I am so excited to share today's Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies! These soft and chewy gingerbread cookies are the perfect holiday cookies. This recipe makes plenty of cookies perfect for holiday cookie decorating!
Ingredients For These Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies:
For The Gingerbread Men Cookies:
- Gluten-Free Flour - Any gluten-free flour blend will work perfectly. I always opt for gluten-free flours that are made with whole foods plant based ingredients. A majority of gluten-free flours are full of starches and do not retain their fiber content.
- Coconut Sugar - Coconut sugar is a great natural sweetener. It contains more nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium. Coconut sugar also contains the soluble fiber inulin which helps to lesses blood sugar spikes.
- Nutmeg - Nutmeg is one of the many important spices necessary to achieve the proper gingerbread flavor. A little goes a long way with nutmeg.
- Cinnamon - Cinnamon is one of the most important spices used in gingerbread. It adds sweetness and flavor.
- Ginger - No gingerbread is complete without ginger. Make sure to use powdered ginger. You can add some fresh ginger into the dough for a spicier cookie.
- Cloves - A little bit of cloves helps to elevate the spiciness of these Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies. If you're not a fan of spicy cookies, feel free to leave out this ingredient.
- Baking Soda - Helps the cookies to bake evenly.
- Molasses - Although ginger is the signature flavor in gingerbread cookies, I personally believe that molasses is the key flavor to achieving the best gingerbread flavor. It's important to get blackstrap molasses, because it's more nutritious.
- Vanilla Extract - I always love adding a bit of vanilla extract to all my cookie recipes, because it helps to balance all the flavors out.
- Coconut Butter - I love using coconut butter as an oil-free alternative for baking. Make sure to use runny coconut butter. If the coconut butter is too dry, then it won't spread properly. I always like to use a new jar of coconut butter, because it is smooth and creamy. If your coconut butter is dry, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil to the mixture and mix it until it becomes smooth and creamy.
For The Refined Sugar-Free Royal Icing (Optional):
- Powdered Erythritol - Erythritol can be a controversial ingredient amongst whole foods plant based foodies. It is not a whole food, and it doesn't contain any nutrients. However, it does work exactly like powdered sugar, and does not spike your blood pressure. My opinion is to use it in moderation, and only for foods where a better option is not available. This is why I use it in place of powdered sugar. I have yet to find a whole foods plant based powdered sugar substitute, therefore I'll be sticking with Erythritol!
- Plant Based Milk - Any plant based milk will work perfectly for this refined sugar-free royal icing. I personally like using soy, because it has a much richer taste and consistency. This helps the erythritol to retain it's icing like texture.
How To Make These Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies:
These Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are one of my favorite Christmas Cookies to make, because they're easy to make, fun to decorate, and they keep the whole season. All you need is a large bowl, a rolling pin, and cookie cutters.
Begin by adding the gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, spices, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Add the coconut butter, molasses, and vanilla extract. Mix until the mixture is combined and a dough has formed. Cover and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350 and roll out the dough until about ¼ inch thick. Cut out cookie shapes and place on a nonstick, or greased baking sheet. place in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes (12 for softer cookies, and 15 more crispier cookies).
Once baked, place on a cooling rack to cool completely. While the cookies are cooling, assemble the icing. Add both ingredients to a bowl and mix until smooth. Place the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes before adding to a piping bag.
Once the cookies have cooled completely, decorating them. Place the decorated cookies in the fridge to chill for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions:
What's The Best Way To Store These Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies?
Storing decorated cookies can be a total hassle. You bump them slightly and the whole design is ruined. Therefore how you store them is crucial. These Healthy Vegan Gingerbread are best kept in the fridge, where the icing won't heat up.
It's also important not to stack them. I love using a triple layered cooling rack, or on flat baking sheets packed together as tightly as possible. Do not cover them, because that can cause damages to your designs.
Another option is to make the cookies, and keep them stored in a zip lock bag, and then decorate right before serving. This is my preferred method, because the gingerbread will stay soft and chewy, and the icing will stay vibrant white.
What Makes These Gingerbread Cookies Healthy?
These Gingerbread Cookies are one of my go-to Christmas cookies every year, because they taste just like traditional gingerbread, only they're made with all whole foods plant based ingredients. This makes it easy to enjoy all the traditional flavors of Christmas, without any of the unhealthy highly processed ingredients.
If you're looking for a quick checklist of what makes these cookies healthy, here it is:
- Vegan - These cookies do not contain any animal products. This means that this recipe contains more fiber, and less saturated fat than a gingerbread cookies recipe with animal products.
- Gluten-Free - This recipe is made with gluten-free flour. This isn't always healthier, but if you use the right flour it can be, and it's great for people with celiac!
- Oil-Free - This recipe is oil-free. This means it has a lower calorie density, and contains more fiber. This is great, because the cookies will fill you up, and help you to eat less.
- Refined Sugar-Free - Since these Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are naturally sweetened, they do not contain any refined sugars. This means they have a lower glycemic impact than similar cookies made with refined sugars.
- Whole Foods Plant Based - These cookies are made with all natural ingredients, which means they are nutrient dense, and health promoting.
Related Healthy Vegan Christmas Cookie Recipes:
- Maple Pecan Cookies
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
- Healthy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Eggnog Cookies
Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookies:
- 1 cup gluten-free flour
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup coconut butter
- ½ cup blackstrap molasses
- 2 tablespoon ginger
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Royal Icing:
- 1 cup powdered erythritol
- 1-2 tablespoon plant based milk
Instructions
- Begin by adding the gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, spices, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Add the coconut butter, molasses, and vanilla extract. Mix until the mixture is combined and a dough has formed. Cover and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
- Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350 and roll out the dough until about ¼ inch thick. Cut out cookie shapes and place on a nonstick, or greased baking sheet. place in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes (12 for softer cookies, and 15 more crispier cookies).
- Once baked, place on a cooling rack to cool completely. While the cookies are cooling, assemble the icing. Add both ingredients to a bowl and mix until smooth. Place the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes before adding to a piping bag.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, decorating them. Place the decorated cookies in the fridge to chill for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
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