These vegan gingerbread cookies are a delicious plant-based alternative to traditional gingerbread. Perfect for making gingerbread men, stars, houses, and much more!
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Baking gingerbread is synonymous with Christmas for me. I have been making my traditional gingerbread men every Christmas for a long as I can remember. Every year my Mum and I would make bucket loads of it to eat at Christmas and to give to friends and family at Christmas time. Now I have my own kids I make it every year with them too.
But as time has gone on we now have friends and family who are vegan, or dairy or egg-free. Rather than them missing out I decided it was time to update my family recipe to make vegan gingerbread cookies. With a few simple swaps and some tweaking of the recipe I'm pleased to say this vegan version tastes just as good as my original recipe!
With an easy vegan royal icing it's perfect for making gingerbread men, stars and other shapes. You could also use this recipe to make a vegan gingerbread house. Look out for vegan candies to decorate your gingerbread men with for the buttons, try your local wholefoods store or online.
Looking for a gluten-free alternative? Try making my gluten free gingerbread. I have been asked by a friend if I can make a vegan And gluten-free version. I am in the process of recipe testing and will report back my results as soon as it's done!
Ingredients
Gingerbread
Ground ginger: gives the classic ginger taste to this recipe. I like my gingerbread very gingery. If you prefer a milder flavored gingerbread I strongly recommend you reduce the amount of ginger to two and a half to two tablespoons.
Golden syrup: adds to the wonderful caramel flavors in this recipe without competing with the ginger. If you can't get golden syrup you could try replacing it with mild-tasting agave, maple syrup or even molasses, but it's likely you will be able to taste these different flavors in the cookies.
Brown sugar: also called light brown sugar gives this recipe a lovely caramel note, without overwhelming the ginger.
Vegan Butter: make sure it's at room temperature before you start baking. I used a butterly version as it has a taste that's more similar to regular butter.
Plain white flour: These cookies are not meant to puff up very much so don't be tempted to use self-raising flour. You can also use all-purpose flour.
Soy lecithin: available for wholefoods shops and online, it's generally considered to be the best plant-based replacement for egg yolks.
Bicarbonate of soda: also known as bicarb, helps bind these cookies. This is not the same as baking powder and you can not substitute one for the other in this recipe.
Vegan royal icing and decorations
Icing sugar: also called powdered sugar. Other types of sugar won't work for this recipe.
Aquafaba: is the liquid you get from cooking chickpeas and other legumes. It's easiest to get by draining a tin of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) and keeping the liquid.
Creme of tartar: helps the icing set and remain hard. You could also use the same amount of fresh lemon juice.
Vanilla extract: sometimes also called vanilla essence, depending on where you live. You can use either, or imitation vanilla essence, depending on your preference and budget. I found a small amount of vanilla essence did not affect the white color of my icing, however if you are worried about this you can leave it out or look for 'white' colored vanilla essence, available from some specialty baking shops.
Vegan round candies: are used for the pretty gingerbread men buttons. I found some vegan smarties and my local whole foods shop but you can use whatever vegan button-shaped candy you like or mix it up with different shapes and types. You could also leave the candies off if you prefer.
How to make vegan gingerbread
See the full recipe card at the end of the post for ingredient amounts and instructions.
Preheat your oven to 355°F (180°C) (fan-forced). Grease about four oven trays with vegan butter. This recipe makes approximately eight trays of gingerbread, depending on how big your trays are. I usually grease every tray I have that will fit in the oven, then have a production line going.
Grid up your soy lecithin granules into a coarse powder using a small chopping bowl of a stick blender, or mortar and pestle. You can skip this step if you have soy lecithin powder, but make sure you measure by grams, not spoons as you'll have too much otherwise. Add the powder to a small bowl and add four teaspoons of water. Stir well and allow to sit for five minutes to thicken. This creates the replacement 'egg yolks' for the gingerbread.
Add the vegan butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl. Mix together, either by hand or with handheld electric beaters or stand mixer. Add the golden syrup, soy lecithin and ginger. Mix well.
At this point you will need to switch to a large strong wooden spoon unless your mixer can handle thick cookie dough. Electric hand mixers won't work for this step. I strongly recommend a thick-handled wooded spoon, my traditional recipe has claimed at least two thin-handled wooded spoons over the years!
Add the first cup of flour and bicarb and mix well. Add the remaining flour, one cup at a time, mixing well between each addition.
Hot tip: If you don't have a kitchen scale I recommend using the spoon and fill method to measure the flour. Spoon the flour into the cup, then level off with a flat butter knife or spatula.
The dough will become progressively harder to mix. You may need to tuck the bowl in next to your body and give it some elbow grease to mix in the flour towards in end.
Heavily flour a clean workbench and tip the dough onto the bench. Sprinkle with more flour. Cut the dough in half and put half back into the mixing bowl.
Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until approximately 3 to 4 mms thick, sprinkling more flour as needed to prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin.
Cut the gingerbread out with the cookie cutters, transferring each man to a baking tray as you go, leaving about half an inch space in between each cookie.
Fill the trays, then bake for about ten to twelve minutes or until just starting to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, before transferring to wire rakes to cool completely.
How to decorate:
To make the vegan royal icing add the aquafaba and citric acid to a bowl or stand mixer. Beat with the mixer or handheld electric mixers until well combined and just starting to froth. Add the icing sugar one cup at a time and beat on low speed until combined. Add the vanilla extract if using. Turn up to medium speed and beat for about five minutes until thick, opaque and glossy.
Transfer to a piping bag or small zip lock bag. Cut the tip off and decorate the gingerbread, sticking the vegan candy for buttons if using. Allow to set completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage.
This recipe makes a Lot of vegan royal icing, however, I have found this is about the minimum you can practically make and still whip it up properly, particularly if making in a stand mixer. If using a handheld electric beaters you may get away with halving the quantity in the recipe.
You can also make them up into wonderful homemade Christmas gifts by putting them into some pretty clear festive bags and tieing with ribbon.
How to serve
These pretty gingerbread men are perfect to serve after a Christmas feast, as part of a festive dessert bar or when friends and family pop over during the festive season. They also make fantastic make-ahead homemade Christmas gifts.
How to store
These gingerbread men will store well un-decorated in an airtight container lined with baking paper for up to a month and maybe Ok for up to a further month after that. If undecorated they should last for a similar amount of time in a sealed, airtight gift bag.
If the cookies are icing and decorated the storage time is reduced. They should last ok for up to a week in a sealed airtight container or gift bag. After this they will still taste good but may start to go soft and less crispy.
Have you made this recipe? Tell me how it went in the comments below and tag me on instagram so I can see your delicious creations! @keep_calm_and_eat_icecream
Looking for more yummy dessert recipes?
Why not try making
- Coffee Aquafaba Meringues (vegan)
- Gingerbread Cheesecake
- Chocolate Covered Orange Peel (easy vegan option)
- Vegan Custard
- Vegan Apple Crumble
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📋 Recipe
Vegan gingerbread
Equipment
- Electric hand beaters or a stand mixer
- Baking trays
- Cookie cutters in your preferred shapes i.e. gingerbread men, stars, trees etc.
- Rolling Pin
- Piping bag with fine round tip for decorating or small zip lock bag
Ingredients
Gingerbread
- 3 tablespoons (15gms soy lecithin granuals
- 1 cup (220gms) brown sugar
- 2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon (250gms) vegan butter
- 1 cup (250mls) golden syrupe
- 3 & ½ flat tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 flat teaspoons bicarb
- 5 cups (750gms) plain flour
Decorations
- 3 tablespoons aquafaba
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid
- 1 & ¾ cups (280gms) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the vegan gingerbread
- Preheat your oven to 355°F (180°C) (fan-forced). Grease about four oven trays with vegan butter.
- Add the vegan butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl. Mix together, either by hand or with handheld electric beaters or stand mixer. Add the golden syrup, soy lecithin and ginger. Mix well.
- Add the first cup of flour and bicarb and mix well. Add the remaining flour, one cup at a time, mixing well between each addition. You will need to switch to a large storng wooded spoon unless your stand mixer can handle a thick dough. The dough will become progressively harder to mix.
- Heavily flour a clean workbench and tip the dough onto the bench. Sprinkle with more flour. Cut the dough in half and put half back into the mixing bowl.
- Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until approximately 3 to 4 mms thick, sprinkling more flour as needed to prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin.
- Cut the gingerbread out with the gingerbread men cookie cutters, transferring each man to a baking tray as you go, leaving about half an inch space in between each cookie.
- Fill the trays, then bake for about ten to twelve minutes or until just starting to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, before transferring to wire rakes to cool completely.
To decorate
- Add the aquafaba and citric acid to a bowl or stand mixer. Beat with the mixer or handheld electric mixers until well combined and just starting to froth.
- Add the icing sugar one cup at a time and beat on low speed until combined. Add the vanilla extract if using. Turn up to medium speed and beat for about five minutes until thick, opaque and glossy.
- Transfer to a piping bag or small zip lock bag. Cut the tip off and decorate the gingerbread, sticking the vegan candy for buttons if using. Allow to set completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage.
Notes
- The time in the recipe is hands-on making a baking time, it does not include time for the cookies to cool completely before you can decorate them or time for the icing to set once decorated.
- This recipe has a reasonably strong ginger taste. If you prefer a milder flavor you can reduce the amount of ground ginger down to two and a half tablespoons.
- This recipe makes approximately eight trays of gingerbread cookies. If you want to make a smaller batch you can half the gingerbread recipe and it will work just as well.
- The vegan royal icing makes a lot of icing, however I have found this about the minimum you can make that will practically whip up, especially if using a stand mixer.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online database. The nutritional content of ingredients may vary by brand. If you require accurate nutritional information, you should calculate this based on the specific brands and products you are using.
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Daz says
Very yummy, the entire batch pretty much gone!