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Hungry Healthy Happy » Recipes » Baked Goods

Healthy Gingernut Biscuits

Updated: Apr 27, 2023 · Published: Jan 18, 2016 · Written by Dannii Martin · This post may contain affiliate links which earn us commissions if purchases are made · 77 Comments

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Diet: Gluten Free / Low Carb / Vegan
Jump to Recipe

Gingernut Biscuits (or Ginger Snaps) with a freshly brewed cup of coffee is the perfect afternoon treat. We love the fiery taste from the ginger and the crunchiness of them and they also hold together really well when dunked. These are Healthy Gingernut Biscuits, and vegan and gluten free too.

Seven Gingernut Biscuits piled in a tower next to another one with a bite taken out of it.

The flavour of ginger might divide people, but we LOVE it. These gingernut biscuits are a favourite in our house. Lots of flavour and texture and the perfect dunkable biscuit.

I also find the ginger flavour really settling when I have a bad stomach and don't feel like much else. I practically lived on these when I was pregnant and had horrendous morning sickness.

If you are looking for more recipes with ginger, why not try our easy 10 Minute Sticky Ginger Beef, comforting Soy Ginger Salmon Noodles, super nutritious Ginger Shot or our festive Gingerbread Cupcakes?

Jump to:
  • Why you will love them
  • Ingredients needed
  • How to make ginger nut biscuits - Step by step
  • Gingernut or Ginger Snap?
  • Healthy biscuits
  • What to serve them with
  • FAQs
  • Extra tips
  • More snack recipes
  • Recipe
  • Feedback

Why you will love them

  • Nutritious - There are lots of health benefits of ginger, and these are low calorie, low fat and low carb too.
  • Really simple to make - Just mix everything together in a bowl and bake.
  • Kids will love them - A great way to introduce kids to the flavour of ginger.
  • Cheaper and healthier than store bought - This ginger biscuit recipe is so cheap to make, especially if you buy nuts in bulk.

Ingredients needed

All the ingredients needed for this recipe with text overlay labels.
  • Nuts - We used cashews and almonds.
  • Desiccated coconut - Helps with binding the mixture, but doesn't give a coconut flavour.
  • Ground ginger - Obviously for the fiery ginger flavour. Don't use fresh for this.
  • Maple syrup - To sweeten the biscuits. You could use honey, but they wouldn't be vegan.
  • Baking powder
  • Lemon juice

A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.

How to make ginger nut biscuits - Step by step

Prep: Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas 4

One: Place the cashews, almond and coconut into a food processor and blend until a flour like consistency. Transfer into a large bowl.

A blue plate with a pile of ground nuts on it.

Two: Add the salt, baking powder, ground ginger, lemon juice and maple syrup to the nut flour.

A large mixing bowl containing ground nuts, maple syrup and ground ginger.

Three: Mix well to form a dough.

A mixing bowl containing a biscuit dough.

Four: Using your hands roll the dough into 8 equal sized balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, evenly spaced.

Eight balls of dough on a baking sheet.

Five: Using the palm of your hand, flatten each ball so they have a diameter of about 3 inches; this will ensure they crisp up nicely.

Eight uncooked biscuits on a baking tray.

Six: Put the baking tray of biscuits into the oven for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before eating.

Eight golden brown biscuits on a baking tray.

Gingernut or Ginger Snap?

There may be some confusion for our American readers. A biscuit in the UK is a cookie in the US and a gingernut is a ginger snap. Whatever you call it, you'll be sure to make this ginger snap recipe over and over again.

Healthy biscuits

What makes these biscuits healthy? Well, they are not packed with sugar and butter like regular biscuits are and instead they use a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten them.

We have also skipped the regular flour and used almond and cashew flour instead, which means they are gluten free and vegan too and they will help you feel fuller for longer.

Seven gingernut biscuits stacked in a tower.

What to serve them with

These are the perfect biscuit to dunk into a nice hot drink. Here are some of the ones on the blog that would go really well with it:

  • Cinnamon Coffee
  • Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate
  • Peppermint Hot Chocolate
  • Pumpkin Spiced Latte
  • Cinnamon Mocha
  • Chai Tea Latte
Gingernuts next to a cup of coffee and a yellow towel.

FAQs

Can gingernuts be frozen?

We have frozen gingernut biscuits, and whilst they are a perfectly acceptable biscuit when defrosted, they do lose their crunch. A gingernut is all about the crunch for us, so I would say these are best made from fresh. Store them in an airtight container to maintain their crunch.

How many calories in gingernut biscuits?

These aren't the most low calorie biscuits, at 137 calories per biscuit, because they are made with nuts. However, they are bigger than a store bought gingernut, which has 55 calories in it, and are much more filling because of the nuts. So, it's not all about the calories, it's the ingredients too.

Do gingernuts help with morning sickness?

When I was pregnant with my first, I lived on these for about the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. I suffered awful morning sickness and gingernut biscuits were the only thing that settled my stomach.
Ginger is known to help with stomach issues and whilst I could have had some ginger tea or ginger ale, I opted for ginger biscuits because, well, pregnancy. Instead of raiding a whole pack of shop bought ones, I made them myself.

Are they vegan and gluten free?

I can sometimes find vegan and gluten free biscuits a little bland, and sometimes soft - these are neither. By making a flour with nuts, they are gluten free and everything is vegan too.

Do gingernuts contain nuts?

Traditionally, gingernut biscuits don't actually have nuts in them. Weird! Apparently they are called gingernuts because they are hard like a nut shell. Well, we have actually used nuts in the recipe for ours, so we can safely call them gingernuts.

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Extra tips

• Cooking times will vary depending on your oven and they can burn very quickly. So keep and eye on them from 10 minutes and if they start browning, taken them out.
• Add some dark chocolate chips or raisins for a little extra flavour.
• Don't feel like you have to stick to almonds and cashews - try using walnuts and pecans too.

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If you’ve tried these homemade gingernut biscuits, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

Recipe

A stack of healthy gingernut biscuits in front of a cup of coffee.

Healthy Gingernut Biscuits

By: Dannii Martin
Gingernut Biscuits (or Ginger Snaps) with a freshly brewed cup of coffee is the perfect afternoon treat.
A circular logo saying GF.
Gluten Free
The words low carb in a white circle.
Low Carb
An illustration of a v-shaped plant in a pot.
Vegan
4.83 from 67 votes
Pin Print Save recipe Saved!
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: British
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 20 minutes mins
Cooling time: 15 minutes mins
Total: 40 minutes mins
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 137kcal
Allergens:
An illustration of four different nuts.
Nuts

Ingredients

  • 70 g (0.5 cups) Cashews
  • 70 g (0.5 cups) Almonds
  • 20 g (0.25 cups) Desiccated coconut
  • 1 pinch Sea salt
  • 0.5 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1.5 tablespoon Ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoon Maple syrup

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas 4. Line a large , flat baking sheet with baking parchment.
  • Place 70 g Cashews, 70 g Almonds and 20 g Desiccated coconut into a food processor and process to a fine, floury consistency. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
  • Add 1 pinch Sea salt, 0.5 teaspoon Baking powder, 1.5 tablespoon Ground ginger, 1 teaspoon Lemon juice and 3 tablespoon Maple syrup to a bowl and mix well to form a dough.
  • Using your hands, roll the mixture into 8 equal-sized balls and place, evenly spaced, on the baking sheet.
  • Using the palm of your hand, flatten each ball to a diameter of 7.5cm/3 inches; this will ensure that your biscuits crisp up nicely.
  • Transfer the biscuits to the oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before eating.

Recipe Tips

  • Cooking times will vary depending on your oven and they can burn very quickly. So keep and eye on them from 10 minutes and if they start browning, taken them out.
  • Add some dark chocolate chips or raisins for a little extra flavour.
  • Don't feel like you have to stick to almonds and cashews - try using walnuts and pecans too.

Nutritional Information

Serving: 1biscuit | Calories: 137kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.4mg

The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.

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Comments

  1. Alex says

    July 12, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    5 stars
    These are just delicious!!!. I love them thank you!. Just the right amount of ginger and of everything. I didnt have issues with baking them, all ingredients are cooked anyway, just made the dough too watery. I have a bad food processor and I couldn't blend the ingredients without adding water. Lesson learned for next time xx

    Reply
    • Jenny Snee says

      March 20, 2025 at 1:48 pm

      5 stars
      These ginger nut biscuits are delicious. Texture was just like a crunchy biscuit. Healthy too. Next time I will make a double batch. They were so nice they disappeared very quickly!

      Reply
  2. Matthew Steele says

    July 30, 2021 at 6:17 am

    5 stars
    These are delicious and healthy as well! I used an equivalent weight of almond meal and had to add a tablespoon of water. Were cooked and browned nicely in 25 minutes

    Reply
    • Dannii says

      August 02, 2021 at 7:09 pm

      Happy to hear you enjoyed them!

      Reply
  3. Jon Eay says

    April 11, 2020 at 3:09 am

    3 stars
    Simple enough recipe, but less than 10 minutes in the oven and they were almost burnt!

    Reply
    • Dannii says

      April 11, 2020 at 9:15 am

      At gas mark 4 (in a non fan assisted oven), they should not be burnt in less than 10 minutes.

      Reply
    • Michael says

      February 15, 2021 at 9:10 am

      2 stars
      Same happened to me. Dry burnt biscuits within 15 minutes at 180C.

      Reply
      • Dannii says

        February 15, 2021 at 6:31 pm

        We have a tip in our extra tip section about cooking times varying and to check them from 10 mins and remove them from the oven if needed.

        Reply
  4. Dawn says

    October 28, 2019 at 8:19 pm

    I dont like coconut can I just omit it or use something to replace it?

    Reply
    • Dannii says

      October 29, 2019 at 1:30 pm

      It would change the texture and it might not hold together as well - I haven't tried it though. But these don't taste like coconut.

      Reply
  5. Jagruti says

    July 03, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    5 stars
    We love ginger nut cookies, especially with masala Chai. I like your recipe, soon I'll bake a batch of this:)

    Reply
  6. Camilla says

    January 25, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    5 stars
    These biscuits are simply genius, no flour just nuts - who knew a healthy biscuit existed!?

    Reply
  7. Zara Lipstixx says

    January 24, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    5 stars
    Oh yes, love ginger nut biscuits! They seem to be a weakness in my household! x

    Reply
  8. Charlotte says

    January 22, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    These look really yummy! I love gingernut biscuits! x

    Reply
  9. Monica says

    January 20, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    5 stars
    I have only just released that they don't normally have nuts in. Yours look great they and I am so proud of you for having a book. A big well done.

    Reply
  10. Liz says

    January 20, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    I am so excited for your book Dannii. I ordered mine today :)

    Reply
  11. David @ Spiced says

    January 20, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    5 stars
    These cookies sound incredible, Dannii! You guys really know how to use ginger over there. I've been meaning to try to recreate a ginger cake that I ate on our last European trip, but I just haven't gotten to it yet. I'm thinking these cookies might bump that cake back another notch anyways. Congrats on the book, and great photo! :-)

    Reply
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