Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

The dough is easy to roll and cut once chilled, and the cookies hold their shape well enough for gingerbread people, stars, Christmas trees, or whatever cutters you have. Bake them for around 10 minutes for the softest texture, or leave them in a little longer if you prefer your gingerbread firmer and crisper.

I love decorating them with my eggless royal icing, and I also use them to decorate my vegan gingerbread cheesecake.

For more holiday baking ideas, you'll find them alongside my favorite cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, and treats in this collection of vegan Christmas desserts.

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• Why this recipe works
• Key ingredients
• How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
• Christina's recipe tips
• Make Ahead & Storage
• More Vegan Cookies
• 📖 Recipe

Why this recipe works

Soft and chewy, not rock-hard. Bake them for 10 minutes for a tender center with just-set edges. You can easily adjust the bake time if you prefer firmer gingerbread.

They hold their shape. Chilling the dough before rolling - and the cut cookies again before baking when needed - keeps the edges neat rather than spreading into blobs.

Properly spiced. These aren't shy on gingerbread flavor, with plenty of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice or cloves.

Easy to decorate. The flat surface and clean edges work really well with royal icing, but they're just as good left plain or drizzled with chocolate.

Vegan block butter: Use a firm block-style vegan butter rather than spreadable margarine from a tub. The higher water content in softer spreads can make the dough sticky and encourage the cookies to spread. Bring the butter to room temperature before mixing so the dough binds properly.

Soft brown sugar: Adds moisture and a slight caramel flavor that works especially well with molasses and spices.

Unsulphured molasses: Gives gingerbread its characteristic dark color, deep flavor, and chewy texture. I use Grandma's Original Molasses. Black treacle also works, but avoid blackstrap molasses, which is considerably more bitter.

Gingerbread spices: I use plenty of ground ginger along with cinnamon, nutmeg, and either allspice or cloves. The recipe is intentionally warmly spiced rather than mild.

Orange zest: This is the little addition that makes these taste particularly special to me. You don't get an obvious orange-flavored cookie; it just brings some freshness to the molasses and warming spices.

Vegan royal icing: For decorating, I use my eggless vegan royal icing made with aquafaba. You can outline the cookies, flood them completely, or skip the icing and use melted vegan chocolate instead.

The temperature of the vegan butter makes a big difference to the dough. You want it softened enough to cream easily with the brown sugar, but not melted or greasy. I usually take block butter out of the fridge around 30-60 minutes before starting.

I've actually adjusted the method for this recipe over time based on reader feedback about crumbly dough. I now keep using the electric mixer when the flour goes in rather than switching to mixing by hand. The mixer helps distribute the butter and molasses properly through the flour and brings everything together without needing an egg replacer.

Give it a little time before deciding the dough is too dry. It can look crumbly at first and then suddenly start clumping together as the mixer works. Only add plant milk if you've mixed it thoroughly and the dough genuinely still won't hold together when pressed. Add it one tablespoon at a time - too much will make the dough sticky and increase spreading.

Flatten the dough into a disc before chilling rather than leaving it as a ball. This helps it chill more evenly and makes it much easier to roll later. One hour is the minimum, but I find a couple of hours gives you a firmer, easier-to-handle dough.

If the dough has been chilled for several hours or overnight and feels rock solid, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling rather than forcing the rolling pin through it.

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For rolling, aim for around ¼ inch / 6mm thick. This gives you a cookie that's sturdy enough to decorate but still has a soft center. Use just enough flour on the counter and rolling pin to prevent sticking - repeatedly adding lots of flour as you reroll the scraps can make the last cookies drier and firmer than the first ones.

Try to bake similar-sized shapes together. A small star and a large gingerbread person won't finish at exactly the same time, so grouping them makes the baking time much easier to judge.

If keeping really sharp outlines matters, place the cut cookies back in the fridge or freezer before baking. I often freeze the whole tray for around 30 minutes, especially if the dough has warmed up while rolling. This, together with using block butter, is the best way I've found to prevent excessive spreading.

For the 6.5 x 5.3cm cutters I use, 10 minutes gives the softest result. The edges should look set, while the centers still feel slightly soft. They'll firm up as they cool, so don't keep baking until they feel completely firm in the oven or they'll end up much harder once cold.

For a firmer cookie, bake closer to 12 minutes, or around 14 minutes for crunchy gingerbread.

Something else worth knowing: these cookies can feel a little firmer on the day they're baked and naturally soften slightly after sitting in an airtight container overnight. That's why I prefer not to overbake them if I'm making them ahead for Christmas.

Let the cookies cool completely before decorating. With royal icing, I find it easiest to pipe the outline first, let that set briefly, then fill the center if you're flooding the cookies. Keep any unused icing covered or sealed in the piping bag because it starts drying as soon as it's exposed to air.

Once decorated, give the icing at least 1-2 hours to dry completely before stacking the cookies or packing them into tins.

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Make Ahead & Storage

The dough can be prepared ahead and kept tightly wrapped in the refrigerator overnight. If it's very firm the next day, leave it at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling.

For Christmas baking, I usually prefer to bake the cookies ahead rather than leaving all the rolling and decorating until the last minute. Once completely cool, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Make sure royal icing is completely dry before stacking decorated cookies. Place parchment between layers if the designs are delicate.

For longer storage, freeze the undecorated baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month, then thaw them at room temperature before decorating.

More Vegan Cookies

📖 Recipe

*This recipe was originally published in November 2020. The recipe has since been improved and updated to simplify the instructions.