Vegan Gingerbread Cookies (GF, Paleo)
The classic cut out gingerbread cookie recipe revamped to make then gluten free, vegan and paleo. Enjoy all the warming and delicious spices that the holiday season his to offer. With this simple and easy to make recipe that requires no chilling and a total time of 30 minutes.
Simple gingerbread cookies
Making these vegan gingerbread cookies was surprisingly simple. Swapping out the butter for a vegan alternative I used the brand Pure as they make a vegan “butter” spread. Next swapping the egg for nut butter I used cashew as it has more of a neutral flavour then peanut butter does. Then swapping the milk for a non-dairy version I used coconut milk for this. Lastly, I swapped the honey for fruit syrup by the brand sweet freedom. You could of course use maple syrup if you prefer.
I didn’t use molasses in the recipe mainly as I literally only molasses for gingerbread and no other recipe. I hate having to by a jar just to use it once. With all the other spices in the recipe you don’t miss the flavour in the final cookies
Make them gluten free and paleo by swapping wheat flour for a mixture of almond flour and arrowroot powder. Next swap the brown sugar for coconut sugar. I love the caramel flavour that coconut sugar gives to bake goods.
Revamping a holiday classic
The holidays are all about food and family time, well at least they are for me. That’s why I had to upgrade the classic gingerbread cookie recipe for this holiday season.
Love gingerbread then check out these recipes
Soft baked gingerbread cookies
No chill dough.
Probably one of the best things about these gingerbread cookies other than the taste. Is the fact you don’t need to chill the dough before rolling them out. Simply put the dough in between to sheets of greaseproof paper and roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Then remove the top sheet of greaseproof paper and use cookie cutters to stamp out your desired shapes. The dough holds its shape once baked so you can put the cookies close together and not worry about them spreading.
Soft or Crispy?
What’s your favourite type of gingerbread, mine is both. I can’t choose one as I like both for different reasons. Soft gingerbread is great on its own with no need to decorate them with icing or chocolate. Crispy is for dunking into hot chocolate or with being decorated. Crispy also works best for making a gingerbread house with as it needs to be more robust to be able to stand up on its own.
How to decorate
Now I must confess am kind of lazy when it comes to decorating cookies. I keep it simple and usually just dunk the bottom half of the gingerbread men in chocolate. I do make my own chocolate though to keep it paleo and vegan. Its super simple to make your own chocolate it only requires three ingredients, cacao butter, cacao powder and coconut sugar. Melt the cacao butter then add in the cacao powder and coconut sugar mix until smooth then pour into any type of mould and place in the fridge to set.
Ingredients used
Almond flour
Arrowroot powder
Coconut sugar
Coconut milk
Cashew butter
Gingerbread fruit syrup or any liquid sweetener
Ground ginger
Cinnamon
Ground cloves
Ground nutmeg
Other recipes
Fudgy and Gooey Peppermint Brownies
Final result
These are the best gingerbead cookies i have made they resemble classic gingerbread i used to eat all the time as a kid. The dough was so easy to work with and roll out. I also added more ground ginger then normal as i love the warm heat ginger gives. You can adjust it to suit your own taste, These make a great holiday cookie for the festive season.
Be sure to PIN this recipe for later. You can follow me on Pinterest @naturallysweetlife for loads more exciting recipes. Also over on Instagram @emmalouisecee for more food and lifestyle content.
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies (GF, Paleo)
The classic cut out gingerbread cookie recipe revamped to make then gluten free, vegan and paleo. Enjoy all the warming and delicious spices that the holiday season his to offer. With this simple and easy to make recipe that requires no chilling and a total time of 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 140 grams Almond flour
- 80 grams Arrowroot powder
- 45 grams Cashew butter
- 25 grams Coconut sugar
- 30 grams Gingerbread fruit syrup or any other liquid sweetener
- 3 tbsp Coconut milk i used the uht kind
- 4 tsp Ground Ginger or less depending on your taste
- 1 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp Ground cloves
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
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Pre heat your oven to 180c and lined a baking try with greasproof paper
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In a small mixing bowl add cashew butter, coconut sugar and fruit syrup mix to combine. Plce in the microwave for 30 seconds then give it a good stir.
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In a medium sized mixing bowl add the almond flour, arrowroot powder and all the spices. Stir to combine.
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Add in the cashew butter and sugar mixture to the flour. Mix to combine.
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Add in the coconut milk a tbsp at a time until the dough comes together and is not longer crumbly.
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Place the dough in between two sheets greaseproof paper and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using cookies cutters punch out the shapes and transfer to the lined baking trays. Continue until all the dough is used. I made 20 small cookies.
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Bake at 180c for 6 minutes for a softer texture and 8 minutes for a crispier texture. Once cooked leave cookies on the baking tray to cool for at least five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
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To decorate either use melted chocolate and dunk the bottom half in the chocolate then leave to set. Or use royal icing to add more features to the cookies. Alternatively you can leave them plain.
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Once completely cooled and decorated store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
