I’ve long been a fan of gingersnap cookies. I love crunchy cookies, and the level of crunch these ginger cookies need to have is quite apparent from the name! They need to have some snap!
Ever since I made my vegan gingerbread men I’ve been planning to make some vegan gingersnap cookies.
However, the first time I made them was not the huge success I thought it would be.
Basically, they came out far too soft and chewy. Now, soft and chewy is great when it comes to some cookies, like my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, but it wasn’t going to cut it for these.
So it was back to the drawing board. I reduced the molasses to make the batter a bit drier and removed the flax egg, tried again and success! Snappy, deliciously crunchy gingersnap cookies.
However, there is just enough chewiness in there to keep everyone happy. Those who want a bit of soft and chewy and those who want some epic snap! Everyone will be happy!
I did something here that I haven’t done with cookies before and that was to bake them in two batches. Usually I just squash them onto one baking tray even though they usually tend to make very good friends with each other while baking.
But that doesn’t usually bode well for my aesthetics! I wanted perfectly round cookies that didn’t have to be separated from their friends, so for that I needed to space them out more and for that I needed to bake them in two batches.
Since these only take 12 minutes, doing them in two batches was not an issue.
Also I made the cookies quite small, so ended up with 44 of them! Was rather pleased indeed!
Just a note though that IF you make your cookies quite large, then you’ll need to bake them for longer to get the right amount of ‘snap’.
If you’re a fan of gingersnap cookies, then you’ll love these. They are:
- Snappy
- Fabulously crunchy
- Packed with ginger and cinnamon flavor
- Brown sugar sweetened
- Perfectly balanced between sweetness and spice
Enjoy them as a dessert or as a snack or teatime treat.
So let me know what you think of these vegan gingersnap cookies in the comments below. If you have any questions fire away.
And if you make this recipe rate it and let us know how it turned out. Tag any pics #lovingitvegan on instagram so that I definitely don’t miss out on seeing them. I love seeing what you’re baking out there!
For more great cookie recipes check out:
And do sign up to our mailing list to receive a fabulous free ebook containing 10 awesome recipes! You’ll also stay updated with all our latest recipes posted to the blog.
Vegan Gingersnap Cookies
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 37 mins
- Yield: 44
Description
Super crunchy vegan gingersnap cookies. These brown sugar sweetened vegan cookies are packed with ginger and cinnamon flavor and perfectly balanced between sweetness and spice!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (56g) Vegan Butter
- 1 cup (200g) Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup (75g) Unsulphured Molasses
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups (250g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Allspice
- 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
- 2–3 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk
- 1/4 cup (50g) White Sugar (for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Cream the vegan butter and brown sugar together and then add the molasses and vanilla extract.
- Sift the flour into a bowl and add the baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir in by hand until crumbly.
- Add the 2 Tbsp non-dairy milk and mix. You should get a very thick cookie dough. However, if you still have crumbles and it’s not yet ‘sticking together’ then add another Tbsp non-dairy milk. Only do this if you really need it though.
- Break off roughly tablespoon sized pieces and roll into balls and then roll the balls in white sugar. If you tend to make larger cookies, then you’ll need to bake them for a few minutes longer (around 15 minutes) to get them nice and crunchy.
- Place the balls onto a parchment lined baking tray and press down with a fork.
- You might want to do these in two batches so that your cookies are nicely spaced out on the baking tray.
- Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. If you want more soft and chewy then bake for 10 minutes, if you want more snap/crunch then bake for 12 minutes. If your cookies are larger in size then bake for up to 15 minutes.
- The cookies will be soft when they come out the oven. Allow to cool completely as that is when they will firm up and become crunchy.
Notes
Adapted from my Vegan Gingerbread Cookies.
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 53
- Sugar: 6.8g
- Sodium: 52mg
- Fat: 0.6g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1g
- Carbohydrates: 11.4g
- Fiber: 0.2g
- Protein: 0.6g
Thank you so much! You absolutely made my day. This was just the kind of pick-me-up I needed. I am an beginner-to-intermediate level baker and this recipe was easy to follow and came out wonderful! I did not have vegan butter so I substituted coconut oil. I needed to add 3-4 tbs. of cashew milk to get it to stick but I figure that’s because I used oil and not butter. I ended up cooking for 15 minute because my cookies are on the bigger side. They are divine. I am so grateful to you for sharing this and other amazing vegan recipes.
★★★★★
Awesome April! I’m so glad they came out great! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Loved this recipe! I made some substitutions and it turned out great. I used earth balance for the butter, 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 1/2 cup xylitol instead of brown sugar, bobs 1:1 gf flour instead of AP and freshly grated ginger instead of powdered. I also added 2-3x as much of the spices based on other reviews. I made about 24 cookies and cooked in two batches for 15 min each. They turned out chewy in the middle and crispy on the edges – so good!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Carolyn!
Amazing recipe! Fills the whole house with wonderful smells!!
★★★★★
Thanks Carter!
My husband is crazy about these! I roll them thin, rub some canola oil on the bottom of a glass, dip in sugar and mash them even thinner. They come out nice and crisp. For Christmas I rolled them thicker for the grandkids and used gingerbread man cutouts and let them decorate them. What a treat. Thank you sooooi much!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Susan! 🙂
I just needed the 2T Plant Based milk, worked perfectly. Mine made 28 cookies.
★★★★★
My daughter made these tonight. She made them big so baked them for 15 minutes but forgot to flatten. They turned out amazing! Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside and the flavor is out of this world! Thanks for sharing!
So glad they were a success! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Made them for Christmas on a baking day with my family
Good
★★★★★
If you are looking for a Ginger snaps, this is not it. This is more of a Ginger bread cookie. I think there needs to be more fat, these were just too cake like to be a snap. The flavor is very nice though.
★★★
Hi Joyce, that is really strange, they are very ‘snappy’ for me. I wonder if it could be the oven variance that caused yours to be more soft and cakey.
We both love this recipe and this is my 4th time making it. I use whole wheat flour as I never have all purpose, and add an extra teaspoon of ginger powder. Thanks for a truly delicious cookie recipe ( I am a Brit so for me it is a biscuit).
★★★★★
So happy to hear that Stephen! Thanks so much for the great review!
These are absolutely delicious and so quick and easy to make. I halved the sugar and they were still amazing. Thanks so much for sharing!
★★★★★
So glad to hear they were a success! Thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
My first vegan recipe and it turned out great! Substitutions: coconut oil and coconut milk. Took 4 Tbsp for the dough to stick together which worked out fine because I’m at higher elevation. Greased the cookie sheet lightly with coconut oil instead of using parchment. Cookies didn’t spread much at all while cooking and came out nice and chewy after 10 minutes in the oven. I would definitely make this recipe again!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and the great review Jeanine. 🙂
AMAZING!!! I’ve gotten non-stop compliments on these. Simply fantastic!
★★★★★
So happy to hear Suzanne! Thanks for the awesome review! 🙂
Hi! I’m sick with strep throat and craving cookies, but don’t want to leave the house to buy ingredients – do you think I could I use maple syrup in place of the molasses for these?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Ashleigh, yes you definitely can. It will change the flavor slightly but definitely not in a bad way. Hope you feel better soon! 🙂
Hi Alison! The only time I tried cooking with vegan butter it burned horribly when baked at 350…any tips of suggestions for a brand that you have succeeded with? Thanks!
-Maika
Hi Maika, I haven’t really tried one that hasn’t worked. I have used different brands according to where I am based, like Nuttelex (Australian brand), Earth Balance (US brand), various dairy-free margarines. You can also try making your own homemade butter, I have tested it in baking and it worked great. 🙂
Family loved these. I rolled mine in a ball and then pushed in a piece of crystalised ginger in the middle. I did find mine flatten out a lot more than your pics.I did use Organic Rice Malt Syrup instead of the Molasses do you think that could have made them flatter? Great recipe one more in the Vegan folder. 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Carmen! So glad you enjoyed them, and I love the idea to put some crystallized ginger into the middle! Thanks for the awesome review! :)The thing with cookies spreading is it can be quite variable, it depends on how soft your dough is when it goes into the oven. If your dough is more chilled then they will spread less (sometimes not at all if the dough is very cold) and if the dough is warm and soft and pliable then they will spread more.
Good but not spicy enough for me even though I increased the spices. Next time I’ll double them all – maybe my spices are a bit old and faded. Thanks for the good vegan recipe and instructions. I did get 44 small cookies.
★★★★
My boyfriend loves ginger and we’re semi-vegan. Would love to try these but I was wondering if you could make them with fresh ginger instead of powder? Or would that impact the consistency? Thanks in advance!
★★★★★
Hi Romy, we just received a comment from someone who used fresh grated ginger in these! So I think you definitely can use it and it would be delicious. If it impacted anything it would be the amount of non-dairy milk you add in at the end. You might need a bit less to compensate for the fresh ginger.
Great! I used fresh grated ginger in addition to the powdered ginger. Delicious.
★★★★★
Ooooh what a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing that Erika and for the great review! 🙂
Oh my! Ginger snaps are my favorite and these turned out perfect! I doubled the recipe as I made these as Christmas cookies. I followed the recipe exactly. I ate some while they were still warm and chewy and then when they cooled and were crisp. So good. Thank you and Merry Christmas from my vegan family to yours!
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear that Dani! Thanks a million and Merry Christmas to you too! 🙂