Pom! Pom! Pom! Gingerbread Drummers Play

These cookie drummer boys are full of wholegrain goodness and have lower Glycemic Index numbers than cookies made with only wheat flour. Using half gluten-free and half all-purpose flour makes their dough more elastic, thus easier to roll out, than using all gluten free flours. If gluten is a problem for anyone in your family, use only teff and sorghum flours. Teff is extra-high in fiber.

 Drummer Boy Ginger Cookies, Makes about 8
(5-inch tall) drummers & some 2-inch angels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix well in large bowl:
½ cup melted butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
Sift and stir in gradually:
3 ½ cups all purpose flour or 1 cup teff flour
2 ½ cups sorghum flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
¼ teaspoon clove powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger powder

Form three balls of dough. Dover 2 with plastic wrap. On floured surface roll out one ball to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut drummer boy shape with 5-inch gingerbread man metal cutter or by cutting around a cardboard shape with a paring knife or steak knife. Pull extra dough away from boys. Use 2-inch cutters to make small gingerbread kids or angels, or form this dough into another ball, roll and cut again. (These cookies will be crisper.)

With spatula or pancake burner, carefully transfer cookies to foil-lined baking sheets. Decorate with red hot candies for mouths and buttons, or with raisins and currants, or some of each. Bake in center of oven 8 to 10 minutes. When dough dents and then springs back at a finger touch, the cookies are done. Let rest 5 minutes on pan. Transfer to racks to finish cooling. Repeat with the other two balls of dough, or freeze them for baking later.

Paint the boy’s clothes and drum with a mixture of egg yolk and food coloring. A mini-muffin tin offers plenty of little paint cups. Visualize the boy’s round belly as the drum’s top. Position toothpicks for drumsticks. Glue them on with egg white. Paint with egg-yolk and food coloring colors instead of sugar frosting to cut down a bit on the amount of sugar your people take in this Christmas.