Chewy vegan ginger cookies, full of holiday spices and molasses. These are everybody’s favorite cookie and they are so easy to make! 1 bowl!
You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve tested these cookies and gotten it SO wrong. I actually meant to post these last year, but I just couldn’t get it right, so I thought I’d wait. Well, I started recipe testing weeks ago for these babies, and finally, after a marathon cookie-baking couple of days last week, I nailed it!
These Vegan Ginger Cookies are incredibly chewy and irresistible. They’re full of molasses, brown sugar, and delicious holiday spices like ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. I think you are going to LOVE them.
My first several tries were just too puffy and cake-like, not what I was going for! But these are so perfect -So, so chewy, coated in sugar and rich with flavor. Swoon.
Let’s make some cookies!
How do you make Vegan Ginger Cookies in 1 bowl?
The best thing about these delicious cookies is how easy they are to make, in just 1 bowl!
First, cream together the vegan butter and brown sugar in a large bowl.
Then, add the molasses and vanilla and beat to combine.
Next, you’re going to add 2 cups of the flour. Sprinkle the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the flour. Mix on low speed until combined, then add the rest of the flour and mix. The dough will be thick, but not dry.
Once you’ve preheated the oven to 350 and prepared your baking sheets with parchment paper, scoop out 2 tablespoons of the dough, roll into a ball and then roll in the sugar to coat completely.
*For smaller cookies, use 1 tablespoon of dough.
Place on the prepared sheets, and bake for 11-12 minutes, until you see cracks forming on top. The cookies will appear very soft, but they will firm up as they cool.
Let the cookies cool for 10-15 minutes and then enjoy!
These Vegan Ginger Cookies are so perfect for sharing with friends, neighbors or co-workers. Everybody loves them!
Substitutions:
You may be able to sub coconut oil for the vegan butter, but I haven’t tested it. You would want the coconut oil to be semi-firm, not melted. Don’t sub with canola oil; been there and it ruined the cookies!
You could sub whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose flour, or maybe a gluten free flour mix, though I haven’t made them gluten free myself.
Instead of regular granulated sugar, you could roll the cookies in turbinado sugar. Either way is fun and tastes good, but I prefer using a fine organic sugar.
Want more Vegan Christmas Cookies?
Vegan Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the softened vegan butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Add the molasses and vanilla, and beat in until smooth. Scrape the sides as needed with a spatula.
- Add 2 cups of flour to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the flour. Mix on low speed to combine. Now add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and mix until incorporated. The dough will be quite thick, but not dry.
- Fill a small bowl with the cup of sugar for rolling.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough for large cookies (1 tablespoon for small cookies), roll into a ball, then roll each ball in the sugar until completely coated.
- Place on the prepared baking sheets, and bake for 11-12 minutes, until they begin to crack on top. They will look very soft, but they firm up a lot as they cool. If you over bake, they will be crispy.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then enjoy!
Notes
- For better cracks in the cookies: After a few minutes in the oven, sprinkle a little bit of cold water (I just flick it in the pan with my hands, about a teaspoon) on the pan. Cracks will form! (I learned this from my grandma)
- This recipe makes 36 large cookies, or about 48 small cookies. You can always cut the recipe in half if you don't want that many. They are perfect for sharing with friends, neighbors or co-workers!
- Make sure to correctly measure your flour, or the cookies may not turn out right. To do this, use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup. Don't pat the flour down or tap the cup. Use a knife to level off the top of the cup.
- If you want crispier cookies, like gingersnaps, simply bake these a bit longer, 14-15 minutes, and they will be quite crisp!
Nutrition
12/22/18- I found after further recipe testing that it was unnecessary to chill the cookie dough before baking the cookies, so I removed that step, making this recipe even easier!
These cookies are A-MA-ZING, I just can’t believe how good they turned out. My BF just loved them, and me too of course. It is true that they are kind of sweet and filling, but come on, it is winter, what better than feeding yourself with cookies? Haha. Such a nice recipe, no one could tell it is vegan.
That’s so great to hear!
Wow! These cookies are so delicious! Chewy & perfectly balanced spice. Thank you for the recipe ?
You’re welcome!
Made these almost exactly as written (used course whole wheat flour), baked for 12 minutes and they were absolutely perfect! Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Thanks!
You’re welcome!
These are incredible. However, very VERY sweet. I’m going to experiment with using less sugar (and swapping some sugar out for dates).
I tried out putting a little cayenne into a few of my cookies, which you can do since the dough is so pliable, just work some in to a few of the cookies. It was good!
Hi! If I want to make these ahead of time by two days, can the cookie dough chill for that long?
Two days should be fine, just take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before trying to roll, the dough will get very hard. Thanks!
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG these are good!! Definitely a keeper! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
I can’t praise this recipe enough! I followed the recipe exactly and the ginger cookies came out perfectly. I did flick some water on the cookies prior to baking as suggested by another person. Not sure if it helped with getting the “cracked” look on top, but they did turn out just like your pictures. I shaped the cookies into 1 1/4 TBSP. balls and baked for 11 minutes 30 seconds. Since oven temps vary, I suggest watching the cookies at the 11 minute mark. They will look puffy, but it does flatten as it cools. The cookies were slightly crispy on the outside and moist and chewy in the inside. Absolutely delicious!!!
Would these work to cut out into gingerbread men?
I haven’t tried it, but I am working on a gingerbread people recipe! 🙂 So stay tuned.
Hi!
Really delicious recipe 🙂 have tried it a few times, for some reason most of the times they did not get that beautiful crack. Only managed it once, any idea what could be the problem? Also changed up the spices to make a turmeric and agave one which was really yummy 🙂
Sorry I forgot that I did comment on this and only now saw your reply. I do think we may have forgotten to add the flour in bits, could this also be the reason? We are definitely measuring the flour correctly but also scaling the recipe to make a larger amount of cookies. Always seems to be a different story when that is done!
Sometimes when you scale a recipe up it can affect the outcome. Maybe try making a batch as written and see if you have better luck!
Hi there! Well, for best results follow the recipe exactly, ingredients and all. The other thing you can do is flick a little water on them before baking. It’s a trick my grandma taught me. 🙂
Delicious….I cooked two batches. One at 12 min which burned the bottoms of the cookies and the other batch for 10 min which was perfect timing. Thank you for your wonderful recipes.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention I used half regular all purpose flour and half white whole wheat.
You’re so welcome!
I read the recipe and made the cookies immediately. Absolutely delicious! Just perfect!
Thanks!!
I absolutely love these cookies! I found the batter a bit dry, maybe because I used while wheat flour. So I added two flax eggs and they turn out perfect!
These cookies are amazing and the recipe make so many! I think I’ve literally had 15 today (though I’m my defense I did make them pretty small). The recipe was very easy to follow. Can’t wait to share these with some non-vegans so they can see what great vegan food tastes like! ?
I’m glad to hear they’re amazing!
I love all your recipes!! Can you substitute agave for molasses or is agave not think enough?
You probably could but you will be missing that rich molasses flavor, so I don’t recommend leaving it out unless you need to. I’m sure they will turn out but they might not be as chewy or moist either.
Amazing cookies!!! Followed the recipe to a tee and out came the most delicious soft chewy cookies. Thank you!!
Yay! Thank you!
Is it possible to make these into cookie bars?
I haven’t tried it so it would take some experimenting, maybe though!
these are great!
Delicious cookie! But ours didn’t spread and crinkle as nicely, any idea why?
You may have added a bit too much flour, so they didn’t spread as well. Make sure to measure everything accurately for the best results.
If we increased the amount of spices in the cookies would that also count then as too much dry ingredients, and should we then take that amount of flour away? Wanted a bit more ginger flavour.
Also noticed we forgot to add the flour in batches, would that effect it as well?
I don’t think you would need to reduce the flour for adding more spices. Just add some more ginger. 🙂 That could make a difference, yes.
Have you ever tried fresh ginger in this recipe?
I haven’t, but it would probably work.
I made these today, and they’re easily one of the best molasses cookies I’ve tried. I used olive oil instead of butter, and only put in 1 cup instead of 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and they turned out great. I did have to add about 1/4 cup water to the batter to make it stick together better, but the flavor of these cookies is so delightfully gingery.
The best ginger cookie I have tasted!! crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
I made these with vegan margarine and they turned out amazing
The taste is great but they’re not chewy. They’re crumbly. They weren’t spreading while they were cooking, so I panicked and went in and flattened them, even though that wasn’t in the instructions. Could this result be because I used Demerara style instead of packable brown sugar?
Yes, it is because you did not use brown sugar, which is much more moist than demerara style sugar. They will be chewy with brown sugar.
So I made these, but with coconut oil. Coconut oil with brown sugar will not cream, and after the addition of the molasses, began to separate. I countered this by using a bit of almond milk to emulsify, and it became a lovely creamy mixture for the rest of the recipe. So, in short, if using coconut oil instead of vegan butter, a small amount of vegan milk (I used 1/4 cup) will keep things together.
Thank you! A great recipe!
Thanks for this tip! The recipe looks awesome. I was hoping someone hacked it for coconut oil!
Hi, do you think I could make this without a mixer?
Yes, you could, it will just require some arm work. 🙂
Amazing recipe! I baked them 13 mins for the perfect gingersnap. The spices are spot on and these cookies are absolutely gorgeous! No one would ever tell that these are vegan. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Fab recipe – being in the UK I weighed the ingredients. I went for 250g of veggie marg, quadrupled the ginger, doubled the cinammon, used wholemeal spelt flour (reduced slightly for the extra volume of spice) and knocked off 150g from the sugar.
I also added ginger to the rolling sugar.
Came out just like the pic and taste amazing ! Still sweet !
Thank you for such a Fab recipe – am on a food exclusion diet and finding it quite hard. These have eased my pain !
So glad they were good!