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These Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are as tasty as they are adorable! Warmly spiced, delightfully soft and chewy, and a perfect holiday cookie to share with family and friends. Vegan, Oil-Free Option.
These soft and chewy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are meant to be shared around the holidays. With sweet molasses flavors, a hint of spicy warmth, and golden crispy edges, they’re impossible to resist! All you need are 12 simple ingredients and an easy homemade icing sugar to make this Christmas classic.
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The Cutest Christmas Classic
What is the best Christmas cookie, you ask? There’s no contest—the answer is gingerbread! They’re not only adorable to look at but also taste wonderfully warm and spicy. What more could you need in a holiday cookie?
I’m personally the number one fan of these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies. I’m obsessed with their warm and zingy flavors, which is why I’ve found ways to incorporate them into even more baked goods, like my Vegan & Gluten-Free Gingerbread Loaf and these Fluffy Gingerbread Pancakes.
The gingerbread dough comes together in a pinch thanks to a handful of vegan baking staples and a simple homemade sugar icing. For the best results, make the gingerbread dough the night before baking the cookies. It’s the key to their soft middles and crisp edges.
Ingredients for Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
This easy vegan gingerbread recipe only calls for 12 baking basics, along with a few extras when you want to decorate the cookies with homemade icing. These are the key items you’ll need:
- Flax Egg: AKA the egg replacer in this recipe. Flax eggs are really easy to make using a mix of ground flaxseed and water. If you don’t have ground flaxseed, you can use ground chia seeds as a substitute.
- Flour: all-purpose flour gives the gingerbread a tender structure. I have not tested a gluten-free gingerbread cookie recipe, although a quality 1:1 gluten-free flour blend may work instead. Let me know in the comments if you try it!
- Winter Spices: these perfectly spiced cookies get their warm flavors and touch of spice from a mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.
- Butter: softened and salted vegan butter sticks were my choice. If you’re using unsalted butter, increase the salt from 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Brown Sugar: it’s what gives the cookies their signature deep brown color and rich molasses flavor. Don’t replace it with cane sugar or white sugar.
- Molasses: an absolute must in any gingerbread cookie recipe! Use light or dark unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap molasses.
- Icing: the easy icing is made from powdered sugar, dairy-free butter, and non-dairy milk.
How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
- Combine the ground flax and water together to make the flax egg. Set aside.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, then set aside. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined and fluffy. Mix in the molasses, flax egg, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Form the dough into a ball, cut it in half, and flatten each half into a disc. Wrap the discs in plastic and chill the dough in the fridge.
- Roll one dough disc on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 1/4” thick. Cut the cookies with a cookie cutter and place them on a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the gingerbread cookies until they’re firm around the edges. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, whisk the icing ingredients together to make the icing. Pipe the icing onto the cooled cookies and decorate as desired.
- Serve the cookies once the icing is firm or store them for later. Enjoy!
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- The right tools make all the difference: Most of my vegan cookie recipes require nothing more than a mixing bowl and a baking sheet but for perfectly cut vegan gingerbread people, the right tools can make a huge difference. Rolling the dough on a silicone baking mat on a cutting board will prevent it from sticking; a bench scraper ensures you never miss out on any dough scraps; and a reusable piping bag will give you precise cookie designs every time. Don’t forget your cookie cutters and a rolling pin, too!
- Make the dough ahead of time: Making this gingerbread dough the night before baking the cookies gives it time to absorb extra moisture and prevents the cookies from spreading in the oven.
- Keep the dough cold while cutting the cookies: It helps to roll, cut, and bake the cookies in batches when you can’t fit them all on one baking sheet. To help keep the dough cold while you do this, cut it into 3 to 4 sections and chill it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Soft gingerbread vs. crisp gingerbread: These are soft and chewy gingerbread cookies. If you prefer crisp and crunchy gingerbread, bake them for up to 10 minutes for small cookies or up to 15 minutes for large cookies.
Serving Suggestions
It’s no secret that cookies are perfect for dessert. But around Christmas time, these vegan gingerbread cookies can be enjoyed anytime! Treat yourself to a few at breakfast with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, for an afternoon snack, or at night with a glass of homemade almond milk.
Don’t forget to include a few gingerbread people in your Christmas cookie boxes. They make delightful edible gifts for your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Remember to save a few for Santa, too!
If you’re looking for more seasonal cookie recipes, you’ll also love these Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, these Vegan Snickerdoodles, these Brown Butter Maple Cookies, and these Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies. Check out my collection of 18+ Vegan Christmas Cookie Recipes as well!
How to Store Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
The decorated gingerbread cookies will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container. Remember to let the icing dry and harden before transferring them to the container or else they’ll stick together.
Store the cookies at room temperature to help them stay moist and chewy.
I have not tried freezing the baked gingerbread cookies (they just simply don’t last long in our house!), but it would likely work well for up to 2 months.
Substitutions and Variations
- Oil-Free Option: I’ve successfully replaced the vegan butter in this recipe with an equal amount of nut butter (such as sun butter, cashew butter, or almond butter). The texture of the baked cookies is slightly different but they’re still tasty!
- Brown Sugar Substitute: Coconut sugar works just as well as brown sugar but will make the cookies a little more dry and crispy.
Recipe FAQs
The dough for gingerbread houses is typically more sturdy and crisp than traditional gingerbread cookie dough. For this reason, I’m unsure if this dough will be suitable for a vegan gingerbread house or not. If you do try it, you’ll likely need to reduce the butter and molasses by a bit so the dough isn’t as soft.
Yes, you must chill the dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours (or overnight preferably), as this helps the flour absorb extra moisture and prevents the cookies from spreading.
Those dough scraps can easily be rerolled and cut for more cookies. If you’ve made enough cookies, just wrap the extra dough in plastic and store it in the fridge or freezer to combine with your next batch.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- Helpful equipment: silicone baking mats bench scraper, reusable piping bag
For the Cookies:
- 1 tablespoon ground flax + 2 1/2 tablespoons water
- 3 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice optional
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon if using unsalted butter
- 1 stick salted dairy-free butter softened
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Icing:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dairy-free butter melted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dairy-free milk
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Prep: Combine the ground flax and water together in a small bowl; mix well, then set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- Dry Ingredients: Whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Wet Ingredients: Add the butter and brown sugar to a large bowl. Use a handheld mixer (or standing mixer) to cream the butter for 3 to 5 minutes on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the molasses, prepared flax “egg”, and vanilla to the bowl and beat again until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Combine: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture should look crumbly once mixed, but will stick together when pressed with your hands.
- Chill: Form the dough into one large ball, then cut in half. Flatten each half into a flat disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Chilling the dough is required for this recipe as it helps the flour to absorb extra moisture and prevents the cookies from spreading.
- Baking Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (preferred) or parchment paper.
- Roll: Cover a cutting board with an extra silicone mat (optional, but prevents sticking) and a light dusting of flour. Remove one dough disc from the fridge and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it’s about 1/4” thick. Sprinkle the dough and/or rolling pin with extra flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Cut the Cookies: Use cookie cutters to cut out your cookies; I find it works best to press down firmly, then wiggle the cutter a bit to fully separate the edges. Remove excess dough, then use a bench scraper or spatula to transfer the cookies to the baking sheet 1/2" apart from each other. You may need to use multiple baking sheets for each disc of cookie dough.
- Bake: Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 8 minutes for soft cookies that are 4” or less. If your cookies are larger, bake for 10 to 11 minutes. If you prefer crunchy cookies, bake the cookies for a few minutes extra. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to let cool completely.
- Repeat: Knead the dough scraps back together, and repeat steps 7-9 with both the scraps and the second disc of dough until all cookies have been baked. Try to roll out the dough as smooth as possible, as cracks will show in the final cookies (though they will still be tasty!). You can use your fingers to pinch the dough together when necessary.
For the Icing:
- Mix: Add the powdered sugar to a bowl and add in the melted butter and milk. Whisk well until smooth; the mixture should be very thick and not drizzle or spread.
- Decorate: Use a spatula to transfer the icing to a piping bag (or ziploc with a small hole cut in the corner) and decorate your cookies as desired.
- Store: Let the icing sit on the cookies for at least 2-3 hours before storing, or it may smudge. Store cookies at room temperature for up to one week.
Recipe Notes
- Oil-Free: I have had success making this recipe by swapping out the butter for equal parts nut butter; the texture is slightly different, but still tasty!
These are flawless, thank you!! Perfect amount of flavor and 9 minutes was ideal for a crisp outside and a chewy center. Love this recipe!
so happy you loved them!
I’ve been using this recipe, and it’s absolutely amazing – the whole family loves it! However, since I’m in the EU, I use metric measurements. I usually measure the molasses in grams and initially used 120 grams for 120 ml, but the dough turned out crumbly and flaky. I always had to add extra butter to make it come together. For one stick of butter, I measured 114 grams. I’m wondering if 120 ml of molasses might actually be closer to 165 grams? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this!
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! Usually for liquid ingredients like molasses I recommend going by mL and not grams, as their weight can vary a little from brand to brand 🙂
Hi, how much butter in grams?
1 stick of butter is roughly 113 grams, but this may vary a little by brand!
I just made these for my husband and they came out perfect!
Could I freeze the other half of dough?
I’m sooo glad! Yes you can totally freeze the dough.
Im in the process of making these right now and my dough looks quite crumply 🙁
Was your 1 stick of butter equivalent to 1/2C of butter?
yes! 1 stick = 1/2 cup! I’m sorry to hear that, did it end up coming together?
These are the ultimate gingerbread cookie. The suggestion as the recipe says to use the silicone mat when cutting and pastry scraper were very helpful when transferring!
I made these for the first time and they were a hit for vegan and non-vegans alike.
Yay! Thank you, Megan!
Gingerbread cookies are so fun to make for the holidays and I’m so glad I found this vegan, easy to follow recipe. Instead of traditional icing I decorated mine (poorly) with white chocolate and dark chocolate and it turned out yummy. Will definitely make again next year with the family 🙂
I’m sure you did fine with decorating it! Thank you and glad you enjoyed it, Alicia!