These Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are soft, chewy and so easy to make in just one bowl. The paleo cookie dough is perfectly spiced and rolls out like a dream! Includes step-by-step photos and paleo and low carb sweetener options.
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Easy Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Looking for a classic holiday cookie without any eggs or butter? These Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are soft, chewy and so easy to make in just one bowl. They are practically fool-proof and the dough is so easy to work with. Plus, all you need are simple pantry ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Every December, we usually make a few batches of our favorite gingerbread cookie recipes like these Gingerbread Men Cookies, Keto Gingerbread Men Cookies, Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies and Ginger Molasses Cookies for our friends and family for holiday gifts.
What’s great about this vegan cookie recipe is that you can also customize it depending on your dietary needs. This soft and chewy gingerbread cookie recipe is gluten-free, egg-free, grain-free, refined-sugar free and includes low carb, keto and paleo-friendly sweetener options.
Ingredients you need for Paleo Gingerbread Cookies:
Classic vegan gingerbread cookies typically call for vegan butter (or vegan margarine), coconut oil, almond milk, baking soda, baking powder and granulated sugar. As delicious as those cookies are, we wanted to come up with an easier vegan gingerbread cookie dough that doesn’t require extra leaveners or refined sugar.
Our gluten free gingerbread recipe calls for:
- superfine blanched almond flour – our favorite gluten free flour – do not swap this for almond meal as it will produce a tougher cookie. If you have a nut allergy, you can also swap for sunflower seed flour – I would not recommend swapping for coconut flour as it will not yield the same results
- use: Lakanto sugar-free maple syrup for low carb gingerbread cookies OR pure maple syrup for paleo gingerbread cookies
- pure vanilla extract – adds essential flavor to balance out the sweeteners. If you don’t like flavor of vanilla
- molasses – we prefer to use organic blackstrap molasses but you can also sub with fancy molasses if you like
- gingerbread spices: ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and ground all spice – feel free to adjust or play around with the spices according to your preference
- fine sea salt – optional but if you add just a little bit, it helps to enhance the flavor and balance out the sweetness – do not use kosher or coarse salt as they are too coarse for baking.
How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Cookies from Scratch
- MAKE THE DOUGH: In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sweetener, vanilla, molasses, gingerbread spices and salt. Mix until a dough starts to form. Knead dough with your hands and form into a large ball.
- CHILL: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. Chilling the dough is essential since freshly made cookie dough is too warm to work with and will cause your cookies to spread.
- PREP THE BAKING SHEET: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper,
- ROLL OUT DOUGH: Remove dough from fridge and roll into 1/4″ thickness in between two large pieces of parchment paper.
- CUT INTO SHAPES: Use cookie cutters to cut out into shapes – carefully lift and place cookies onto lined baking sheet. Use a silicone spatula as needed. Re-roll scraps and repeat.
- BAKE: Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway though, until cookies are just slightly golden on the bottom. If you like crispy vegan gingerbread cookies, bake for slightly longer, checking often so they don’t burn.
- COOL: Allow to cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- DECORATE: Decorate with frosting, powdered sugar of your choice, sprinkles or enjoy as is.
Helpful tips for making vegan gingerbread men cookies
- Chill the dough: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. Chilling the dough is essential since freshly made cookie dough is too warm to work with and will cause your cookies to spread. You can also chill the dough in the fridge for than an hour or even overnight if you plan on making the dough ahead of time.
- Measure flour correctly: I like to use the spoon and level method otherwise you will be using too much flour and that will affect the texture.C
- Roll your dough between two large sheets of parchment paper. This helps prevent the dough from sticking.
To decorate your cookies:
Vegan royal icing:
- almond milk OR dairy-free milk
- powdered monk fruit sweetener OR powdered coconut sugar
- vanilla extract
Optional: food-coloring
Vegan frosting
- organic refined coconut oil OR vegan butter
- powdered monk fruit sweetener OR powdered coconut sugar
- vanilla extract
- coconut cream OR dairy-free milk
Optional: food-coloring
Storage Instructions
You can store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Can Gingerbread Cookies be Frozen?
Yes, the great thing about making gingerbread cookies is that they store well in the freezer and will taste just as good as fresh cookies once you thaw them.
How to freeze:
You can freeze the unbaked cookie dough in an air-tight storage container or large resealable freezer bag for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Baked gingerbread cookies also freeze perfectly. Simply place the gingerbread cookies on large baking sheets and freeze for 20 minutes, or until hard. Transfer the frozen cookies to an resealable containers or large ziptop bags for up to 3 months.
To thaw: Remove frozen baked cookies from the freezer and allow to that at room temperature. Once thawed, you can roll the balls in more powdered sugar, if desired before serving.
Why you’ll love these vegan cookies:
- An easy one bowl cookie recipe
- Practically fool-proof
- No spreading
- Perfectly tender
- Simple to make
- Not too sweet
- Amazing with or without frosting
- Can be made paleo or low carb
Are vegan cookies healthy?
While I wouldn’t recommend eating the entire batch, these healthy vegan cookies are definitely more waist-line friendly than your typical sugar cookies.
The nutritional facts for one 2 inch cookie is:
- 73 calories
- 4g Net Carbs = 5g Total carbs – 1g Fiber
- 2g Protein
- 5g Fat
More Christmas cookies you might like:
These vegan gingerbread cookies are soft, chewy and so easy to make in just one bowl. The gluten free dough is perfectly spiced and rolls out like a dream! Gluten free with low carb and paleo sweetener options.
- 2 cups superfine blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup Lakanto sugar-free maple syrup OR pure maple syrup for paleo
- 2 tablespoons molasses , we use organic blackstrap but you can sub with fancy molasses if you prefer
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt – optional but if you add just a tiny pinch it helps to enhance the flavor and balance out the sweetness
MAKE THE DOUGH: In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sweetener, molasses, vanilla, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and salt. Mix until a dough starts to form. Knead dough with your hands and form into a large ball.
- CHILL: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. Chilling the dough is essential since freshly made cookie dough is too warm to work with and will cause your cookies to spread.
- PREP THE BAKING SHEET: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper,
- ROLL OUT DOUGH: Remove dough from fridge and roll into 1/4″ thickness in between two large pieces of parchment paper.
- CUT INTO SHAPES: Use cookie cutters to cut out into shapes – carefully lift and place cookies onto lined baking sheet. Use a silicon spatula as needed. Re-roll scraps and repeat.
Recipe Video
Did you try this recipe?
Olivia -
Wow, these were so easy to make and turned out delicious! Thank you!