this in lieu of coconut butter out of a jar because the package has some magic ratio perfectly measured out (see pic below). Just using coconut butter straight out of a jar may turn things into a crumbly mess.
creamedcoconut


Comments

34 responses to “Gingerbread Squares”

  1. Whoa! I thought y’all hit the pinnacle of paleo holiday treats with your eggnog cookies!! These look amazing!! Now I will “have to” make both of them for the parties I’m going to this weekend. YUM!!

  2. 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
    5 tablespoons molasses

    This is not “paleo, this is just sugar” Stop passing yourselves off as “health gurus”

    1. I don’t have time to address every naive moron like you in full length as to sugar and the source it’s from…but anyone who reads this comment and has any concerns and doesn’t just want to jump to ignorant conclusions about our philosophy please see all the blog posts we’ve written about sugar as well as our “about” page.

    2. What’s with people that get off leaving negative comments on someone elses blog? If you don’t like it, why are you on here taking the time out of your day to comment?

    3. oooh wow, 7 tablespoons of sugar in a whole 8×8 pan aka 16 squares… what is that, like just over 1 tsp of slowly-digesting glucose per square? your computer and your internet arent paleo either, so why dont you get off the internet and get your restrictive eating disordered thoughts checked into a clinic and start worrying about your own health instead of trying to judge others’…oh wait, clinics arent paleo either so good luck with your !@#$ed up perspective.

      1. Morons. Seriously. Do you not understand that this is just CHANGING INGREDIENTS for most of us?? I don’t care much about whether I eat a lot of sugar in a given day – and I don’t give a damn if a “caveman” ate it!…I care that gluten and grains are out of my system so my body can heal. Others do it because they “feel better” even though they aren’t healing something, per se. So what, we’re just not supposed to EVER indulge in baking something? Why are you even here if you aren’t educated enough to understand that?

  3. Wow! I actually have all of the ingredients for this just lying around my kitchen! Magic 8-ball says there is a 5th paleo christmas treat this month in my future, with a sugar detox in december 🙂

    1. **at the end of december…yeah…way to proof read Michelle

  4. is coconut butter the same as creamed coconut? Please say yes so I can make this today!
    Nice to see the paleo police are in residence. Since when does paleo mean no sugar of any sort ever, ever, ever?

    1. Bridget,

      See the asterisk above.

      1. Ah, thanks! I missed that on first perusal.

  5. Looking forward to trying these, seeing as how I actually have all of the ingredients on hand. Whoopie! Hey, tried to comment on your giveaway, but there was no way to do so…
    Thanks for the recipe! I think I’ll whip up some of my coconut egg nog to have with this. 🙂

  6. I’ve made coconut butter in my food processor before to good success, but I’ve never had creamed coconut before to compare the texture to. Do you think it would work?

    If so, is the container of creamed coconut 7 ounces by volume or weight?

    Thanks! My mom likes healthier treats, but can’t have tree nuts, so it’s nice to have a coconut based treat to share with her 🙂

  7. Just put these in the oven for a dinner party tonight, I made them in a loaf pan, mostly because my 8×8 was in the dishwasher and I am too lazy to wash it by hand 🙂

  8. Dreadlockdiva

    Made these today and they were amazing. Really appreciate the use of coconut butter as I am allergic to almond butter and flour. So it was refreshing to see a dessert made without either. These were so good that my non paleo sister now wants me to make more desserts from your website!

    BTW looking forward to the cookbook.

  9. […] Gingerbread Squares: Healthy, Gluten and Nut Free […]

  10. Ok, so I made these a couple times this holiday season, mine ended up looking more like cake-y gingerbread, but were delicious. The last time I made them my hubby was making BBQ rub for a brisket and left the chili powder on the counter right next to the ground cloves. I inadvertently put in 1/4t of chili powder in the mix and they actually came out incredible. Try it if you get the chance!

  11. Made these twice in the last week . . . incredible. I used fresh grated ginger because it’s all I had, didn’t measure how much, but oh my goodness so good! I also actually found that they were better the next day in the fridge, which is sad because it’s hard to resist them that long 🙁

  12. I made these today, and I was amazed at the great texture from just the creamed coconut and eggs! They were brownie-like, and I am already scheming a brownie recipe using the creamed coconut. I had no idea you could make a batter this way, and I am so excited to have an alternative to coconut flour and almond flour. I googled but did not see any other recipes using creamed coconut in this way, so maybe y’all are the trailblazers?

    Thanks — we have love every single recipe we’ve tried from your site!

  13. I have been lurking on your site for paleo recipes for months. I have made at least 50 of your recipes, and it is the main reason my SO & I are still eating right. I appreciate your candor (we also suffer from the belief that chicken breasts are sorta played). Literally EVERYTHING I’ve made has turned out great. I don’t normally think of recipe posting as a philanthropic act, but in your case, it seriously is. Just wanted to say thanks for posting your recipes – you are keeping us happier & healthier. 🙂

    p.s. If you ever publish a recipe book/ebook I will be the 1st to buy it.

  14. eeK doesn’t this get expensive?? Its 15 dollars alone for that creamed coconut….

    1. it’s $15 for 6 boxes and you need 1 box for this recipe.

  15. I never write reviews. But these are frickin’ awesome. Lick the pan, fight over them, awesome. Genius.

  16. I love your recipes. So glad they are not strange ie zucchini or avocado or beans in cakes. I just can’t eat those. It’s so hard since going on a wheat free diet to find good recipes.

  17. Dancingtigga

    Just what we were looking for – a grain free substitute for gingerbread cake and with the right amount of punch from the molasses and the ginger. My kids thank you as do I! Recipes like these ones keep my kids happy to stick to a mainly paleo diet. One request – carrot cake please? Any chance you could figure out a good recipe for carrot muffins/cake…as so far have failed, many thanks!!! 🙁

  18. Dancingtigga

    Doh! Scrap that I have found your carrot muffins now – all is well in the world again!

  19. I am new to Primal Paleo. I bought the cookbook Primal Cravings from the Primal Blueprint site. I made this recipe this morning and OMG is right and I will be making these a lot!!

    1. aw, thank you so much val!!

  20. I hope to make these very soon! Do you happen to know how this Creamed Coconut compares with Tropical Tradition’s Coconut Cream Concentrate? I have half a jar of that at home that I’m trying to use up and was wondering if it might be a viable substitute.

    1. hi ren-ren. t.t. c.c.c. is not the same. this recipe only works with the specified brand.

  21. these are so rich and delicious! most baked goods tempt me to eat the whole batch, but these a serving is very satisfying. I also replaced 1 egg with a gelatin egg (1 T of gelatin in 1T of cold water mixed and then 2 T of hot water mixed) and used 2 yolks (no whites).

    LOVED it, thank you!!

  22. Wow. Just … wow. I just made a batch of this, and I’m amazed. It tastes just like the best wheat flour gingerbread I’ve ever made, which was considerably damn delicious. It was with superhuman effort that I got some (cough-cough-roughly-half-of-them) squares of this put in the freezer and out of reach of my grabby hands!

    It was this recipe that got me interested in Let’s Do Organic creamed coconut. I looked it up on Amazon; the 7 oz. packets seemed too expensive, so I went ahead and bought a whole 3 kg. brick! It’s been a great investment; I cook with it all the time.

  23. I made these and these look nothing like the picture above. As well,
    they are squishy and a bit wet. I did everything correct. Was there supposed to
    be any coconut flour, arrowroot flour, etc. Because the texture of mine is like custard and the taste
    is exactly like molasses. It seems everything I’ve been making that is Paleo has turned out terrible. : (
    Thanks..

  24. Kimberly

    Just made these wow…way too good… Really amazing,love the spice–just perfect….Thank You
    Yum yum

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