When we get closer to Christmas, we start to bake cookies. Some of us take out the traditional gingerbread recipe and make their own gingerbread. Others buy fresh gingerbread in the bakery or supermarket. For me, gingerbread is not necessarily something that I make only around Christmas. The reason is simple: I like it and it’s a great food. And it fits into every sport nutrition plan.

Search for training foods

Athletes always look for new ideas to fuel their training. Sometimes we get lost in crazy recipes, complicated logistics and time consuming preparations.

Gingerbread is a great food that isn’t complicated, doesn’t require lots of time and is healthy as well. Of course, there are different recipes but often the simple one is good enough. In the end, what do we need to turn our workout into a great, successful workout? We need some fluids to replace the fluids we lost through sweating and we need carbs to fuel our muscles and brain. The more we train, the more carbs – remember? The carbs – we can easily get them though gingerbread as well.

Gingerbread is a good carbohydrate source and at the same time a low fat food. For sure you’ve seen some gingerbread varieties with chocolate or other coating but always remember, many of these coatings are high in fat too. For training it’s best to keep it simple. Also the gingerbread.

Flour and honey provide the muscle with a good amount of carbs. And there are also some healthy spices. Depending on the mix you want to add to your bread, it gives it a nice flavor but also adds a small quantity of antioxidants to it. Don’t exaggerate with the spices, keep the quantity moderate. That’s all it takes for a great gingerbread.

Of course, training goals and intensities are different. That requires different training foods. And we’re using different recipes. I’ve also made one for some extra hard training days and one for recovery. We’ve it all covered!

If you need a quick, easy recipe for your training gingerbread, here’s one for you.

Gingerbread

Ingredients

12-15 servings

  • 200 g sugar
  • 2 big eggs
  • 350 g flour
  • spice
  • 80 g honey
  • 1 egg (to coat)

Directions

Sugar and eggs are beaten, then add the boiling honey and spice and mix the flour to the mass.

The dough may then be processed as desired.

Coat with whisked egg and bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C.

Hint: Enjoy with a coup of tea.

Nutrition (per serving)

195-156 kcal

1.5-1.2 g fat

43-34 g carbohydrates

3-2.5 g fibre

5-4 g protein

122-98 mg sodium

Gingerbread