This vegan gingerbread cookie recipe is so easy to make and is perfect for the holiday season. The gingerbread men are so adorable with their little candy canes, and they're the perfect crispy cookie to make with the whole family at this time of year.
What you'll need to make this vegan gingerbread cookie recipe
Dry Ingredients
- all purpose flour: I found that all purpose flour works the best for this recipe, but you can also use whole wheat flour instead. Coconut flour and almond flour will not work in this recipe. If you wanted to make these cookies gluten free, you can use a gluten-free flour blend that is specifically marked as 1:1 gluten free baking flour. This one from King Arthur and this one from Bob's Red Mill are great.
- soft brown sugar: you can also use coconut sugar or white sugar. However, I prefer using darker sugars in gingerbread cookies to keep the color darker.
- baking powder
- ground ginger
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- ground cloves
- pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- blackstrap molasses: if you don't have any on hand, you can use regular molasses or maple syrup instead, although blackstrap molasses is a classic gingerbread ingredient.
- coconut oil: you can also use vegan butter, or regular butter if you are not vegan.
- vanilla extract
To decorate the vegan gingerbread men
- gingerbread cookie cutters
- candy canes
- white, red, green & black icing
- wooden chop sticks: these will be used in place of the candy cane when you are baking the gingerbread men. See more details below in the instructions.
How to make the perfect vegan gingerbread cookies
In a large bowl, combine the flour, molasses, brown sugar, coconut oil, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, and salt. Mix them well until you have a thick dough.
You can make this dough in a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, but I just mixed the ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Place the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes. This is so the gingerbread dough can be less sticky when you roll it out.
While the vegan gingerbread cookie dough is chilling, clean your work surface and sprinkle some flour on top, to further prevent stickiness.
After the dough has chilled, take it out of the fridge and use a rolling pin to roll it out on top of your lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to about 1-2 millimeters in thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out the gingerbread shapes.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use a spatula to gently lift each cookie and place it on top of the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Now it's time to make the gingerbread men hold their candy canes.
Pro tip: You will need a few sets of wooden chopsticks to mock the shape of the candy cane. Break each chopstick in half. Place the chopstick on top of the gingerbread men, exactly where you would want the candy cane to be. Then *carefully* shape the gingerbread man's hands around the chopstick.
The reason for using chopsticks in place of the candy canes is that the candy canes will melt in the oven. You need the chopstick (or another wooden stick) to hold the shape while the cookies are baking.
You can use any item that would be safe to bake in the oven and that is about the same thickness as a candy cane. I found that chop sticks do the best job at this.
After you have shaped all of the cookies so that they are holding the chopsticks, bake the cookies in the oven for 20 minutes at 350*F/ 175*C.
Right after you take out the cookies from the oven (before they have cooled off), *gently* remove the chopsticks and immediately replace them with a candy cane.
Don't get sad if a few of the cookies lose their arms in the process, I definitely broke a few doing this!
After the cookies have cooled off at room temperature for a little bit, use a spatula lift them again to move them from the baking tray to a cooling rack.
Once the cookies are cool to the touch, draw eyes, a smile, buttons, rosy cheeks, and white squiggly lines to resemble clothes.
If you don't feel like making the cookies hold candy canes, you can just use this recipe to create regular gingerbread men. I've added a photo of how yours might look if you decide to make the cookies into regular gingerbread men.
Video
For more holiday recipes, try these yummy desserts that are perfect for the Christmas season
mini Santa hat chocolate cheesecakes
Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- gingerbread cookie cutter
- wooden chop sticks*
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
Decorations
- candy canes
- white,red, green & black icing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, molasses, brown sugar, coconut oil, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, and salt. Mix them well until you have a thick dough.
- Place the ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes. This is so the dough can be less sticky when you roll it out.
- After the dough has chilled, take it out of the fridge and use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1-2 millimeters in thickness. Use a gingerbread cookie cutter to cut out the shapes and line them on a baking sheet.
- *You will need a few sets of wooden chopsticks to mock the shape of the candy cane. Break each chopstick in half. Place the chopstick on top of the gingerbread men, exactly where you would want the candy cane to be. Then *carefully* shape the gingerbread man's hands around the chopstick.
- The reason for using chopsticks is that the candy canes will melt in the oven. You need the chopstick (or another wooden stick) to hold the shape while the cookies are baking.
- After you have shaped all of the cookies so that they are holding the chopsticks, bake the cookies in the oven for 20 minutes at 350*F/ 175*C.
- Right after you take out the cookies from the oven (before they have cooled off), *gently* remove the chopsticks and immediately replace them with a candy cane.
- Don't get sad if a few of the cookies lose their arms in the process, I definitely broke a few doing this.
- Now draw eyes, a smile, buttons, rosy cheeks, and white squiggly lines to resemble clothes.
Video
Nutrition
How to store the vegan ginger cookies
Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Cathryn
These are so cute.
Gaby Dimova
Thanks so much Cathryn!☺️
CC
Hi!
This looks awesomeeee!!!
Can I substitute the flour for almond or oat flour? Do I melt the coconut oil? and could I leave the dough in the fridge overnight?
Gaby Dimova
Hi there! Unfortunately almond / coconut flour won't work :/ if you wanted to keep it gluten free, you can use a 1:1 gluten free baking flour. Room temperature coconut oil works great and YES do refrigerate at least for 1-2 hours 🙂