Gingerbread Spice Mix Homemade Seasoning Recipe

Learn how to make gingerbread spice with just 8 ingredients and 5 minutes prep! This DIY homemade spice mix recipe is perfect for all of your gingerbread recipes and holiday baking ideas. Use this homemade seasoning blend for cookies, muffins, cakes, pancakes, waffles, syrup, ice cream and dessert. The gingerbread spice mix recipe comes with free printable labels for packaging and food gift giving.

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Homemade gingerbread spice mix recipe

Learning how to make gingerbread spice is super easy, and you may never want to buy a pre-made spice mix again. DIY gingerbread spice can be made in less than 5 minutes, and the flavour is truly so good and festive. You probably already have all of the gingerbread spice ingredients in your pantry.

You can use this homemade gingerbread spice recipe in so many different ways, from baked goods to desserts, drinks and even to season savoury meals. Last week, I shared a gingerbread hot chocolate and gingerbread pancakes, and I wanted a recipe to link back to for those of you who prefer to make your own spice blends at home.

This is one o the best homemade seasoning blends and the Christmas spices smell is amazing. The spice mix is naturally vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free. Homemade gingerbread spice is suitable for almost any diet and can be used as seasoning in paleo and keto recipes.

What is gingerbread spice?

Gingerbread spice is a blend of spices that are often used for cookies and other Christmas baking recipes or holiday desserts. Although similar to pumpkin pie spice, British mixed spice, and apple pie spice, gingerbread spice is made with other spices and has a unique and complex flavour profile.

For this homemade Christmas spice blend, I asked my aunt Mary-Louise, who lives in Germany, to give me an authentic German gingerbread spice recipe. She generously shared her lebkuchengewurz recipe with me, which she uses to make lebkuchen (gingerbread), pfeffernusse,and even traditional English fruit cake, mincemeat, parkin, and classic Christmas pudding.

What is in this Christmas spice blend?

Let’s talk about these 8 spices you need for this gingerbread spice recipe. I want to break down each one of these gingerbread spice ingredients for you, you can find the exact amounts required in the recipe card below.

• Cinnamon – Cinnamon has a deeply complex yet subtle aroma that is sweet and warm.
• Cloves – Cloves are one of the more pungent spices. The flavour is peppery with a sweet heat reminiscent of allspice.
• Allspice – Allspice has a warm, sweetly pungent taste with floral undertones.
• Ginger –The flavour profile of ginger is peppery and warm with lemony undertones. On its own, ginger tastes quite fiery and pungent. The spice is one of the key ingredients in this Christmas spice blend.
• Star anise – Star anise tastes a bit sweet and has distinctive liquorice undertones.
• Cardamom – Cardamom’s aroma is intricate, slightly sweet and spicy with floral and citrus undertones. The spice intensifies both sweet and savoury flavours.
• Coriander seeds – With a mild aroma, coriander has a lemony citrus flavour that tastes warming, nutty and spicy with hints of orange.
• Nutmeg – The aroma of nutmeg is spicy, sweet and slightly bitter. If you have, you can substitute nutmeg with ground mace as these spices are closely related.

You probably have most of these ingredients already in your spice cabinet. The spices can be used in so many different ways so that buying a spice is well worth the investment.

If you like it quick and convenient use ground spices. But for the best flavour, use whole spices and take the time to grind them freshly. A microplate grater or coffee grinder are quite helpful to mill whole spices.

How to make gingerbread spice from scratch

If you have 5 minutes and a few basic spices, you can make this DIY gingerbread spice recipe! You are going to love the warm aroma it adds to your Christmas recipes and holiday dishes.

• Blend spices. Mix the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, clove, cardamom, coriander, star anise and nutmeg until they are thoroughly combined.
• Store in an airtight jar or container with a lid. That’s it! Just two super easy steps.

Can spices be substituted?

Yes, you can experiment with the recipe and substitute spices. It’s great that you can be flexible with these gingerbread spice ingredients, because if you run out or don’t like a specific spice, you can still prepare the recipe. In previous years, I made the DIY spice blend without coriander and once swapped nutmeg for mace. The flavour of the gingerbread spice changed a little but was still very good.

Tip: Just don’t skip or substitute the cinnamon, cloves and ginger – these are essential and give gingerbread spice its characteristic aroma.

Gingerbread spice substitute

What can I use instead of gingerbread spice? I already mentioned that gingerbread spice shares some commonalities with pumpkin pie spice, mixed spice (an English spice mix), and apple pie spice. And you can use these spice blends instead of gingerbread spice. The flavour will be different but still similar.

How to store homemade gingerbread spice mix

How long does DIY gingerbread spice last? Store the homemade gingerbread spice in an airtight jar or container. It will last around 9 months, stored in a dry, cool, dark place.

Packaging ideas and free printable labels

I put the spice blend in pretty 4-oz quilted mason jars and created printable labels that fit the lid perfectly. Gingerbread spice is an excellent homemade Christmas food gift idea for the holiday season. Just add a pretty ribbon, and you have a thoughtful seasonal gift for your family and friends.

Other packaging ideas include these 2-oz shot jars, flip-top jars or spice storage containers.

You can download and print out the labels at the end of this post.

Recipes using gingerbread spice

You can use this DIY gingerbread spice in all sorts of recipes, from cookies, bread and cakes, to waffles, pancakes and drinks. It basically screams Christmas and winter.

Can’t get enough gingerbread flavours? Try some of these delicious recipes:

• gingerbread spice hot chocolate
• homemade gingerbread spice pancakes
• DIY gingerbread spice syrup
• classic gingerbread spice cookies
• gingerbread oatmeal
• warming gingerbread spice tea
• gingerbread spice bread
• yum gingerbread spice latte
• spiced plum jelly
• gingerbread spiced rum
• hot gingerbread spice coffee

Beauty recipes

But the use of gingerbread spice isn’t limited to food recipes. The homemade holiday spice can also be an ingredient for DIY beauty recipes. Check out these fun ideas:

• festive gingerbread lotion bars
• easy gingerbread soap
• cute gingerbread bath bombs
• DIY gingerbread sugar scrub bars

Over to you!

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Cyna xo