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Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Look no further for the Vegan Gingerbread Cookies Recipe! They are everything you love about the classic cut-out cookies without animal products: warmly spiced, buttery, soft, great for decorating, and super simple to make. Complete with vegan cookie frosting!
Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp softened coconut oil (not fully melted) or vegan butter
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar tightly packed to measure
- 1/4 cup molasses unsulphured light molasses
- 1/4 cup apple cider or plain soy milk
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp soy milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp vegan butter or coconut oil softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk well to combine.
- Using an electric hand or stand mixer, beat the coconut oil in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
- Add the white and brown sugar and mix until combined and a light tan color.
- Add the molasses to the coconut mixture and stir a few times. Slowly mix in the apple cider until it and the molasses are fully incorporated. Note: if using cold cider, the coconut may solidify, changing the texture of the mixture. If this happens, it is totally fine.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until combined. If preferred, you can also do this step with a wooden spoon.
- Turn the dough out from the mixing bowl and form it into a 1-inch thick disk. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper and place it in the fridge to set for at least 30 minutes.
- While 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 mixture well until creamy. Add more sugar if it seems too thin, or add more non-dairy milk if it's too thick.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it soften on the counter for 10 minutes.
- Flour a clean countertop or workspace. Unwrap the dough and place it on the prepared surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a 1/4-inch thick circular or oval shape.
- Use gingerbread man cookie cutters to cut the dough and place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet. The cookies should have at least 1 inch between them so they have room to spread.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until they are very lightly golden around the edges and on the bottoms.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once completely cool, ice and decorate the cookies. The icing will harden after about 20 minutes, at which point they can be stacked if necessary.
Video
Notes
Storage Directions
- Storage: Store cooled and frosted cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
- Freezing: Dairy-free gingerbread cookies can be frozen in a freezer-safe container to up to 3 months. Defrost them at room temperature for 20-30 minutes or until softened.
- Using cold apple cider. If desired, you can bring the cider to room temperature before making the egg-free gingerbread cookies, but it isn't necessary. The cold cider may cause the coconut oil to solidify, changing the texture of the dough just slightly, but it is still totally fine.
- Chill the dough. It only needs 30 minutes in the refrigerator for the coconut oil to solidify, keeping the cookies from spreading. If needed, you can chill the dough for up to 12 hours, but it will need at least 20-30 minutes to soften before rolling it out. Be sure to wrap the dough well if chilling for longer periods to keep it from drying out.
- Re-roll the dough scraps. Make the most of the dough by gathering and re-rolling the scraps. Lightly flour the scraps when re-rolling to keep the dough from drying out.
- Bake in batches if needed. If you don't have enough cookie sheets to accommodate all the cut-outs, bake them in batches, transferring the baked cookies off of the sheets once cooled.
- Carefully transfer the cookies to the cooling rack. When hot, the cookies are soft and pliable; they firm up as they cool. Let them cool partially on the baking sheet before you move them to the wire rack to keep them from falling apart.
- Cool the cookies completely before frosting. This prevents the frosting from melting and helps it to set faster.
- Decorating options: You can use a piping bag fitted with a small round tip or spoon the frosting into a sandwich bag and cut off a small corner to pipe!