Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are triple-caramelized by the natural sugars in applesauce, molasses, and white sugar, which triples the cookie-liciousness.
Gingerbread is to a gingersnap as a snickerdoodle is to a cinnamon graham cracker. One is soft and chewy, the other is thin and crispy. So, these Gingerbread Cookies are a softer, more tender take on the ginger snap. And what makes these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies so special is that they are sweetened naturally with molasses, sugar, and applesauce, and that spells flavor magic.
That’s because all these plant sugars bouncing around in these vegan cookies eventually rise to the surface and caramelize into sweet, browned, chewy-tender gingerbread cookies that you can decorate with your children and enjoy with a cold glass of milk or steaming hot tea. They’re decorated with vegan royal icing, which dries hard and acts as a nice glue, in case you’d like to make a gingerbread house with them or maybe try my fun Gingerbread Man Cookie Bouquet.
The warm, spicy flavor of these gingerbread cookies evokes all the magic of winter: presents under the tree, red knitted mittens, a fire crackling in the fireplace, a good book, and the comforts of family, home, and your favorite blankie.
Vegan Baking: The Opposite of a Flavor Sacrifice
There may be readers who have never tried a vegan cookie. They may not know that cooking and baking vegan is not a flavor sacrifice, it’s a flavor gain. Fruit and vegetables come alive and shimmer under heat, adding whole new levels of flavor to the final product.
The trick to vegan baking is understanding how to optimize all these new, natural sugar sources. While ginger isn’t a source of lots of sugars, it does provide a lovely, spicy flavor to these cookies. In these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, by using the complementary ingredients of molasses, maple syrup, and spice, you can achieve delicious cookies with layers of vegetable, fruit, spice, and sweetness in every bite.
How do I store these cookies?
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are quite resilient and keep well in an airtight container for as long as two weeks. Make sure to wait at least two hours before icing them, as they can be sticky after baking. Also, freeze them un-iced, and make sure to separate your layers with wax paper so they don’t stick in the freezer. Freeze for up to two months.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these after a comfort-food dinner of One-Pot Veggie Loaded Pasta or as part of a fun lunch with the kids, which also includes Vegan Cream Cheese and Herb Tea Sandwiches and some healthy Apple Racecars. McDonald’s might have sides of apple slices, but you have Apple Racecars and Vegan Gingerbread Cookies–much more tempting, don’t you agree?
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter softened
- 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce room temperature
- 1 batch vegan royal icing for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Gather all ingredients to ensure a smooth baking process.
- Whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, and sea salt in a large bowl. Set aside for later use.
- Cream the vegan butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Add molasses and applesauce, beating until fully mixed. Combine with dry ingredients to form a dough.
- Cover the dough in plastic then chill for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
- Place cut cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill again.
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes until they are set but still soft.
- Cool cookies before decorating with vegan royal icing.
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