These gluten free gingerbread cookies are filled with fresh spices, molasses and finished off with a dairy free cream cheese frosting. They’re vegan, made with almond flour, incredibly soft and perfect for the Holidays.
You guys absolutely loved my soft baked frosted pumpkin cookies this year, so I of course had to do a version for the Holidays!
These gluten free gingerbread cookies are soft, chewy and perfectly spiced. They’re fairly healthy compared to other kinds of cookies since they’re made with almond and oat flour and coconut sugar.
These are definitely not crunchy cookies (never been a big fan!), but if that’s what you’re looking for, I’d recommend my vegan/gluten free gingerbread cookies. Just bake them for a few extra minutes for a slight crunch.
If you love this recipe, try my gingerbread loaf next!
How to make gluten free gingerbread cookies
MIX BUTTER AND SUGAR. In a medium mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and both sugars. Cream together for about 1 minute.
Add in the molasses and vanilla and mix until combined.
ADD DRY. Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour, don’t scoop right from the bag. Beat until combined, then use a rubber spatula to finish folding together.
SCOOP. Use a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop and roll into balls. Place on a baking sheet, then flatten lightly with your fingers.
BAKE. Bake for 9-13 minutes (I always do 11 but all ovens are different). They will continue to harden as they cool.
FROST. To make the frosting, cream together the room temperature butter and cream cheese for about 1 minute.
Beat in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. When the cookies are cool, frost and enjoy!
Can I make these into cut out cookies?
No, this recipe will not work with cookie cutters. Instead, use my gluten free and vegan gingerbread cut out cookie recipe!
Storage and texture tips
These cookies are SOFT. Almost a muffin type cookie. There really is not much of a crisp or crunch to these cookies (which I love). You can always bake them for a couple extra minutes if you do in fact like a crisp, but they are not intended to be made this way.
Thanks to the butter, molasses, almond flour and sugars, these gingerbread cookies will stay quite soft for a few days after baking. If you make them without icing, they can be stored in a container with a lid.
If you make them without icing, I find it best to keep the lid slightly ajar or store them in the fridge because of the cream cheese/butter in the frosting.
You can also make the cookies, then freeze them if you’re looking to do a little Holiday dessert prep! You can freeze them once baked (without icing), but I don’t recommend baking the cookies from frozen dough as it won’t spread properly.
Ingredients & substituions
FLOUR. These gluten free gingerbread cookies call for both almond and oat flours. I do not recommend subbing for all purpose flour or any other type of flour such as coconut. Please follow the recipe as written for best results!
FROSTING. For a healthier and lower sugar option, just leave off the icing! These cookies have plenty of flavor as is and are plenty delicious on their own.
SUGAR. You can sub both the brown and white sugar for coconut sugar if you prefer. Keep in mind the cookies will spread differently and have a different color than what is pictured, but they’ll still be delicious.
MOLASSES. No, these cookies cannot be made without molasses. It is key for the classic gingerbread flavor (in addition to all of the spices of course) and leaving it out will alter the recipe quite a bit.
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Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- ⅓ cup room temperature (vegan) butter or refined coconut oil
- ½ cup dark brown or coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 6 tablespoons molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- 1 ¼ cup oat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 ounces plain cream cheese I used dairy free
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and both sugars. Cream together for about 1 minute.
- Add in the molasses and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour, don't scoop right from the bag. Beat until combined, then use a rubber spatula to finish folding together.
- Use a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop and roll into balls. Place on a baking sheet, then flatten lightly with your fingers.
- Bake for 9-13 minutes (I always do 11 but all ovens are different). They will continue to harden as they cool.
- To make the frosting, cream together the room temperature butter and cream cheese for about 1 minute.
- Beat in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. beat in the vanilla.
- When the cookies are cool, frost and enjoy!
Sarah Clarke says
These cookies had great flavor but they didn’t rise at all. They came out completely flat like lace cookies. Is it possible that the egg was left off the recipe? If not what did I do wrong?
Claire Cary says
These cookies are vegan, so there is no egg. I would recommend chilling the dough and make sure you measure the flour properly. They should not be spreading too much!
Lily says
So good!
Kaela says
These were so so good. I can’t eat oats so I subbed half almond flour and half gf flour for the oat flour. They came out great! It’s noted in the directions but they really do continue to harden as they cool so trust the recipe and don’t over bake. Thanks for another perfect recipe!
Claire Cary says
Perfect! Good to know that substitution worked!