Low Sugar Squash Gingerbread (Gluten & Dairy Free)

I love getting veg into sweet recipes. I get a little thrill when a test for one goes really well. My spinach-packed green monster muffins are a great success, and my chocolate & beetroot cake goes down beautifully, but for me, no veg works in puddings quite as well as orange veg.

You can tell from my pumpkin & ginger cake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie pop tarts that pumpkin (or sweet potato puree) is usually my go-to for this. Pumpkin and sweet potato are sweet but subtle and can be used in place of some sweetener as well as in place of some butter or fat and to add a lovely gentle flavour and colour to a bake.

But squash is one I use less often. Butternut squash, in particular, has a much stronger flavour. It adds a nice sweetness, but doesn’t always work as well as the softer flavours of pumpkin or sweet potato in a dessert.

In this gingerbread recipe, however, it was the perfect fit. I had an inkling it might work, but it wasn’t until I tasted the first batch that I realised it is truly a match made in heaven. The strong flavours of the ginger, spices and molasses balance out the squash perfectly.

Even my daughter, who is not a fan of roasted squash, declared this to be a way she loved it! (In case you are wondering, her other acceptable ways are my squash & apple soup, The Natural Nurturer’s squash & chocolate muffins – we use rice syrup instead of maple and use 2-3 tbsp instead of 1/4 cup – and Naomi Devlin’s buckwheat & squash bread. It just goes to show that with kids, they may not like a particular vegetable or food one way, but in another form it may be totally acceptable or even enjoyable!).

So not only is this recipe very low in sugar and dairy free, with the option of being gluten free, but it also contains some orange veg, meaning this cake contains vitamin C to help absorb the iron in the molasses, as well as vitamin A and extra fibre.

This bake has all of the deep warming Christmas flavours and soft, airy texture of a gingerbread cake, but it is about as guilt free as dessert gets, making it a perfect treat to enjoy as a family in the freezing cold weather. It is not as sweet as an ordinary gingerbread cake, but just sweet enough, and I like to serve it with a bottle of rice syrup on the side for some fructose free syrup to drizzle over for those who like a little extra sweetness. My kids like it on its own, I like it with a little drizzle, but my husband likes to cover his slice like it’s a stack of pancakes! 😉 Each to their own, and this way you can adjust it to everyone’s tastes while keeping it to a minimum amount of sweetener (although feel free to add more sweetener directly to the cake if you are convinced everyone will want it sweet – then just reduce the amount you use each time you make it).

5 from 1 vote

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Low Sugar Squash Gingerbread (Gluten & Dairy Free)

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

With the perfect gingerbread texture, this dessert is a surprisingly delicious but wholesome pudding. Dairy free, gluten free, low in sugar and containing vegetables (I know!), this is a perfect healthy fall family treat.

Course: Autumn, Bonfire Night, Celebration, Christmas, Dairy Free, Dessert, Entertaining, Fall, Gluten Free, Halloween, Holiday, Seasonal, Snack, Snacks, Sugar Free, Thanksgiving, Treat, Vegetarian, Winter

Servings: 16 squares

Ingredients

• 200 g (2 cups) gluten free flour (a shop-bought blend or my own blend - see Notes*) or 240g (2 cups) wholewheat or spelt flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (gluten free) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice mix (or 1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ground allspice + 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and pinch of ground cloves)
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons sugar free (and gluten free) vanilla extract
• 275 g (1 and 1/4 cups) pureed squash (or use 100% pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree if you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
• 3 tablespoons rice syrup + 2-3 drops stevia (or 50g (1/4 cup) xylitol)
• more rice syrup, for drizzling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Lightly grease and/or line a 22cm (9") square cake tin.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, spices and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl or large measuring jug, mix the eggs, vanilla extract, squash, molasses, syrup and stevia or xylitol. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing gently until completely incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares and serving with extra rice syrup for drizzling over.

Recipe Notes

*my favourite gluten free blend that I tested this with is this one