Festive and fun vegan gingerbread cookies. These gingerbread men are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and packed with ginger flavor.
Making these vegan gingerbread cookies signals my first foray into the world of molasses.
And…I found it weird! This is probably no surprise to you if you’re familiar with this ingredient – it is weird right?
Like really weird.
It looks a lot like date syrup, which is a syrup I use a lot, as it’s awesome, and made from dates and nothing but dates. But aside from looks, there is no other similarity. Date syrup is very sweet, whereas molasses…. is not.
It’s not just that it’s not very sweet, it’s that it’s got the weirdest taste to it.
The good thing is that molasses in gingerbread cookie batter does the job amazingly well. Going in as an ingredient molasses is quite weird, but once baked into something, it adds something pretty great to the flavor!
These gingerbread cookies came out fabulously well and were so easy too.
And if you love all things ginger then check out our vegan gingerbread cake and our vegan gingersnap cookies too.
How To Make Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
I adapted a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction in order to make it vegan and I took a few other shortcuts to make sure that I didn’t have to take too much time in making these.
I am always looking for shortcuts. In this case I didn’t want to chill the dough for a couple of hours before baking, I just wanted to mix the dough and then bake the cookies!
So I took some shortcuts and they worked! Yay!
So these gingerbread cookies are super quick. Just 20 minutes to prepare and 10-12 minutes to bake.
If you prefer a crispier/crunchier cookie then you can bake them up to 15 minutes.
If you want yours to be more on the soft side, then you can take them out the oven after 10 minutes.
The main time consuming factor in these cookies is rolling out the dough and cutting out the gingerbread men.
It doesn’t take long, but that’s really the only reason the prep takes 20 minutes rather than 10 or 15.
Decorating
And then there’s decorating them.
Of course this step is completely optional. This was my first attempt at decorating cookies and I have to admit to not being very successful. I had to hand the job over to Jaye who is much more steady-handed when it comes to the ‘fine arts’ of putting eyes and mouths onto cookies.
Even so, some of these guys look a bit psycho!
If you have a few kiddos around, make these with them. My niece was not into the flavor too much (I think I probably wasn’t that big on ginger either when I was 6), but she LOVED the look of these guys!
More Vegan Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Coconut Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Men:
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter (56g)
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar (100g)
- ⅓ cup Unsulphured Molasses (100g)
- 1 Flax Egg 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal + 3 Tbsp Hot Water
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Allspice
- ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
For the Decorating Frosting:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar (120g)
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Soy Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
- Add the vegan butter and brown sugar to an electric mixing bowl and cream together.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal with 3 Tbsp Hot Water and allowing to sit for a minute.
- Add the molasses, vanilla and flax egg to the electric mixer and beat together with the vegan butter and brown sugar.
- Sift the flour into a bowl and add the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves and mix together.
- Add all the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl containing the wet ingredients and mix into a thick batter.
- Flour a surface and your hands very generously and transfer the cookie dough onto the baking surface. Roll it into a ball, adding flour as needed so it doesn’t stick.
- Roll out with a rolling pin to around a ¼ inch thick and cut out some gingerbread men. Dip your cookie cutter in flour each time so it doesn’t stick. Move the gingerbread men to a parchment lined baking tray.
- Gather the scraps of dough, form into a ball and roll out again, cutting out more men.
- Don’t be shy to add more flour each time, this dough can be quite sticky and you need it not to be as you roll it, so add flour as needed. Any excess flour on the gingerbread cookies will bake off.
- Repeat this process until you have used all the dough.
- Place into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes and then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating.
- When you’re ready to decorate, mix the decorating frosting ingredients together. It should be quite thick, but when you stir it into a peak, it should hold it’s shape for a bit before melting back down and should be quite sticky.
Video
Notes
- Weigh your flour for the most accurate results or use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife.
- If you have accidentally used too much flour and/or the brand of vegan butter you have used has a lower water content, you may end up with a dough that is too crumbly – in this instance, add in a small amount of non-dairy milk until you get the right consistency of dough that you see in the pictures/video.
- The number of gingerbread men you’ll get from this recipe depends largely on the size of your cookie cutter.
- Baked cookies store well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
- Nutritional information is for 1 cookie of 16, without frosting decoration.
Maz says
Hello,
I enjoyed baking the cookies. The taste is really great. But it was a shame I had to throw my first batch away. The 15 minutes were way too long and they turned all black.
The second batch was perfect though!
Greetings
Alison Andrews says
Oh no! Sorry to hear it didn’t work out the first time. Ovens can be so variable, it definitely keeps us on our toes! 🙂
B says
Hi! If I want to make this dough ahead of time (the night before baking) what would you recommend? Should I roll and cut the cookies out and then freeze those overnight? Or will the dough last in the refrigerator overnight for me to then roll and cut them out the next evening? Or do they need to be baked right after making the dough? Thank you! B
Alison Andrews says
Hi B, I think if you roll it out and cut the cookies first and then refrigerate (or freeze) that will be the best way to go about it. You may need to allow a minute or two extra baking time if baking from frozen. If you refrigerate the dough before rolling it out then it will need to come to room temperature again before rolling otherwise it will make it tough to roll, which is why I think rolling first and cutting out and then freezing or refrigerating will work best. 🙂
Sara says
Made TWO batches of these today! The cookies come together really quickly and they taste great. I did find the dough to be very soft and, although I was able to roll it and cut it right away, for the second round I let it chill in the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling. This made it much easier to transfer from the counter to the cookie sheet. Will make again, for sure!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much for sharing Sara! And thanks for the awesome rating! 🙂
Caroline says
Really good recipe! I had to use LOTS of flour to get the consistency to one where I could use my cookie cutter, but I brushed it off before baking and they taste great! Really nice and spicy.
Alison Andrews says
So glad they worked out Caroline! Thanks for sharing and the great rating! 🙂
Liz says
I just made these and followed the recipe exactly, except using gluten free flour. I cut the cookies but they are too soft and wouldn’t firm up enough to scoop onto the baking sheet. I rolled it back up and put in fridge to see if it will work later. What might have gone wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Liz, not every recipe will adapt wonderfully to gluten-free. I think because this recipe needs to have the dough rolled out that could cause the issue because in my experience gluten-free flours sometimes don’t roll out that well. It may be better to look for a recipe that is designed as gluten-free.
Erica Greene says
These sound amazing! How can I make these cookies to come out as crunchy as gingersnap cookies?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Erica, you could always try our gingersnap recipe instead. I’m not sure if that would work for cutting out gingerbread men but it’s worth a shot! 🙂
Cassandra says
This recipe was good but I did have to add a second flax egg, 1tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water. It was too dry and it didn’t come together but otherwise they tasted like regular gingerbread cookies even better! Even after 3 days they were still good. Thank you for this recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cassandra, so glad they worked out. I would guess that perhaps a little too much flour went in, but so glad you found a solution and they tasted good! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Cassandra says
I had made sure I’d put exactly two cups of flour
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cassandra, unless you weigh your flour on a food scale it can be easy to accidentally use a bit too much. If you’re using only cups as a measure then the spoon and level method is the way to measure it accurately. 🙂
Daisy M says
The first time I made these, I was baking them for a Christmas card photoshoot and only had whole wheat flour – they didn’t spread or crack and ended up looking like traditional gingergread men. After making them with all-purpose flour, they definitely rise a lot more and have a cracklier crust texture as a result, but they’re so fluffy and delicious! Also tested with coconut oil (the triple-filtered coconut oil from Trader Joe’s doesn’t taste at all of coconut) and they turn out perfectly!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! That’s good to know about the effect of whole wheat flour and glad to hear coconut oil worked well for you too. Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review Daisy! 🙂
elnara says
I love it but if we had butter it would be better
samara anashali says
My friend Emmi made this recipe and it was AMAHZANG! Can I have your autograph Alison? Your recipes are so good! Are you famous? You should be.:)
-The mature samara anashali
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha awesome! So glad you enjoyed the cookies! ????
elnara says
mmmmm there SOOOOOOO good if I had a choice to live in a mansion or meet you and bake them with you I would defiantly choose to meet you and bake the cookies with you your just the BEST a million times to the moon and back
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha, that’s so sweet! Thanks so much and so glad you love the cookies! 🙂
Emmi Webster says
Amazing! I think these gingerbread men were absolutely DELICIOUS and so amazingly adorable! We used a vitamix scale to measure out all of the ingredients easier. I LOVE these more than anything sweet I have ever tried. I wish I could give this recipe 100 stars! Love this whole website!
-Emmi Webster
Alison Andrews says
Thank you so much Emmi! That is the best review ever! 🙂
Ally says
Thanks so much for writing this. This is my first Christmas making gingerbread men vegan for my mum, sister and brother in law and I was excited to see that it was such a recent review! Can’t wait to try them. ☺️
Alison Andrews says
Hope you love the recipe Ally! All the best! 🙂
Maria says
Hi! I regularly use this site for recipes and it is amazing, just wondering if I can use a hand mixer instead? Or maybe a plain old wooden spoon? Thanks.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Maria, a hand mixer should work just fine! Even a wooden spoon would probably work, but with a lot more arm power needed. 🙂
Eiznek says
Hi! I am going to make this bread for a school feast with my mom. I am so excited! Yay! Hi Mom!
-EiZnEk Oh
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Hope you love them! 🙂
Mary says
You mentioned the brand of molasses but not the butter. What brand did you use? Also I mix half molasses and half light Karo syrup to my wet bottom shoofly pie, it cuts down on the molasses flavor a bit.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Mary, I have used various brands of vegan butter and it will differ depending on where you are. If you’re in the USA then Earth Balance is a good brand, if you’re in Australia then Nuttelex is a good brand. Waitrose has some options if you’re in the UK. Otherwise just look for any brand of dairy free margarine that works in baking.
Ally says
If you’re in Australia (and the UK i believe) we have a black butter block called “vegan block” by Naturli and it doesn’t have its own flavour it’s just really close to butter. I’m not even vegan and I love it
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Ally! 🙂
Aleksandra says
Hi Alison,
I’m struggling to find molasses and to be fair never baked with it before. Do you think I could use maple syrup instead? I don’t mind it affecting the taste but just want to make sure the texture stays good. Want to try making these today. Thanks.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Aleksandra, yes, if you don’t mind it affecting the taste (it will definitely do that) then it would be fine in terms of texture! You could use any syrup really to replace the molasses. All the best! 🙂
Aleksandra says
Thank you, Alison for such a quick response. I went and bought some molasses. Did one batch as per your recipe and they came out really good! I added some orange zest to my second batch and I think I found my new favourite 🙂 very pleased with the recipe
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! So glad they came out well! Orange zest is a great addition too. Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂