These Vegan Ginger Spice Cookies are easy, simple and will fill your kitchen with the delicious aroma of ginger, cloves and cinnamon. They’re crunchy, festive and perfect as a midday snack or for a Christmas cookie exchange.
These ginger spice cookies are the perfect vegan holiday treat. Spiced perfectly with ginger, cinnamon and a bit of cloves, they smell just like Christmas!
These aromatic ginger spice cookies are great for decorating. They’re gorgeous with a little white aquafaba icing, or make them fancy with sprinkles, colored frosting, or tiny candies.
They make a great activity for both kids and grown-ups.
The vegan frosting is made with aquafaba, the liquid left over from chickpeas or sometimes beans. You can either reserve the liquid when draining a can of chickpeas, or cook some chickpeas and save the leftover liquid.
When you mix the aquafaba with a few simple ingredients, it makes a delicious, sweet icing that is perfect for decorating your cookies.
🔪 Instructions
1. Make the dough
In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar and maple syrup. Cook on until the sugar dissolves, then remove the pan from the stove.
Let the mixture slightly cool and add the oil, spices and 1 ½ cup flour mixed with baking powder. Mix the ingredients first with a spoon and then using your hands to knead the dough until it’s smooth. Try not to knead the dough for too long. Wrap it in plastic and put in a refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Roll out the cookies and cut
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and leave it out until it comes to a room temperature. Once it’s warmed up, preheat the oven to 385 F. Divide the dough in half and roll out each half until it’s about ⅛″ thick. Using a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, then press together the scraps and repeat.
3. Bake the cookies
Place cut out cookies on a parchment lined baking dish and bake for 6-8 minutes until the cookies become light brown around the edges. Let the baked cookies cool on a wire rack.
4. Make the aquafaba icing
Add the aquafaba to a medium bowl and beat with a hand mixer until it becomes foamy. Stir in ½ c of icing sugar, then beat with the mixer for 10-20 seconds.
Add in the remaining sugar and beat for another 20-30 seconds, then add in the lemon juice and beat again for a few more seconds. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe it onto the cookies to decorate them.
📖 Decorating Tips
For this recipe I use the aquafaba glaze that I piped using a pastry bag. If you’re short on time, you can simply drizzle the cookies with a glaze using a fork.
♨️ Storage Tips
These cookies should be stored in an airtight container on the counter. Properly stored they will keep fresh for up to 5 days.
🍪 Similar Recipes
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
For the cookies
- ⅓ c water minus 1 tsp,
- ½ c organic cane sugar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ¼ c neutral oil like grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp mixed spices, such as ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
- 1 ½ – 2 c all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
For the icing
- 2 tbsp aquafaba from a can of chickpeas or white beans
- 1 c icing sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
Make the cookies
- In a medium saucepan combine water, sugar and maple syrup. Cook on medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from the stove and slightly cool.
- Add oil, spices and 1 ½ c flour mixed with a baking powder. If the dough doesn’t come together you can add a bit more flour, up to 2 cups total. Mix the ingredients first with a spoon and then using your hands knead the dough until smooth. Try not to knead the dough for too long.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and put in a refrigerator for 2 hours. After the dough has set, remove from the refrigerator and let it sit for 1 ½ hours until it comes to a room temperature.
- After dough has reached room temperature, preheat the oven to 385 F. Divide the dough in half and roll out each half until it's about ⅛" thick. (If the dough sticks, you can lightly dust the surface as well as the top of the dough with a bit of flour). Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out cookies. Press together scraps and repeat.
- Place cut out cookies on a parchment lined baking dish and bake for 6-8 minutes until the cookies are beginning to get light brown around the edges. Remove baked cookies to cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing/glaze
- Add the aquafaba to a medium bowl and beat with a hand mixer until foamy, about 30 seconds. Stir in ½ c of icing sugar. Beat with mixer for 10-20 seconds. Add in the remaining ½ c of sugar and beat for another 20-30 seconds. Add in lemon juice and beat again for a few more seconds. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe it onto the cookies to decorate them.
Natalia says
Very easy recipe and delicious cookies.
Iryna says
Thank you!