This week's Fair Trade ingredient is .... a medley of sweeteners, spices and extracts! Here's a little information on our quartet of ingredients from Fair Trade USA.

Ginger, cloves, vanilla and molasses are a group of ingredients that complement each other deliciously in many different recipes. The Fair Trade Certified ginger and cloves used in this month's recipe were sourced from the lush highlands of Sri Lanka, the carefully extracted vanilla comes from delicate beans grown in India, and the molasses is produced by sugar cane cooperatives in the tropics of Paraguay. As you can see, Fair Trade ingredients come from unique locations all over the world, from regions with rich and often dark histories surrounding the growth and trade of exotic spices and sugars. Yet with Fair Trade certification, those histories are beginning to unfold into positive futures. Baking and cooking with these ingredients allows small-scale farmers and farm workers to receive a price that not only allows them to compete in a global marketplace, but also gives them the opportunity to invest in the quality of their products and the future of their communities.

On the health front, ginger and cloves both aid digestion and increase circulation and warmth in the body, while molasses is high in iron, calcium and magnesium, all of which help create lasting energy and build strong bones.

Gingerbread is one of my all-time favorite treats no matter what time of year. Sweet, spicy and oh-so-easy-to-make, these cookies come together in no time and are a guaranteed hit. Just be careful, they are highly addicting!

Gingerbread Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies

1 stick organic butter
½ cup unrefined, unbleached cane sugar or maple syrup
2 tablespoons Wholesome Sweeteners blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon Frontier vanilla extract
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons Frontier ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons Frontier ground cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small sauce pan melt the butter and add in the sugar and molasses. Stir well to combine and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and salt. Mix well to make sure there are no stray chunks. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of batter and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat until the batter is gone. Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the cookie sheet a half turn. Bake for another 3 minutes or until the cookies are golden around the edges. Let them cool completely on the cookie sheet before shoving them into your mouth. This part will be tough. Enjoy!

For more healthy eating tips and delicious recipes from Health & Lifestlye Expert, Jamie G. Dougherty, become a Facebook Fan, follow her on Twitter, or visit her website!