The Best Easy Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe
This is the best easy vegan gingersnap cookie recipe around, and it only takes 30 minutes for warm, homemade, just-baked cookies to come out of your oven. Easy to find, simple ingredients blended up with love, make these vegan gingersnap cookies that much more delicious and yummy to eat.
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As many of you know I simply love cookies, and this easy vegan gingersnap cookie recipe is a breeze to make.
When it comes to cookies, I must admit I am a bit snobbish about the quality of the cookies I eat. Store-bought are not the same. The cookies are not as healthy as homemade, and the quality is never as good.
That is why I often make my own cookies, like this recipe. And this vegan gingersnap cookie recipe will have you eating warm, out-of-the-oven, homemade cookies in minutes!
Healthy Cookies vs Clean Cookies
Now I will be the first to admit cookies in general are not the healthiest. But some cookies are healthier than others, and even the ones that aren’t healthy can be made better for you based on the quality of ingredients you use.
In my mind, there is a difference between a healthy cookie and a clean cookie. A healthy cookie is one that contains ingredients that are good for you. Ingredients that fortify you, and provide nutrients to your body. Healthy cookies are those that contain ingredients like oatmeal, nuts, applesauce, etc.
A clean cookie, on the other hand, is a cookie that although it may not fortify your body with healthy nutrients, at least does not contain unhealthy chemicals like herbicides and pesticides, as a processed store-bought cookie might. It is “clean” and void of toxic chemicals.
A healthy cookie is also a clean cookie but a clean cookie is not necessarily a healthy cookie. A distinction I believe is important to point out.
Homemade vs Store Bought Cookies
These days it is easier than it used to be to find healthy clean cookies in the grocery store but they will never be as healthy as homemade cookies due to the manufacturing process. Commercially made cookies must carry a long shelf-life, and in order to do so, preservatives are added.
Preservatives in and of themselves are not necessarily bad for you, and some preservatives are better than others. For example, salt, sugar, and vinegar are used as preservatives and are not bad for you, as far as preservatives go.
But there are other preservatives that aren’t healthy for you, such as potassium bromate which is known as a possible human carcinogen and is added to the flour of many packed baked goods including cookies.
Often unhealthy preservatives are added to commercially available products because they are cheaper to use than the more natural preservatives.
When a company makes high-volume commercially based products, every penny counts. So oftentimes, but not always, they will use cheaper ingredients.
Examples of this are cheap rancid oils instead of fresh butter or high-quality vegan butter. Corn syrup instead of organic sugar or high-quality maple syrup, honey, etc.
When you bake at home, you don’t need preservatives for shelf-life stability, and you have the option to buy really high-end good-quality ingredients. This is what I like to do. If I am not creating a healthy cookie, then I very much pay attention to making a clean cookie, which is what this vegan gingersnap cookie recipe is all about!
Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe Tips
This vegan gingersnap cookie recipe is really quite easy but I do have a couple of tips and recommendations, just to make sure your cookies come out perfectly!
- Be careful not to overmix the flour when you are pouring it into the butter mixture. Otherwise, your cookies could turn out tough and dry. I like to blend until just the flour is just combined, and then I use my silicone spatula the rest of the way.
- You can flatten these gingersnap cookies in a couple of ways. If you flatten them gently, then your cookies will turn out a bit more dense and thick, almost like a cake-type cookie. If you flatten them all the way, then your cookies will turn out more thin and crispy, just like a true old-fashioned gingersnap. I do like them both ways so again, you can be your own guide.
- Finally, make sure to cool these cookies completely before storing them in a tightly sealed glass storage container. Otherwise, I find the cookies dry out quicker.
Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe Notes
If you wish to make these cookies gluten-free, you can use an all-purpose flour that also states it is gluten-free. I like to use this one HERE.
You can also use whole-wheat flour, or a 50/50 combination of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour if you prefer.
I have made this recipe with white sugar instead of light brown sugar and, although the taste isn’t quite as rich and hearty, they taste just fine. Personally, I like using brown sugar better because they don’t taste quite as sweet as when I use regular white sugar. But once again, you can be your own guide.
If you do not have allspice, you can use ground cloves instead, and vice versa
Handy Kitchen Tools To Consider
Here are the kitchen tools I used to make this easy Vegan Gingersnap Cookie recipe.
Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe Ingredients
1/2 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar (or white sugar. See notes above)
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp unsulphured molasses
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp allspice (or ground cloves if you do not have allspice)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free or whole-wheat flour depending on your preference. See notes above)
optional ingredients you may want to consider
Crystal sugar – you may want to consider rolling each cookie dough ball in crystal sugar, or regular cane sugar, before placing and flattening them on the baking sheet. I have done this in the past, and it gives the cookies a pretty look and a nice texture.
You can also roll these gingersnap cookies in more of the light brown sugar you already used in the recipe if you wish.
For me personally, the less sugar the better, so unless I am making these gingersnap cookies for a festive occasion, I do not roll them in any sugar and I keep them plain and simple.
Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine ground flax seed with 2Tb of filtered water. Mix until combined and set aside for 10min to thicken.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice (or cloves), ginger, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream butter until smooth.
- Add brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, and thickened flax egg to the butter mixture. Combine until creamy and smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, one-third at a time, being careful not to overmix. Blend until just combined.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out the dough onto a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet, leaving about one inch in between each cookie.
- Flatten out the cookies with either the back of a spoon, fork, or bottom of a glass.
- Place the cookies in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes.
- Once baked, take the cookies out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack for 5-10min.
- Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container on the kitchen counter or in the fridge.
- ENJOY!
How To Store
These cookies store well in a tightly sealed glass container and can be placed on the kitchen counter for 5-6 days, or in the fridge for 7-8 days.
You can also store these cookies in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Check out these other nourishing recipes and joyful living tips for busy caregivers
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VIDEO: Step-By-Step Instructions On How To Make This Easy Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe
Printable recipe for you to enjoy
Easy Vegan Gingersnap Cookie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp unsulphured molasses
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp allspice or ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine ground flax seed with 2Tb of filtered water. Mix until combined and set aside for 10min to thicken.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream butter until smooth.
- Add brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, and flax egg to the butter mixture. Combine until creamy and smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, one-third at a time, being careful not to overmix. Blend until just combined.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out the dough onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet.
- Flatten out each cookie with either the back of a spoon, fork, or the bottom of a glass.
- Place cookies in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes.
- Once baked, take cookies out of the oven and place on a cooling rack for 5-10min.
- Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container on the kitchen counter or in the fridge. ENJOY!
Notes
- To make these cookies gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour.
- You can also use whole-wheat flour, or a 50/50 combination of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour if you prefer.
- I have also made this recipe with white sugar, instead of light brown sugar and, although the taste isn’t quite as rich and hearty, the cookies taste good. Personally, I like the brown sugar kind better, to me they don’t taste quite as sweet, but you can be your own guide.
- If you do not have allspice, you can use ground cloves instead, and vice versa
- Be careful not to overmix the flour into the butter mixture, otherwise, your cookies will turn out tough and dry. Blend until just combined.
- You can flatten these gingersnap cookies two ways. Flatten gently and your cookies will turn out dense and thicker, like a cake-type cookie. Flatten them all the way, and your cookies will turn out to be more thin and crispy like a true old-fashioned gingersnap. I like them both ways so again, you be your own guide.
- Make sure to cool these cookies completely before storing them in a tightly sealed glass storage container. Otherwise, the cookies will dry out more quickly.
soooo delicious! I cannot stop eating them
Awhhh…now that’s a compliment. Thank you!
Love the flavor of the warm spices and molasses
That is awesome. Thank you!