It's the perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cookie! They are sweet, spicy, and with a delightful crunch. If you want, you can make them a little healthier by using coconut sugar. You won't even be able to taste the difference!
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It's that time of year again!
Yep, it's time to get out your wire whisks and paper piping bags, stock up on spices and sweeteners, and put on your stretchy pants...we are gonna start baking. And we are starting with these vegan gingerbread cookies.
These vegan gingerbread men are just as you imagine they would be. Sweet, spicy, and with that perfect crunch. Start your baking tradition by whipping up a batch of these easy cookies and sharing them with your friends and family.
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
You don't need much to make these vegan cookies. And best of all, they are likely ingredients you already have on hand!
Here is everything you need.
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan Butter – Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- Brown Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and healthy sugar alternatives. I recommend trying these cookies with coconut sugar.
- Applesauce – The applesauce acts as the binder for these cookies. You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
- All-Purpose Flour – For gluten-free options, you can use a 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend (<<affiliate link). You could also use up to 50% whole wheat flour without negatively affecting the taste and texture.
- Spices – You will need a combination of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
Recommended Equipment
For all my cookie recipes, I recommend a stand-up mixer. These make whipping, beating, and blending so much easier. However, they are pricy and if they are not in your budget, you can make cookies with by hand or with a handheld mixer.
In addition, you will need basic cooking equipment including baking sheets, silicone baking mats, a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One - Make the Dough
To begin, mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. That’s the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Next, using a stand-up mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and airy. Add the molasses and applesauce and combine.
The dough may look a little curdled at this point. That’s okay! It will sort itself out once the rest of the ingredients are added.
Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Do not over mix that dough. Once you add the flour, mix it until it just starts coming together. At that point, turn it out onto a floured work surface and bring it together with your hands. Otherwise your cookies will be tough and brittle.
Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper, top with another paper and roll out to about ¼ inch thick. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step Two - Bake the Cookies
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Once your dough is chilled, cut out shapes with your cookie cutters.
Pro Tip: Avoid rolling out the dough many times. Each time the dough is rolled, it will get more cracked and dense. Keep the shapes as close together as possible.
Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes, until browned on the edges and cooked all the way through. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step Three - Decorate with Icing
While cookies are cooling, whisk together sugar and milk until it is completely smooth. You may need to adjust the wet and dry ingredients. Make sure the frosting is pipeable but no so thin that it will lose its shape once on the cookie.
Once cookies are completely cool, decorate with royal icing.
Serving and Storing
Store Cookies: Once cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Raw dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Freeze Cookie Dough: If you only want to make only a few at a time, you can store the remaining dough in the freezer. To do this, shape the cookies into their shapes and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Set them in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer the unbaked cookies to a large ziplock bag and return to the freezer. You can store the cookies this way for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- Do not over mix that dough. Once you add the flour, mix it until it just starts coming together. At that point, turn it out onto a floured work surface and bring it together with your hands.
- Chill your dough. Make sure to chill your dough for at least one hour before baking it. This allows the dough to firm up and hold its shape in the oven.
- Bake at a higher temperature. For that crispy texture bake your gingerbread cookies at 400F.
- Do not overbake. Once those edges have just begun browning pull them out. The cookie will continue to harden as it cools.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you need some ideas on how to decorate your vegan gingerbread men, check out this video tutorial. You will need a piping bag to finished these cookies.
The edges of the cookies will become lightly brown. You can also check for doneness by lightly pressing your finger in the center of the cookie. The cookies should be soft but not so soft that your finger goes through easily. Don't let them get too hard. They will continue to harden as they cool.
For sure! Feel free to add sprinkles, vegan candies, or more frosting to your gingerbread people.
More Vegan Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Eggnog Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
- Hazelnut Sandies
- Chocolate-Dipped Rosemary Shortbread Cookies
For more inspiration, make sure to grab a copy of my FREE Christmas Cookie Recipe eBook.
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup blackstrap molasses
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Royal Icing
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
- 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
Instructions
- To begin, mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. That’s the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and airy. Add the molasses and applesauce and combine. The dough may look a little curdled at this point. That’s okay! It will sort itself out once the rest of the ingredients are added.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Do not over mix that dough. Once you add the flour, mix it until it just starts coming together. At that point, turn it out onto a floured work surface and bring it together with your hands.
- Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper, top with another paper and roll out to about ¼ inch thick. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Once your dough is chilled, cut out shapes with your cookie cutters. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes, until browned on the edges and cooked all the way through. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While cookies are cooling, whisk together sugar and milk until it is completely smooth. You may need to adjust the wet and dry ingredients. Make sure the frosting is pipeable but no so thin that it will lose its shape once on the cookie.
Notes
- Do not over mix that dough. Once you add the flour, mix it until it just starts coming together. At that point, turn it out onto a floured work surface and bring it together with your hands.
- Chill your dough. Make sure to chill your dough for at least one hour before baking it. This allows the dough to firm up and hold its shape in the oven.
- Do not overbake. Once those edges have just begun browning pull them out. The cookie will continue to harden as it cools.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the 