Easy to make and good for you too, these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are just in time for Christmas.
Well, you know what they say...better late than never, right. I've been making and re-making these Vegan Gingerbread Cookies all week to get them just right for posting on my blog. I finally said no matter what, I'm going to post them today, on Christmas Eve, just in case someone is in the mood for baking. If not, save the recipe for next year, or just make them for New Years. They are fun to decorate and taste divine, so you won't be sorry.
I thought that making these cookies would snap me out of my holiday blues. They did a little, especially because my Granddaugther was here to help me decorate. But as I sit here working on this post, listening to Christmas Carols and drinking vegan eggnog, I find myself a little lonely and I don't know why. I was invited to my DIL's mom's house but just didn't feel like going. So here I sit, talking to you, just in case you're lonely too!
I made two different batches of these little Vegan Gingerbread Men and decided to go with the 2nd recipe for this post because I used whole wheat flower instead of white, which is far healthier for you. It made only a slight difference in taste, but I did enjoy them more r than the 1st batch.
I must admit this is the very first time I've ever decorated cookies. Let's just say it isn't as easy as it looks. I must have tried 3 different ways to decorate them and finally got tired of trying to get them perfect and decided just to post them as they are. They didn't come out too bad, but I'm sure with practice, anyone can get better at this! Right? Please say yes!
As far as the recipe goes, it's pretty straight forward. All healthy ingredients and they'll smell so good when they're baking. I know you won't be able to eat just one. dd 1-2 teaspoon But who's counting, it's Christmas so I'm giving you permission to eat more than one. I did and they are so great with vegan eggnog, or better yet, vegan eggnog and coffee.
I'm not going to take up much of your time this evening. I know you are busy enjoying time with family and friends. If you get a change to make these, that's great. I'd love to hear how they turned out for you.
For more holiday recipes, check out these Vegan Cookies in a Jar and these 47 Christmas Dinner Ideas for Vegans & Non-Vegans Alike.
Have you tried this? Why not leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and sign up for my newsletter!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Men
- ¼ cup vegan butter I use Earth Balance
- ½ cup maple sugar you may also use coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup molasses I use Grandma's
- 1 flax egg prepare by adding 1 tablespoon ground flax meal to 2 tablespoon H2O; let sit for 10 minutes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinammon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1- 3 tablespoon water add to dough if too crumbly
For the Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperature
- 1 8 oz tub Tofutti Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3-5 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
For the Gingerbread Men
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the vegan butter and maple sugar to bowl and mix thoroughly. The consistency should be a bit crumbly.
- Fold in the flax egg, molasses and vanilla into the vegan butter and coconut mixture and beat together until well-combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together until well-combined.
- Generously flour a flat surface and transfer your dough onto it. Flour your hands as needed so the dough doesn't stick. Roll the dough into a ball adding more flour if needed so it doesn't stick.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it's about ¼ inch thick.
- Dip your cookie cutter into flour each time and cut out some gingerbread men. Move your men to the baking sheet.
- Roll the remaining scraps of dough into another ball. Roll out again and cut out more men. Transfer onto baking sheet and repeat until all the dough is used.
- Bake for approximately 13-14 minutes, depending upon your oven. For softer men, remove from oven after 10 minutes.
- Transfer gingerbread men to a cooling rack and cool competely before decorating.
For the Frosting
- Mix together vegan butter, Tofutti Cream Cheese, vanilla, cream of tartar and sea salt. Slowly fold powdered sugar into this mixure. Start with 3 cups and if it isn't hard enough, use the rest. Thin the frosting by adding almond milk. Thicken the frosting by adding more powdered sugar.
- The frosting should be quite thick and you should be able to form a peak that will hold for quite some time before melding back together. For best results, refrigerate before decorating.
- Remove from fridge and decorate any way you please.
Notes
- Calories are per one cookie.
- The number of gingerbread men you get will largely depend upon the size of your cookie cutter. I ended up with 18 from my dough,
- This dough is crumbly; when you pick it up, however, it should meld together to form a dough ball. If it's too crumbly, first add a little water. If it's still crumbly, try adding 1-2 teaspoon of vegetable oil.
- For thicker cookies, roll out a thicker dough.
- Adapted from Loving it Vegan.
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