Look no additional for the Vegan Gingerbread Cookies Recipe! They’re every part you’re keen on concerning the traditional cut-out cookies, however with out animal merchandise: warmly spiced, buttery, gentle, nice for adorning, and tremendous easy to make. Full with vegan cookie frosting!
This publish was initially printed on Dec 19, 2016. It was up to date with new images and recipe info on December 22, 2024.
Christmas isn’t Christmas with out cookies, and these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies show you’ll be able to take pleasure in your favourite vacation treats even on a plant-based weight-reduction plan! Made with coconut oil, spices, molasses, and apple cider, these gentle, buttery cut-out cookies are filled with spice and every part good! No animal elements wanted.
Whether or not you have got fond childhood reminiscences of constructing cookies and gingerbread homes with family members like I do or need to get into the vacation spirit, these cookies are certain to do the trick! Preparation is straightforward and enjoyable, and you may even enhance the cookies with my plant-based sugar cookie frosting recipe.
Not solely are these Christmas cookies good for these following a vegan weight-reduction plan, however as a result of they’re egg and dairy-free, they’re a secure decide for these with meals allergic reactions. See my notes beneath to make them gluten and nut-free, too!
For extra gingerbread recipes, take a look at my Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls and No-Bake Candy Potato Bars with Uncooked Gingerbread Crust.
Elements
Simply seize the next elements to make this vegan gingerbread cookie recipe:
Gingerbread Cookies
All-Function Flour: For the cookie construction! For the very best texture, measure the flour by scooping it into the cups and leveling off the tops.
Spices: Floor cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and black pepper add heat, sweetness, and that traditional gingerbread cookie taste!
Coconut Oil: This plant-based ingredient is the proper butter substitute! For the very best outcomes, use agency (not softened) oil. If wanted, you’ll be able to substitute vegan butter. You want 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons of coconut oil or butter to make the cookies and frosting.
Molasses: Select unsulphured gentle molasses so as to add deep caramel taste to the cookies.
White Sugar: Provides sweetness! Use white or natural cane sugar.
Brown Sugar: For added molasses taste and moisture! Use gentle brown sugar for a lighter caramel taste and darkish brown for a deeper one. Pack it tightly to measure.
Apple Cider: For moisture and extra pure sweetness. If wanted, you’ll be able to substitute plain, unsweetened soy milk.
Cookie Icing
Powdered Sugar: Also referred to as confectioner’s sugar, this makes the frosting candy whereas retaining it easy and spreadable.
Milk: To loosen the frosting, making it straightforward to unfold or pipe. You should utilize any non-dairy milk. I often use soy!
Easy methods to Make Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
- Put together. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Mix dry elements. Mix the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a big mixing bowl. Whisk effectively to mix.
- Cream coconut oil and sugar. Utilizing an electrical hand or stand mixer, beat the coconut oil in a mixing bowl till gentle and fluffy. Add the white and brown sugar and blend till mixed and a lightweight tan shade.
- Add moist elements. Add the molasses to the coconut combination and stir a couple of occasions. Slowly combine within the apple cider till it and the molasses are totally integrated.
- Add the dry elements. With the mixer working on low pace, slowly add the dry elements to the moist till mixed. If most popular, you may also do that step with a picket spoon.
- Chill the vegan gingerbread. Flip the dough out from the blending bowl and type it right into a 1-inch thick disk. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper and place it within the fridge to set for a minimum of Half-hour.
- Make the icing. Whereas it chills, make the icing: add the powdered sugar, milk, and softened vegan butter or coconut oil in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk the combination effectively till creamy. Add extra sugar if it appears too skinny, or add extra non-dairy milk if it’s too thick.
- Roll the dough. Take away the dough from the fridge and let it soften on the counter for 10 minutes. Flour a clear countertop or workspace. Unwrap the dough and place it on the ready floor. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough right into a 1/4-inch thick round or oval form.
- Minimize cookies. Use gingerbread man cookie cutters to chop the dough and place the cookies onto the ready baking sheet. The cookies ought to have a minimum of 1 inch between them so that they have room to unfold.
- Bake. Bake cookies for 10 minutes or till they’re very calmly golden across the edges and on the bottoms. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then switch them to a wire cooling rack to chill fully.
- Embellish. As soon as fully cool, ice and enhance the cookies. The icing will harden after about 20 minutes, at which level they are often stacked if essential.
Recipe Professional-Ideas
- Utilizing chilly apple cider. If desired, you’ll be able to carry the cider to room temperature earlier than making the egg-free gingerbread cookies, however it isn’t essential. The chilly cider might trigger the coconut oil to solidify, altering the feel of the dough simply barely, however it’s nonetheless completely superb.
- Chill the dough. It solely wants Half-hour within the fridge for the coconut oil to solidify, retaining the cookies from spreading. If wanted, you’ll be able to chill the dough for as much as 12 hours, however it should want a minimum of 20-Half-hour to melt earlier than rolling it out. Make sure you wrap the dough effectively if chilling for longer durations to maintain it from drying out.
- Re-roll the dough scraps. Profit from the dough by gathering and re-rolling the scraps. Evenly flour the scraps when re-rolling to maintain the dough from drying out.
- Bake in batches if wanted. For those who don’t have sufficient cookie sheets to accommodate all of the cut-outs, bake them in batches, transferring the baked cookies off of the sheets as soon as cooled.
- Rigorously switch the cookies to the cooling rack. When scorching, the cookies are gentle and pliable; they agency up as they cool. Allow them to cool partially on the baking sheet earlier than you progress them to the wire rack to maintain them from falling aside.
- Cool the cookies fully earlier than frosting. This prevents the frosting from melting and helps it to set quicker.
- Adorning choices: You should utilize a piping bag fitted with a small spherical tip or spoon the frosting right into a sandwich bag and minimize off a small nook to pipe!
Recipe Variations
Add your contact to those vegan vacation cookies by making any of the next recipe changes!
- Completely different Shapes: Use traditional Christmas cookie cutters—like timber, stockings, stars, and extra—to make these dairy-free gingerbread cookies sugar cookie model! You possibly can even frost and enhance them as you’d sugar cookies.
- Completely different Decorations: Sprinkle the gingerbread with adorning sugar earlier than baking or enhance them with sprinkles, cinnamon imperials, or different favourite Christmas decorations.
Can I Make a Vegan Gingerbread Home with This Recipe?
Sure! Simply minimize the rolled cookie dough into your required shapes (or a gingerbread home template) and bake the bigger items on the ready cookie sheets in an oven preheated to 300°F for 45-55 minutes, or till the cookies are very agency. Cool the cookies fully on the sheets earlier than eradicating them and assembling the home.
Serving Solutions
Take pleasure in these festive, egg-free gingerbread cookies with a foamy soy cappuccino, sturdy black tea, or a do-it-yourself Candy Potato or Turmeric Latte. Younger snackers might take pleasure in dunking their gingerbread males right into a mug of vegan scorching chocolate!
Storage Instructions
- Storage: Retailer cooled and frosted cookies in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 3 days and within the fridge for as much as 7 days.
- Freezing: Dairy-free gingerbread cookies could be frozen in a freezer-safe container to as much as 3 months. Defrost them at room temperature for 20-Half-hour or till softened.
Often Requested Questions
Sure, swap your favourite 1-to-1 gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour to make these gingerbread cookies vegan and gluten-free.
After all! Substitute vegan butter for coconut oil and observe the recipe instructions as listed.
Sure! Although you’ll be able to retailer frosted cookies with steering from my notes above, you may make these cookies in steps in case your schedule requires. For the freshest cookies, make them as directed, omitting the frosting, cooling them, and storing them in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days or within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Defrost the cookies if wanted and enhance the gingerbread males a minimum of Half-hour forward of serving to provide the frosting time to set.
Extra Vegan Cookie Recipes
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Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In a big mixing bowl, mix the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk effectively to mix.
Utilizing an electrical hand or stand mixer, beat the coconut oil in a mixing bowl till gentle and fluffy.
Add the white and brown sugar and blend till mixed and a lightweight tan shade.
Add the molasses to the coconut combination and stir a couple of occasions. Slowly combine within the apple cider till it and the molasses are totally integrated. Word: if utilizing chilly cider, the coconut might solidify, altering the feel of the combination. If this occurs, it’s completely superb.
With the mixer working on low pace, slowly add the dry elements to the moist till mixed. If most popular, you may also do that step with a picket spoon.
Flip the dough out from the blending bowl and type it right into a 1-inch thick disk. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper and place it within the fridge to set for a minimum of Half-hour.
Whereas it chills, make the icing: add the powdered sugar, milk, and softened vegan butter or coconut oil in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk the combination effectively till creamy. Add extra sugar if it appears too skinny, or add extra non-dairy milk if it is too thick.
Take away the dough from the fridge and let it soften on the counter for 10 minutes.
Flour a clear countertop or workspace. Unwrap the dough and place it on the ready floor. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough right into a 1/4-inch thick round or oval form.
Use gingerbread man cookie cutters to chop the dough and place the cookies onto the ready baking sheet. The cookies ought to have a minimum of 1 inch between them so that they have room to unfold.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes or till they’re very calmly golden across the edges and on the bottoms.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then switch them to a wire cooling rack to chill fully.
As soon as fully cool, ice and enhance the cookies. The icing will harden after about 20 minutes, at which level they are often stacked if essential.
- Storage: Retailer cooled and frosted cookies in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 3 days and within the fridge for as much as 7 days.
- Freezing: Dairy-free gingerbread cookies could be frozen in a freezer-safe container to as much as 3 months. Defrost them at room temperature for 20-Half-hour or till softened.
Recipe Professional-Ideas
- Utilizing chilly apple cider. If desired, you’ll be able to carry the cider to room temperature earlier than making the egg-free gingerbread cookies, however it isn’t essential. The chilly cider might trigger the coconut oil to solidify, altering the feel of the dough simply barely, however it’s nonetheless completely superb.
- Chill the dough. It solely wants Half-hour within the fridge for the coconut oil to solidify, retaining the cookies from spreading. If wanted, you’ll be able to chill the dough for as much as 12 hours, however it should want a minimum of 20-Half-hour to melt earlier than rolling it out. Make sure you wrap the dough effectively if chilling for longer durations to maintain it from drying out.
- Re-roll the dough scraps. Profit from the dough by gathering and re-rolling the scraps. Evenly flour the scraps when re-rolling to maintain the dough from drying out.
- Bake in batches if wanted. For those who don’t have sufficient cookie sheets to accommodate all of the cut-outs, bake them in batches, transferring the baked cookies off of the sheets as soon as cooled.
- Rigorously switch the cookies to the cooling rack. When scorching, the cookies are gentle and pliable; they agency up as they cool. Allow them to cool partially on the baking sheet earlier than you progress them to the wire rack to maintain them from falling aside.
- Cool the cookies fully earlier than frosting. This prevents the frosting from melting and helps it to set quicker.
- Adorning choices: You should utilize a piping bag fitted with a small spherical tip or spoon the frosting right into a sandwich bag and minimize off a small nook to pipe!