Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Vegan gingerbread cookies made with spelt flour! These little cut-out cookies are crispy around the edges and lightly chewy in the center. Bake them for the holidays and have fun decorating them with the family! No chilling required!
Servings 16
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon flax seeds, ground
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened (see notes)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup whole grain spelt flour, spoon and leveled (see notes)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
- 1- 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon clove, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
- 3/4 cup icing sugar (vegan)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon plant-based milk of choice (I used plain oat milk)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flax seeds and water. Set aside and let it thicken for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, add your butter and brown sugar to a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the sugar and butter together with the stand mixer or a hand mixer. You can also use a fork and whisk it manually if you prefer. Add the molasses, flax egg and vanilla. whisk until creamy.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, baking soda and salt. Transfer the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir to combine. The mixture will seem dry, this is normal.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times until the dough becomes smooth. Roll it out using a rolling pin, until it gets about 1/4-inch thick.
- Cut the dough using a cookie cutter. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Form another ball using the leftover dough, roll it out again and form more cookies. Continue this process until all the dough is used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should be slightly crispy around the edges and soft in the middle. They will get crispier as they sit. Let them cool completely.
Prepare the Icing
- Whisk the icing sugar, milk and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Pour it into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with a very small corner cut off. Decorate the cookies as desired.
Notes
This recipe doesn't require any chilling. The cookies hold their shape perfectly as is. However, if you want to prepare the dough ahead or time, you can keep the dough in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap until ready to bake.
I tried this recipe using softened room temperature butter and cold refrigerated butter. Both worked well, but note that the cold butter will be a little harder to mix with the sugar. Softened butter made the cookies spread just a tiny bit more.
You can make this recipe using whole grain spelt flour, all-purpose white flour or all-purpose whole wheat flour. Whole wheat bread flour will also work in a pinch, but the texture won't be as smooth.
I tried the recipe with both 1/3 cup and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. The difference was almost undetectable, so use what you'd like.
I like to use 1 teaspoon of ginger, but if you want more of a ginger kick, use 1 1/2 teaspoon.
The type of vegan butter you use may change the outcome of the recipe. I tried the Becel vegan butter (in a tub) and the Becel vegan butter sticks (both salted). The sticks are harder and so the cookies spread a little less. If your butter is very soft, it will be safer to chill the dough for at least 3 hours before baking.