Fall is officially here and so is the cooler weather. When we were growing up, that first brisk day usually meant one thing...Mom was going to make gingerbread.
We'd come home from school and I'd look for a 9-inch square pan and 2 metal mixing bowls sitting on the counter. She'd already have measured out the dry ingredients in one and the molasses and other liquid ingredients in the other. That way she could quickly mix it together as we were sitting down to dinner and it would be ready when we finished.
She always used the Brer Rabbit recipe, which is dense and very moist, but also had a tendency to sink in the middle before it was done. What I really loved about it was the crunchy top it had when it was fresh out of the oven.
I looked at a couple of different recipes and pieced various techniques together to create a dairy-free version that didn't sink, had a moist texture but still had a crunchy top. Hello autumn!!!!
Old Fashioned Gingerbread
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
11/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 stick (1/2 cup) dairy-free margarine, melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cup dark molasses
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup almond milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch square baking pan.
Whisk together first 7 ingredients and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine margarine, molasses, and sugar and beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Add almond milk, egg and vinegar and continue mixing just until combined.
Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake, 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before slicing.
This gingerbread looks amazingly moist and delicate! I'm adding it to my baking "to do" list.
Posted by: Jen @ Savory Simple | 10/05/2011 at 03:49 PM