1½ cups ground almonds
¼ cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
¼ cup Chelsea Maple Flavoured Syrup
1 tablespoon Chelsea Blackstrap Molasses
1 tablespoon coconut flour
Extra arrowroot or tapioca starch, for rolling & cutting
1 cup cacao butter
¼ cup Chelsea Maple Flavoured Syrup or Chelsea Organic Coconut Sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 170C and line 2 to 3 a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl combined the almond meal, tapioca flour, coconut flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and stir to combine. Add in the coconut oil, maple syrup and molasses and stir again until a sticky dough is formed.

2. To make the rings, roll the dough into finger width ropes. Cut into 10 to 12 lengths, each one 2-3cm longer than the next. Form the dough into rings gently pinching the ends closed and place on the baking sheets with enough room to allow them to spread without sticking together. Any excess dough can be rolled out thinly between two sheets of baking paper and cut with star cutters for decorating your tree. Dip your cutters into a bit of the starch, then press them into the dough to create each cookie. Pull away the excess dough to reveal each shape, and re-roll the dough
to create more shapes.

3. Bake the rings at 170C for about 12- 14 minutes and the stars for 8-10 minutes. The larger rings will take slightly longer to cook. Keep a close eye on them and rotate trays if necessary. Allow them to cool completely on the tray before assembling and decorating your tree.

4. Place the cacao butter and syrup or coconut sugar in a bowl and melt together over a pot of hot water. Let cool before placing in a snaplock bag and drizzling between the layers of gingerbread to decorate and help stick the layers together.

5. To assemble cut the corner off the snaplock bag and pipe some of the cacao icing on the base of the largest ring and place icing side down on a serving platter. Drizzle a little more icing in a zigzag pattern over the top of the ring and place the next largest ring on top. Continue drizzling icing over each ring placing the next largest on the top until all are stacked. I’ve decorated mine with goji berries and little stars, sticking them on with the icing.

Recipe from Social Cooking