A Christmas classic, these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are soft, a little sweet, and perfectly spiced.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Don't you just love this time of year? Decorating and stringing lights, gift giving, family get togethers, and of course baking dozens and dozens of cookies. It's all so much fun! I just love it especially the cookies and to me, no cookie screams the holidays are here more than gingerbread. So, today I'm sharing my family's favorite gingerbread recipe, perfect for making cute little gingerbread people!
These cookies have a deep molasses flavor with enough spice, but not too much that the kiddos won't like them. A word about molasses: I tried this recipe with both molasses and blackstrap molasses which has a stronger and more bitter flavor. While I actually prefer blackstrap, my husband preferred the flavor of molasses, and the kids were split with one preferring the blackstrap and other molasses. If you are unfamiliar with blackstrap molasses I recommend using molasses because the flavor of blackstrap can be off putting to some.
I prefer to keep white flour out of the house so I used our usual white whole wheat to make these cookies. White whole wheat flour is made with a different type of wheat than whole wheat so it has a lighter texture and milder flavor making it great as a healthier alternative to all purpose white flour. You can certainly use all purpose flour if you prefer, you will just need to use more of it to get the right tacky, but not sticky texture of the dough.
A lot of recipes require you to chill the dough anywhere from 2 to 8 hours, but who really wants to wait that long?! Coconut oil is my trick for speeding things up. Since coconut oil firms and hardens at 76 degrees you only need to chill this dough for about 20-30 minutes and it will be firm enough to roll and hold shape.
Tips: If the dough is too hard to roll at first simply let it warm up a bit. If the dough starts to get too soft just pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm back up.
Be sure to flour your work surface, rolling pin, and hands to keep dough from sticking to anything. Don't worry about a little loose flour on the cookies it will disappear as the cookies bake.
You have couple of options for obtaining your idea of cookie perfection. You can roll it out and use cookie cutters for a slightly crisp around the edges and soft in the middle cookie or roll the dough into balls and flatten with the palm of your hand. This way gives you a soft, tender cookie that's a little bit cake like with the chewyness of a brownie. So good!
For the icing, I simply mixed powdered sugar with a tiny and I do mean tiny bit of almond milk. You want the icing to be thick so you can pipe cleanly and it stays put.
Gingerbread seems to get mixed feelings, people either really love it or really hate it. What do you think, are you a gingerbread fan?
If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!
- 1 ½ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil, scoop able
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 flax egg
- ¼ cup molasses
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Combine flour, salt, spices, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
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In the bowl of stand mixer or using a hand mixer beat the coconut oil for about 30 seconds. Add coconut sugar and beat for a minute longer until fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
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Add flax egg and molasses. Beat to combine.
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Add flour mixture a little at a time to wet ingredients and mix to incorporate.
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Once all flour has been incorporated divide dough into two pieces and flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
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Roll dough on a floured surface to ⅛ - ¼ inch thickness. If dough is too hard allow to warm slightly and then roll out. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes and carefully transfer to baking sheet. If the dough becomes too soft to work with simply pop back in the fridge to firm up a few minutes.
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Alternatively you can break off pieces of the dough and roll into balls. Then use the palm of hand to flatten into cookie shape.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. 8 minutes for a soft, tender cookie and longer for a crisper cookie.
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Allow to cool on pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling wire.
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