These Vegan Ginger Spice Cookies are easy, simple and will fill your kitchen with the delicious flavor 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 with ginger, cinnamon and a bit of cloves, they smell just like Christmas!
They are simple but delicious. Crispy and sweet. No one will resist them.
My recipe is similar to gingersnaps. However unlike the typical gingersnaps, these gingerbread cookies don't contain molasses.
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Here's Why This Recipe Works
- Simple. These vegan ginger cookies are so easy to make with the ingredients from a typical vegan pantry.
- Perfect for decorating. 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. When you mix the aquafaba with a few simple ingredients, it makes a delicious, sweet icing that is perfect for decorating your cookies.
- Easy to make ahead of time. The ginger cookie dough needs to be chilled before rolling it out. This comes in handy for big events, when you need to cook a lot. Make the dough ahead of time and then keep it in a refrigerator for a few days. And on the day of the party, quickly roll out the dough and and make the cookies.
Ingredients
Here's an overview of the specific ingredients for this recipe. For the exact ingredients and measurements, please scroll to the recipe card below.
Ingredient Notes
- oil. In most of my baking recipes, I use cooking olive oil. It doesn't have aroma like a regular olive oil and it's great for high heat cooking. You can sub it for avocado oil or vegan butter;
- sugar. Make sure to use organic cane sugar, since regular cane sugar is processed with a bone char and is not considered a vegan ingredient. The same applies to a powdered sugar as well;
🔪 Instructions
- Make the sugar syrup
In a medium saucepan, whisk water, sugar and maple syrup. Cook on until the sugar dissolves, then remove the pan from the stove.
- Make the dough. Let the sugar mixture slightly cool and transfer it to a large mixing bowl. 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.
- 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 ¼-1/8" thick. Using a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, then press together the scraps and repeat.
- Bake the cookies
Place cut out cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You might need to use a few baking sheets. Bake vegan ginger cookies for 6-8 minutes until the cookies become light brown around the edges. Let the baked cookies cool on a wire rack.
- 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.
📖 Cook's Tip
When rolling out the dough, I found that it's best to do it on a silicone pastry mat. It has a scale in centimeters and inches. This will help you with a precision and you'll be able to easily roll out the dough to a required width.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is 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 some sugar and lemon juice, it makes a delicious, sweet icing that is perfect for decorating the cookies.
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ground ginger or cardamon - all work very well in these cookies. One teaspoon of vanilla extract can be added too. You don't need to add all of the suggested spices though. Pick your favorite ones or use what you have in your spice pantry.
Yes. You can replace the icing with the vegan buttercream frosting or coconut frosting.
♨️ Storing Tips
These cookies should be stored in an airtight container on the counter. Properly stored they will keep fresh for up to 5 days.
In addition, they're freezer-friendly as well. Once baked, cooled and decorated, place the cookies on a baking sheet and put them in a freezer. Once frozen, transfer the cookies in a freezer-friendly zipper bag and store for up to 3 months.
Also, you can freeze the dough. Make sure to flatten it into a disk, wrap in plastic and then freeze for up to 3 months as well.
When you're ready to bake the ginger cookies, thaw the dough overnight in the fridge or leave to defrost on the counter until pliable to be rolled out.
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Recipe
Vegan Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- ⅓ c water minus 1 tsp,
- ½ c organic cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ c neutral oil like cooking olive oil
- 1 teaspoon mixed spices, such as ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
- 1 ½ - 2 c all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
For the icing
- 2 tablespoon aquafaba from a can of chickpeas or white beans
- 1 c icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon 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.
- Let the sugar mixture slightly cool and transfer it to a large mixing bowl. 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 ½ hour 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 ¼-1/8" 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 tray 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!