Vegan Gingerbread Men + VIDEO

Soft and pillowy vegan gingerbread men are a classic Christmas cookie! Cut into any shape and decorate how your heart desires for a festive and fun baking recipe.

Gingerbread cookies are holiday classics. The flavors of spices plus the molasses just feel like Christmas

Plus, they are so easy to make and fun to decorate.

These vegan gingerbread cookies are soft, chewy, and full of that warm gingerbread flavor.

Ingredients for vegan gingerbread cookies

• Flax egg
• Vegan butter
• Brown sugar
• Vanilla
• Molasses
• Applesauce
• Apple cider vinegar
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Ginger
• Cinnamon

How to make vegan gingerbread cookies

1. Start by making a flax egg. Mix ground flaxseed with water and let sit until it thickens (fig. 1)
2. Meanwhile, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. This step can be done using a hand mixer or a stand mixer
3. Add flax egg, vanilla, applesauce, and molasses and beat until combined
4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients
5. Add the dry to the wet and mix until just combined. The dough will be soft and pliable (fig. 6)
6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let chill for 30 minutes in the fridge

Roll out to 1/4-inch thick between wax paper and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes

Note: For thinner cookies, you can roll out to 1/8-inch thick but baking times will vary so just keep that in mind!

Pro Tip: Dip cookie cutter into flour so the dough does not stick to the cookie cutter!

Transfer cookies to a cookie sheet and pop in the freezer while the oven is preheating

How to decorate gingerbread cookies

1. Once baked and cooked, decorate the cookies to your liking!
2. Make the icing and transfer to a piping bag or a plastic bag.
3. Cut a small part of the corner off the bag and test an area to make sure it’s the thickness you’d like.

how to make vegan icing 

Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond milk until desired consistency is reached.

These cookies are thick, soft, chewy, and full of warm spice flavor. Perfect vegan cookie for a Christmas part, cookie swap, or Santa’s plate.

Are gingerbread cookies healthy?

This recipe is healthier as it substitutes half the butter by using applesauce. Applesauce is a healthy oil replacement in vegan baking and adds moisture to the recipe.

You can also try substituting the flour with a whole-wheat flour or GF flour although I have not tested either of these so I cannot guarantee great results!

If you tried this vegan gingerbread cookies, let me know in the comments below and share a photo using #mindfulavocado. I’d love to hear from you! Want to see more recipes? Let’s get social! CONNECT WITH ME on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest to see what I’m currently cooking up!

If you like these vegan Christmas cookies, you’ll LOVE:
Vegan Mexican Wedding Cookies
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies + How to Use a Cookie Stamp
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

So easy to make and FULL of warm spice flavor! Perfect for Christmas and so soft and chewy, this cookie recipe is a must try for the holidays!

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Holiday, Vegan

Keyword: healthy christmas cookies, healthy gingerbread cookies, soft gingerbread cookies, vegan gingerbread men

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Chill Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 cookies

Calories: 142kcal

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• 1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon ground flax seed + 3 Tablespoons water)
• 1/4 cup vegan butter such as Earth Balance or Miyokos; room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup applesauce optional; can use 1/4 cup more of vegan butter instead
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2+1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon each cloves, nutmeg, allspice optional

Icing:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon almond milk

Tools:

• non stick baking sheet
• baking mat
• hand mixer
• gingerbread men cookie cutter

Instructions

• Make flax egg: Mix ground flaxseed and water in small bowl and place in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to set.
• Using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Add flax egg, vanilla, applesauce, apple cider vinegar, and molasses to wet mixture and beat until just combined.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
• Once the dough is chilled, roll out to 1/4-inch thickness between two sheets of wax paper. If the dough is sticking to either side of wax paper, sprinkle some flour on the surface of the dough.
• Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Continue re-rolling out the dough to make shapes.
• Transfer cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat. Pop the baking sheet into the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Remove cookies from freezer and bake for 8-10 minutes.
• Remove cookies from oven and let cool completely before transferring to cooling rack.

To Make Icing:

• Whisk all ingredients for icing in a small bowl. Transfer to a piping bag or plastic bag and cut a small corner of the bag. Decorate cookies as desired!

Video

Notes

Instead of waiting for the dough to chill, you can make the day before and refrigerate overnight.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie (without glaze) | Calories: 142kcal | Carbohydrates: 29.8g | Protein: 2.3g | Fat: 1.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 146mg | Potassium: 179mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 11.6g | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1.6mg

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