These vegan gingerbread men are the perfect Christmas cookie. They’re fun, spicy, and easy to make, and will be a hit at any holiday party.
Christmas cookies are one of my favorite things. What better way to get in the mood for the holidays than by throwing on some Christmas carols and baking some cookies? The fun of decorating, the amazing, comforting smell of your home as the cookies bake in the oven, and of course, the best part: eating them. This recipe for vegan gingerbread men is one of my go-tos at Christmas. They’re full of spicy flavors from the ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, but have that cozy, nostalgic flavor from the molasses, brown sugar, and nutmeg. They’re the ideal holiday cookies and go perfectly with vegan hot chocolate or vegan eggnog .
These gingerbread men are also pretty easy to make, and a lot of fun to decorate. And they’re vegan! If you need a cookie to adorn your Christmas dinner table this year, these are the ones for you.
Notes on Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients that you need to make vegan gingerbread men. Make sure to scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page to see the exact quantities for each ingredient.
For the Cookies:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Ground nutmeg – It’s best to use fresh nutmeg and grate it yourself.
- Kosher salt
- Vegan butter – Make sure to use unsalted butter.
- Light brown sugar
- Molasses
- Vanilla extract – Be sure to use 100% pure vanilla extract.
For the Frosting:
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Dairy-free milk – You can use any type of vegan milk that you prefer, just make sure that it’s unsweetened and not flavored.
How to Make Gingerbread Men
Here’s how to make these fun and easy Christmas cookies.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl, and stir until mixed.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Place the butter, molasses, vanilla, and brown sugar in a bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. This should take about a minute.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients, and beat until well combined. Repeat until all of the dry mixture has been added.
- Chill. Divide the dough into two pieces. Shape each piece into a thick disk, cover in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Prep. When you’re ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
- Roll the dough. Place one of the disks of dough on a lightly-floured surface, and roll it out until it’s about ⅛-inch thick. If you have the space, repeat the process with the other disk.
- Shape the dough. Use gingerbread men cookie cutters to cut out gingerbread men from the dough. Place them onto the baking sheet, making sure they’re not touching.
- Bake. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the gingerbread men are firm around the edges, which should take 8-10 minutes.
- Cool. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then move them to a cooling rack.
- Make the frosting. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and some of the milk to a mixing bowl, and beat until smooth. Keep adding milk while beating, until the frosting is the desired consistency.
- Decorate. Add the frosting to a piping bag, or use an offset spatula to frost the cookies. Cover with any sprinkles or edible decorations, then let rest a few minutes while the frosting hardens. Then devour!
Tips for the Best Gingerbread Men
Here are some tips and tricks for making these festive vegan cookies.
- Chill the dough. This recipe calls to chill the dough for at least 1 hour. But you’ll get an ever better cookie if you chill the dough longer than that. If you chill the spicy cookie dough for a few hours, or even overnight, the texture of the cookies will get even better, and the flavors will really meld together.
- Use softened butter. It’s important to use softened dairy-free butter when making this vegan gingerbread men recipe. Butter that’s soft will mix well with the rest of the ingredients, and cream more easily. As a result, you’ll end up with cookies that are perfectly smooth and soft. Using hard butter or melted butter will alter the texture of the cookies.
- Cool the cookies fully. Make sure that your cookies are completely cooled before you start decorating them. If the cookies aren’t entirely cooled, they might melt the frosting when you decorate.
How to Store These Cookies
You can store these vegan gingerbread men in an airtight container or bag. They’ll last for 5 days at room temperature, or for 10 days in the fridge.
Can I Freeze Gingerbread Men?
You sure can! Store these cookies in an airtight container or bag in the freezer and they’ll last for up to 4 months. Thaw them in the fridge or at room temperature until they’re defrosted.
More Holiday Cookies to Make
Christmas is the season for baking cookies, so don’t stop here! After you’ve made these vegan gingerbread men, try some of my other favorite holiday cookie recipes.
- Vegan sugar cookies
- Vegan pumpkin cookies
- Gluten-free white chocolate cranberry pistachio cookies
- Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour , 300g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder , 4.8g
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter , softened (84g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar , packed (200g)
- ½ cup molasses , (168g)
- 1 egg replacer , or flax egg (I used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer )
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1-3 tsp dairy-free milk
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg replacer and vanilla until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in three increments, mixing well between each addition. The batter will be thick.
- Divide the dough in half and shape each into a thick disc (for 2 discs). Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour and up to 3 days.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly-floured work surface, working with one portion of dough at a time, roll the dough into a circle about ¼ inch thick. I like to place a parchment paper on top then rolling on top of that to make it easier to roll out. Use cookie cutters to shape the dough, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each cookie.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until firm around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- To make the frosting, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk in a mixing bowl, and beatwith an electric mixer until stiff and smooth. Add 1-2 tablespoons more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is a smooth, spreadable texture.
- When the cookies are cool, fill a pastry bag with frosting and decorate the cookies, or use a butter knife or offset spatula to spread frosting over the gingerbread men. Let the frosting set up and harden for a few minutes before serving or storing.
Notes
Vegan Gingerbread Men
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 300g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder 4.8g
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter softened (84g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed (200g)
- ½ cup molasses (168g)
- 1 egg replacer or flax egg (I used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1-3 tsp dairy-free milk
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg replacer and vanilla until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in three increments, mixing well between each addition. The batter will be thick.
- Divide the dough in half and shape each into a thick disc (for 2 discs). Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour and up to 3 days.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly-floured work surface, working with one portion of dough at a time, roll the dough into a circle about ¼ inch thick. I like to place a parchment paper on top then rolling on top of that to make it easier to roll out. Use cookie cutters to shape the dough, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each cookie.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until firm around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- To make the frosting, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk in a mixing bowl, and beatwith an electric mixer until stiff and smooth. Add 1-2 tablespoons more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is a smooth, spreadable texture.
- When the cookies are cool, fill a pastry bag with frosting and decorate the cookies, or use a butter knife or offset spatula to spread frosting over the gingerbread men. Let the frosting set up and harden for a few minutes before serving or storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Vegan Gingerbread Men https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-gingerbread-men/ December 12, 2022
These Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies are thick, chewy and chocolaty and baked in just 7 minutes! They’re the perfect texture and so convenient and are just as great as traditional cookies, minus the eggs and dairy!
If you’re a regular on my website, then you know point blank – I love chocolate chip cookies. Traditional . Flourless . Gluten Free . Even Salted Tahini . It’s about time I added a new version to the list – Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies!
These Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies are absolutely delicious, so easy to make and best of all – a quick bake time, so you get your cookies faster. I love that there’s no preheating and they bake in about half the time as regular cookies, but taste just as incredible.
I used the new Cosori Lite 4QT Air Fryer to air fryer these cookies in. I’ve been using Cosori Air Fryers for years now, but happily passed on mine for this beautiful teal one. I mean, are you seeing that colour?!
Notes on Ingredients
Please note that this is important information on the ingredients and instructions and the FULL recipe with amounts and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
- Vegan butter – Let the butter come to room temperature so it can be creamed with the sugars.
- Organic white sugar
- Brown sugar – Either light or dark brown sugar will work; a dark brown sugar will add more depth to the flavour of your cookies since it has a higher molasses content.
- Vegan milk – This will also need to be room temperature. Use any variety you like or have on hand! I love using soy milk.
- Vanilla extract
- Flour
- Cornstarch – these aid in structure for the cookies (like an egg replacement) as well as that tender texture.
- Baking soda
- Sea salt
- Vegan chocolate chips or chunks
What Makes a Chocolate Chip Vegan?
It’s common for chocolate chips—even dark and semisweet chips—to be made with milk fat or dry milk powder, which means they’re not vegan. Make sure you buy chocolate chips without these ingredients to make vegan chocolate chip cookies. There are many varieties available!
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Be sure to account for the chilling time when planning to make this recipe! Here’s what you’ll need to do:
Mix the wet ingredients. Use a stand mixer, hand mixer , or whisk to cream the vegan butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Add the vegan milk and vanilla extract, then mix again for 30 seconds.
Mix the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and sea salt.
Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Mix gently until fully combined (about 1 minute), then fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours.
Form the cookies. Scoop out the cookies as 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons each. Allow 3 inches for each cookie. Keep the dough cold while doing this (don’t let it thaw too much).
Bake. Air fryer at 325F at 7 minutes. Leave the cookies in the hot off air fryer for another 3 minutes (don’t open the door) and then remove and let cool for at least 5 mins on the warm tray before removing from air fryer tray.
Tips for Success
These vegan chocolate chip cookies are pretty easy and unfussy, but here are some hints and tips to help you make sure they turn out perfect!
Don’t overcrowd the air fryer. You want enough space for all the cookies to bake evenly without touching – just check the photos above for best spacing.
Don’t skip the cooling time in the air fryer. It allows the cookies to finish baking and setting in the heat without the edges burning.
- Working with chilled dough. If you chill the dough for more than 2 hours, it might be tough to work with. Let it sit on the counter a bit until it’s easy to scoop.
- Baking in batches. If you need to bake the cookies in batches, I recommend returning the bowl of dough to the refrigerator between batches to make sure it doesn’t warm up too much.
- Can’t find vegan butter? I developed this recipe with vegan butter, so I don’t recommend substituting oil. Try my Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe instead, which can be made with coconut oil.
How to Store
Keep these vegan chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Can I Freeze This Recipe?
Yes, you can freeze both the baked cookies and the dough. Freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature before serving.
To freeze the dough, form the dough into balls and freeze them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once the dough is frozen through, transfer it to a freezer bag or airtight container. You can bake it from frozen, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time.
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter , 1 stick or 112g, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup organic white sugar , 100g
- ½ cup brown sugar , 100g
- 3 tablespoons vegan milk , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups flour , 210g
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 8 ounces of chopped vegan chocolate chips/chunks
Instructions
- Cream together the vegan butter and sugar for 3 minutes. You can also use a whisk. Add in the vegan milk & vanilla extract and mix again for 30 seconds.
- In a bowl mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and sea salt. Add that into the wet ingredients. Mix gently until fully combined (about 1 minutes). Fold in the chocolate chips and stir until just combined. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Scoop out the cookies as 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons each. Allow 3 inches for each cookie. Keep the dough cold while doing this (don’t let it thaw too much).
- Air fryer at 325F at 7 minutes. Leave the cookies in the hot off air fryer for another 3 minutes (don’t open the door) and then remove and let cool for at least 5 mins on the warm tray before removing from air fryer tray.
- Allow to cool fully on a wire rack and enjoy!
