Vegan Ginger Cookies are nicely spiced and easy to make. One of the most perfect holiday cookies, they’re made with ginger, molasses, warm spices, and brown sugar and coated in cane sugar for a sweet crunch.
These Vegan Ginger Cookies taste so warm and cozy, you’ll have no choice but to snack on a few when the cold weather hits. Just like my Gingerbread Snack Cake and my Healthy Gingerbread Mousse, these soft and chewy cookies are made with warm spices, molasses, and brown sugar to give them the classic comforting flavors of the holidays.
Plus, with an extra layer of cane sugar on the outside, these cookies are completely irresistible.
You won’t find any complicated ingredients in these vegan gingersnap cookies. They’re easy to whip up and are ready to eat all within 25 minutes. Save the whole batch for yourself or give them away as quick and easy holiday gifts!
Recipe features
- The cookies are rolled in cane sugar to help them taste extra sweet and give them a slight crunch.
- Filled with the warm and comforting flavors of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Both the baked and unbaked cookies are easy to freeze!
Ingredient notes:
- Vegan butter - Unsalted and softened. If using salted butter, omit the additional salt in the recipe.
- Molasses - I prefer dark or medium molasses, but light molasses will also give you a rich, warm flavor.
- Brown sugar - Adds a luscious caramel flavor to the finished cookies.
- Vanilla extract - Vanilla bean paste may also be used.
- Plant milk - Unsweetened coconut, soy, oat, or almond milk will all work nicely.
- Ginger - Ground ginger is milder tasting and easy to work with. Feel free to substitute it with a small amount of freshly grated ginger for a nice zing.Â
- Cane sugar - Used to roll the unbaked cookie dough balls for a sweet finish.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the molasses, milk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a separate bowl.
Step 3: Make the cookie dough. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use an electric mixer to combine. The cookie dough should be clumpy and easy to roll but not sticky.Â
Step 4: Roll the cookie balls. Scoop about 2 tablespoons worth of cookie dough out of the bowl and roll it in your hands. Roll each ball in cane sugar and place onto a baking sheet.
Step 5: Bake. Bake the vegan ginger cookies until they’re set. Let them cool for a minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Serve warm and enjoy!Â
Expert tips and FAQs
- Make sure the cookie dough balls are at least 2 inches apart from each other on the baking tray because they like to spread in the oven.
- The cookies might look slightly underdone when you take them out of the oven—this is ok! They’ll continue to set and harden as they cool.
- Out of brown sugar? You can easily sub in 1 cup of white sugar and an extra teaspoon or two of molasses.
Do you need to chill the cookie dough?
It’s not necessary to chill the ginger cookie dough in the fridge before baking. However, if you find that they’re spreading too much in the oven or you’re baking these on an especially warm day, then chilling the dough will help.
Can they be made gluten free?
Easily! You can make these ginger cookies gluten free by swapping out the all purpose flour for your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour blend.
What can you mix into the cookie dough?
Easily customize these vegan molasses cookies by adding pecans, vegan chocolate chips, walnuts, vegan white chocolate chunks, candied ginger, or vegan marshmallows to the cookie dough.
How long do they last?
Any leftover chewy vegan ginger cookies can be stored in an airtight container or ziploc bag. They’ll stay fresh on the counter for up to 1 week or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Can you freeze ginger cookies?
Yes! You can freeze uncoated ginger cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, roll them in cane sugar and bake in a 350°F oven for 12-17 minutes.
Alternatively, you can freeze the baked vegan ginger snap cookies for up to 4 months; enjoy them frozen or pop them in the microwave to heat them up.
More comforting cookie recipes
- Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies with Icing
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Vegan Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoon vegan butter unsalted, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon almond milk or milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cane sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl; then, add the molasses, milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir with an electric mixer on low speed until they're combined. Be patient -- it might take 30 seconds or so. The dough will look like large clumps and when you pick it up it should stick together/be easy to roll, but the dough itself shouldn't be sticky.
- Pour the cane sugar onto a plate. Then, scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough into your hands and roll it into a ball, then roll the ball into the sugar and place it directly onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this process, making sure to space the balls at least 2" apart.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Leave them on the baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy! NOTE: the cookies will seem slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven -- that's ok! They will firm up once they've cooled for a few minutes.
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