A fun spin on the holiday classic, these Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Sticks are very simple to make, kid friendly and so delicious.
Cookie season is here! Of course, there has to be gingerbread, but rather than make classic gingerbread people this year we made Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Sticks.
I've seen this idea floating around a few different places over the years and decided it was time to make a vegan version. These cookie sticks did not disappoint. They are fun for the kids and so tasty! You should definitely add them to your cookie baking plans this year.
Ingredients
This recipe is pretty straight forward and consists of many of the typical ingredients found in gingerbread making it very simple.
- all purpose flour
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- ground allspice
- oil
- molasses
- non dairy milk
- dark brown sugar
- turbinado sugar
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set aside two large baking sheets.
To make the dough, there's no need for the standard cookie method of creaming a fat and sugar. Just combine flour, salt and spices together and whisk thoroughly to combine. Set the dry ingredients aside while you whisk together oil, molasses, non dairy milk and brown sugar really well. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a big wooden spoon until you can't mix anymore. Then use your hands to finish bringing the dough together. Knead for 20-30 seconds.
Divide the dough into two even pieces and roll each one out to about a ¼ inch thickness between parchment paper. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the top of the flattened dough and press lightly to ensure it sticks. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into thin strips. Don't try to separate the strips at this point. Lift the parchment paper with the dough on it and transfer onto baking sheets.
Bake the strips for 13-16 minutes until center is firm to touch. Remove from the oven and cool enough to touch. Retrace the cuts and gently pull the strips apart. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees. Return sticks to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes longer.
Hint: Use a pizza cutter to making cutting the strips quicker and easier.
Substitutions
- Gluten Free - instead of all purpose flour, you can use a 1:1 gluten free flour
- Oil - coconut, avocado and olive oil all work well. Melted vegan butter can also be used.
Variations
- Spicy - add a pinch of cayenne pepper, if desired.
- Deluxe - go all out with decorating - use sprinkles, colored sugars, or thin frosting with non dairy milk and drizzle over the sticks after baking.
- Kid friendly - reduce the amount of ginger to one teaspoon if kids are sensitive to heat.
Equipment
No special equipment is needed for this recipe. Only basic kitchen tools such as bowls, measuring cups, a large spoon, rolling pin and baking sheets are needed. You'll also need access to an oven.
Storage
Store cookie sticks in an air tight container for up to 1 week. You may want to place a piece of parchment between layers if stacking.
Top tip
If you ever over bake a batch of cookies to where there are just a little too crunchy allow them to cool then transfer to a storage container. Then put a slice of bread in the container with the cookies for a few hours. The cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread and become softer. Discard the bread afterwards. This trick works for nearly any cookies that are slightly overbaked and just a bit too crunchy.
Recipe
Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Sticks
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup molasses
- ⅓ cup oil coconut, avocado, and olive all work
- ¼ cup non dairy milk
- ¼ -⅓ cup turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside two large baking sheets.
- In a large bowl whisk flour, salt and all spices together thoroughly.
- In another bowl combine brown sugar, oil, molasses and non dairy milk. Stir really well to incorporate.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a large wooden spoon to stir until you can't. Transfer dough to floured surface and finish bringing the dough together with hands. Knead for 20-30 seconds.
- Divide the dough in half. Starting with one piece, place between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out into a rectangle roughly 6x12 inches in size. The dough should be about ¼ inch in thickness. Don't worry too much about it being perfectly rectangular. Do the same thing with second piece of dough.
- Remove top piece of parchment paper and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over top of each piece of dough. Lightly press the sugar into the dough.
- Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut thin strips into the dough between ¼ and ½ inch width. Do not separate.
- Lift parchment paper to transfer dough to baking sheets.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes until firm to the touch in the center of rectangle. Allow to cool just enough to touch.
- Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees. Once cookies have cooled enough to touch, retrace the cuts in the dough and gently separate the strips leaving a little space between each.
- Return to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before transferring to a container for storage.
Cathy says
How much oil is needed - it is not in the list of ingredients.
Melissa says
So sorry about that! It's corrected now, you'll need 1/3 cup.
Liane Linner says
It is in the oven 🙂