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.
Mandi says
I’m making these with the kids today! Molasses is a staple treat for adults and kids a like here on the east coast in Canada so to hear anyone say it tastes weird, is so weird to me! Haha.
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha, yes that makes sense. I must say I’m very used to molasses as an ingredient now! Hope you enjoy the cookies!
mel says
I made these today and they were the first ever gingerbread men ive ever baked! im not the best at baking but this was really straight-forward and they came out lovely. crispy on the outside and slightly chewy in the middle.
I subbed the molasses for black treacle as molasses can be hard to find in the UK and they worked perfectly.
Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing Mel!
Jen says
I made these but substituted the flax egg with egg replacement powder. They were fantastic, and mine ended up with very smooth tops vs the crackly tops in the photos included with the recipe. I wonder if that’s because of the egg replacement powder vs the flax egg? Either way I will definitely make these again in the future.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jen, I’m not sure about the smooth tops but that sounds great, I’m so glad they were a success!
Heidi says
Can i make and freeze ahead of time? If so, how far in advance?
Alison Andrews says
Yes you can. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months.
Kim says
I plan to make these soon. I am wondering if the vegan butter should be cold or room temperature? Your recipes are awesome. Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
I usually just use it straight out of the fridge, but if your butter is super firm (stick version) then you can let it soften a little first. So happy you like the recipes, thank you!
Jody says
I found this recipe thanks to NikkiVegan over on YouTube, she made it seem so simple that I was intrigued. This was my first time baking gingerbread cookies, usually we buy them at the grocery store but they’re not vegan so I figured I’d give them a try. First off, this recipe was SUPER easy and simple to throw together. I followed it step by step, I think the tip about weighing instead of measuring the ingredients makes a huge difference in the end result. The dough came together beautifully and I didn’t need to add anything extra to make it come together, it was a bit crumbly, but as you suggested I simply kneaded a few times. Secondly, the flavor was AMAZING and no one suspected they’re vegan. Big hit!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much for posting Jody!
Ildi says
I’ve been making your gingerbread for the past 2 years since I’m vegan and I love your recipe. My husband who is not vegan loves them too and tested them at work. No one could tell they were vegan. ????
Keep up the good work ♡
Thank you
Alison Andrews says
That’s awesome, thanks so much Ildi! 🙂
Joanne says
Is there a substitute for molasses?
Alison Andrews says
You could do any liquid sweetener like maple syrup etc, but it would impact the final flavor of course.
Marlene says
Last year I did it vegan and it was great, this year (long story) I did not have the flax meal so I use an egg! :0 🙁 still I just wanted to let you know that I also added about a tablespoon of apple sauce because it was too crumbly. It came out just fine. I thought it would be helpful for anybody to know in case it happens to anyone. The kids loved it. We make “ninja” bread men. I will try to post pics
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Marlene!
Emily Feldman says
I made these with applesauce and 1/3 cup of brown sugar and they turned out perfect! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Emily!
Sarah says
They are a lot more dry than I would like and I was watching them and baked them for less than the amount of time suggested, the dough was soooo delicious prior to baking them I thought for sure they were going to be a huge hit. My Husband and daughter still liked them though.
Chris says
Hi Alison, what can I use as a substitute for the flax? My toddler has a severe allergy to flax. I can’t use an actual egg, since he is allergic to eggs as well.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Chris! Would chia work? Chia seeds can be used in place of flax seeds in the same quantity.
Amber says
Feel like these cookies would have been perfect, but I followed the suggested 15 mins for crispy cookies. These aren’t crispy. They’re burnt. All that time wasted
Alison Andrews says
Oh no, sorry to hear that Amber! Ovens can vary a lot so it’s always a good idea to keep a check on them.
Sylwia says
they are perfect and so yummy! thank you for this recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Sylwia!
Nessa says
I made this today and my husband who loves gingerbread and my little toddler loved it. I normally don’t like gingerbread but this ones a winner. Plus, it’s vegan! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and I can’t wait to try other ones. ????
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Nessa!
Tiff says
I’ve made these bad boys twice and each time they’ve been AMAZING. I used almond milk instead of soy milk, but that’s the only change. Love them ????
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Tiff.
Rylee says
These cookies were very dry, but otherwise soft and yummy! I would add more spices and molasses next time so they have a stronger flaver. It also need more of the milk (i added some when the dough wasn’t the right texture yet but it was not enough).