Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies
These vegan molasses cookies are the perfect one bowl holiday cookie! They’re ready in just 20 minutes, spiced with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg and will have your whole house smelling like a bakery.
These vegan molasses cookies are my faaaaavorite holiday cookie. I love my peppermint cookies and all, but these are so easy to make, perfectly chewy, sweet, spiced and more.
They have a slight crisp to the edge when you first bite in, but still have a super soft center. Don’t worry, no crunchy cookies will be found around here!
This recipe is naturally vegan, gluten free and even refined sugar free! Perfect with a glass of my cinnamon spiced sangria while you bake!
These cookies might be vegan, gluten free and even refined sugar free optional, but I promise they’ll be a total hit at your holiday party. If you love this recipe, try my gluten free gingerbread loaf, vegan protein cookies or gluten free gingerbread cake next!
How to make vegan ginger cookies
PREHEAT. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
MIX WET. In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the room temperature butter and sugar until well combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the remaining wet ingredients.
ADD DRY. Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t pack them in! Mix together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
SCOOP. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls and roll in the sugar. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
BAKE. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies have crackly tops and have mostly flattened. They’ll firm up as they cool, so take them out early for chewy cookies.
COOL & SERVE. Let cool completely, then drizzle with the optional maple icing and enjoy!
Do I need to chill the dough?
No! Sometimes chilling dough is helpful to prevent the cookies from spreading prematurely. It also allows the flavors to blend really nicely.
However, I find that when using oat flour, chilling the dough can prevent the cookies from spreading much at all. Once the dough is ready, just scoop and bake!
How to get perfectly a round shape
Most of the time, my cookies come out of the oven looking less than perfect. They don’t always spread properly, the chocolate (if there) melts into the cookie strangely etc.
To correct the shape, I use a round cookie cutter to spin around the cookie and get a perfectly round shape.
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You’re not cutting the cookies, so use one that is slightly larger than the cookie itself and spin it around the cookie to get it perfectly round. These tricks yield perfect photo worthy cookies every time!
How to store and freeze
These vegan molasses cookies will keep at room temperature for about 3-5 days. Store them in an air tight container and pop in the microwave for 5-10 seconds before eating! They’ll be good as new.
You can also freeze these before or after baking! To freeze before baking, just scoop the dough into balls and place in a freezer safe bag or container.
Freeze for up to 2 months, then bake from frozen at 325 for a few extra minutes than the recipe calls for.
To freeze after baking, allow the cookies to cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat in the oven at 300 just until warm through the center.
Can I make them without ginger?
Yes, if you aren’t a fan of ginger, you are welcome to omit it or simply decrease. However, for the best flavor I recommend following the recipe as written!
However, keep in mind they won’t really be vegan ginger cookies without ginger!
What kind of molasses is best for cookies?
My personal favorite brand is Grandma’s molasses. I do not recommend blackstrap molasses since it is triple boiled (as opposed to double boiled like regular molasses) so it is far less sweet and even has a bitter taste.
You want to use dark, unsulfured molasses for the best flavor possible. Molasses is derived from the process of refining sugar and is naturally vegan and gluten free.
What makes molasses cookies crack?
I love the crackles on top of these! A few things are key here.
One is the leavening agents. We’re using both baking soda and powder which cause the cookies to crack as they spread as well as rise, so when they cool then collapse just slightly which creates cracks on top.
The second trick is rolling the dough in sugar before baking. This dries the surface of the dough which causes more cracks while they bake.
Try these next!
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Gingerbread Cutout Cookies
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Frosted Gingerbread Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
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Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- ¼ cup butter or refined coconut oil I recommend butter/vegan butter for best flavor
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar coconut, white or brown sugar all work
- 5 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk I used almond
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry
- 1 ½ cups fine blanched almond flour
- 1 ¼ cups oat flour certified GF as needed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 – 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger depending on preference, I use 1 1/4
- 1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For Rolling
- 4 tablespoons sanding sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the room temperature butter and sugar until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Beat in the remaining wet ingredients.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t pack them in! Mix together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls and roll in the sugar.
- Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies have crackly tops and have mostly flattened. They’ll firm up as they cool, so take them out early for chewy cookies.
- I then like to use a round cookie cutter to spin around the cookie and get a perfectly round shape. You’re not cutting the cookies, so use one that is slightly larger than the cookie itself and spin it around to get it perfectly round.
- let cool completely, then drizzle with the optional maple icing and enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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These are SO good! I’ve received the feedback “I would have no idea these are gluten free!” The flavors and texture are fantastic. I used county crock plant butter, coconut sugar inside, raw brown sugar for the rolling, and black strap molasses. I also ground up whole quick oats into flour instead of buying packaged oat flour. I did not flatten the cookies and they turned out great this way, especially if you like a chewy texture.
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This is a wonderful recipe! Admittedly i made a couple changes, but only due to what i had on hand. Tbh, vegan cookie recipes make me nervous because on several occasions i have had recipes come out flat/ shapeless. But this one is a keeper 100%. I used reg all purpose flour instead of oat flour since i didnt have any and am not GF. But added a little extra for moisture differences. I also used a coarser sugar for rolling, used vegan butter, and for the sugar content inside the cookie, used half brown and half white sugar. They crackled beautifully in the oven. My husband LOVED them. Will make again. This is also the third recipe i have used from this resource in the past month and they have all been winners. Thank you!
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Amazing! Thank so much, Sydney!
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Excellent!!! One of my new favorite recipes! Yummers.
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I have commented before how much we love this one!! We really like chewy ginger cookies like this one than harder gingerbread men cookies. Could I cut them into little men or do you think they might fall apart?? I’m ok if they did! We just wanted to bake some for our sunday school kids and wondering if balls or men would be better!! Thank you!!
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You can try! I suggest omitting the baking soda, adding the dough to plastic wrap and chilling, then rolling it out before baking. They may spread a bit and make slightly wonky looking men, but should overall be ok!
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Hello!
What can I substitute the almond flour with? I am allergic to all nuts, unfortunately.
Thanks!-
More oat flour should work!
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Hi!
Can I use the molasses, natural unrefined cane sugar? I have that one at home.
Thank you!-
Yes!
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These were AMAZING. Everyone love them. Will definitely be making again.
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Delicious and easy! Flavor was wonderful. Thank you for another great gf recipe
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Thank you, Peggy!
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Can I use regular flour instead of the oat flour?
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This recipe was designed for oat flour so I suggest sticking with that!
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is there a substitute for oat flour?
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You can just try using more almond flour instead!
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These cookies were incredible! I am gluten, dairy, and sugar free so it’s hard to find good recipes. I was so excited when I found these! I substituted golden monk fruit for the sugar and did just slightly less than the recipe called for. I also only added 4 tablespoons of molasses so they wouldn’t be too strong for me. The cookies held together great and are perfectly crunchy, and the taste was AMAZING! I’ll definitely make these again! Thank you!
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So glad it worked with those modifications! Thanks, Madeline!
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Great recipe! My cookies came out exactly like your pictures and taste great!!
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Perfect, thank you Janice!
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