Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

Name: Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 150 g vegan block butter (room temperature *see note 1); 150 g soft brown sugar; 100 g molasses; 2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 tablespoon orange zest; 340 g all-purpose flour (or all purpose GF for gluten-free option); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 tablespoons ground ginger; 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg; ½ teaspoon ground allspice (or ground cloves); ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 batch vegan royal icing (or half batch if only outlining them); 40 g vegan chocolate (melted, optional)

These easy vegan gingerbread cookies are buttery and full of warming winter spices that will make your entire house smell like Christmas. Decorate them with vegan royal icing to bring them to life!

Perfect for the holiday season, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. They also make a wonderful addition to homemade cookie boxes for gifts!

Note: Based on reader feedback I've slightly tweaked the method so that the cookie dough binds better, with no need for added ingredients!

Jump to:

🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
💭 Top Tips
🍽 Serving
💬 FAQs
🎄 More Vegan Cookie Recipes
📖 Recipe

🧾 Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make this easy vegan gingerbread cookie recipe from scratch:

Ingredient Notes

Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Vegan butter: It’s important to use room-temperature vegan block butter here and not margarine, as the water content in margarine, is too high.
Spices: You'll need gingerbread spices including ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and allspice or ground cloves.
Soft Brown Sugar: Gives a slight "caramel" flavor, perfect for festive cookies like these gingerbread biscuits.
Unsulphured Molasses: I use Grandma's brand. This gives them a soft and chewy consistency on the inside. You can also use black treacle, which has a slightly milder flavor but do not use blackstrap molasses.
Orange zest. The secret ingredient to making this vegan gingerbread cookie recipe irresistibly good (and literally impossible to stop at eating just one), is the addition of orange zest. It adds a lovely freshness to cookies which compliments the warming spices of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Aquababa: This is the liquid part from canned or jarred chickpeas (chickpea brine), it works similarly to egg whites and sets the royal icing when dry.

🔪 Instructions

Here are step-by-step images showing how to make these soft gingerbread cookies. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:

vegan butter and brown sugar creamed in a large bowl with an electric mixer.

Step 1: Add the softened butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer until combined. You can also use a stand mixer.

molasses, orange zest, and vanilla added to creamed butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add the molasses, vanilla extract, and orange zest and whisk again to combine.

gingerbread spices mixed into cookie dough.

Step 3: Whisk in the gingerbread spices, baking soda, and sea salt.

Step 4: Continuing with the electric mixer, whisk the flour into the wet ingredients until you have a dough consistency. If the dough is too dry, whisk in a tablespoon of non-dairy milk.

gingerbread cookie dough in a disk with plastic wrap before chilling.

Step 5: Flatten the vegan gingerbread dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour (a couple of hours if you have the time).

gingerbread cookie dough rolled out with gingerbread men cut outs.

Step 6: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to approximately a quarter inch in height, and use cookie cutters to cut out any shapes you desire.

gingerbread cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet before baking.

Step 7: Place the cookies at least 2 inches apart on baking trays lined with parchment paper. Optionally, freeze the tray with the cookies for half an hour before baking to help prevent them from spreading too much. Reroll and repeat with the remaining dough, or chill leftover dough until ready to bake.

gingerbread cookie with royal icing on a sheet of newspaper.

Step 8: Let the cookies come to room temperature on a cooling rack, then decorate with vegan royal icing or melted chocolate.

💭 Top Tips

Use an electric whisk or stand mixer. This cookie dough will not bind properly if mixed by hand.

You can cut these cookies into any shape you like: gingerbread people, stars, polar bears, Christmas trees, and the sky is truly the limit.

If you don't have fancy cookie cutters (but you do have a bit more patience!) you can download gingerbread men cookie shapes online that you can use as guides to cut your cookies from.

Make sure your countertop and rolling pin are floured to prevent the cookie dough from sticking to them.

Freeze the cookie sheet with the cookies on it before baking for 30 minutes to help prevent them from spreading too much while in the oven.

The royal icing will stay in its liquid form as long as it isn't exposed to air. So keep the piping bag sealed until you are ready to use it. You can refrigerate unused icing in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

When icing the cookies, I recommend going around the outline of the cookie shape first and allowing that to dry. Then fill in the rest of the cookie with more icing (or just leave an outline effect!).

🍽 Serving

These vegan ginger cookies make a great festive topping for other desserts such as:

💬 FAQs

How to store vegan gingerbread men?

These cookies will be slightly firm/crunchy when freshly baked and will soften after the first day. You can keep them in an airtight container for around 2 weeks.

How long should I bake gingerbread cookies?

Depending on the consistency you're after and the size of your cookie cutters, the baking times will vary. Here are the general times for 3.5-inch cookie cutters:

For soft and chewy cookies, bake for 10 minutes.
For firm cookies, bake for 12 minutes.
For crunchy cookies, bake for 14 minutes.

Please also bear in mind that after the first day, your cookies will naturally become a little softer as they are exposed to air.

What if my dough is too dry or crumbly?

This recipe is designed to work without an egg replacer. The fat and moisture naturally present in dairy-free butter, molasses, and vanilla extract are enough to bind them together. It's also important to use room-temperature butter for optimum binding.

However, if you find that your dough is a little on the dry side, simply whisk in 1-2 tablespoons of soy milk or oat milk to bring it together.

Do I need to chill gingerbread before baking?

Yes, chill the dough for at least an hour before baking (more time if you have it). Chilled dough is much easier to roll out, and it gives the ingredients a chance to absorb each other.