The BEST Easy Vegan, Gluten-free and Oil-free Gingerbread Men Cut-Out Cookies! Made with wholesome ingredients like almond butter, oat flour, molasses, maple syrup and all the holiday spices. Made with just 8 ingredients and 1 bowl!
VEGAN GLUTEN FREE GINGERBREAD COOKIES
You really didn’t think I would only give you 1 recipe using my Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix, did you? My Vegan Gingerbread Cake has become my most popular holiday cake. Record amount of remakes in just 5 days with all 5 star ratings, so put it on your holiday Christmas baking day, ok??
I had a large amount of requests for 2 cut-out cookie recipes this holiday season…sugar cookies and vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookies.
These vegan gingerbread men cut out cookies are so easy to make, the dough is really simple to work with. They are rich in spices and have the best crispy texture and flavor. I’m crushing pretty hard on how cute they turned out. Talk about bringing your inner child out to decorate. I used melted chocolate and vegan sprinkles and candies I found on Etsy. I’d say Christmas time is the time to break out the extra dazzle in decorations, like sprinkles and stuff.
For this recipe, I used my oat flour and starch combo I came up with years ago. It never fails me. These are DELICIOUS. They are vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, made in 1 bowl and just 8 ingredients (+ salt). The dough, just like my Gingerbread Cake, is rather dangerous. I’ve heard from several of you how you keep eating the batter of that cake before baking. Well, sorry, but you will be eating half of this dough before making cut-outs too, haha.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
(Only 8 main ingredients needed. Full details and measurements on the recipe card below.)
- Superfine oat flour: I use Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oat flour. The texture is fine and works best in baking. You can find this at Kroger and other grocery stores or online.
- Tapioca starch: This replaces and eggs and helps to bind these cookies, while giving them wonderful crispy edges.
- Gingerbread spices: I, of course, use my homemade gingerbread spice mix because it’s so much better than store-bought.
- Baking soda
- Coconut sugar
- Roasted almond butter: This replaces any oil or butter and gives a beautiful color and depth of flavor to these cookies. I use my homemade almond butter, but store-bought is fine, too, just make sure you are using a runny, smooth kind and not a dry/stiff almond butter, or the dough will be difficult to worth with and your cookies turn out dry.
- Maple syrup: Using this keeps these cookies refined sugar-free. Not to mention, flavor! Maple syrup tastes so much better than regular sugar.
- Molasses: You will want to use regular molasses here and not the blackstrap, as it is much too bitter and strong. Regular is lighter in color, flavor and is more sweet. You can find regular molasses at most grocery stores like Kroger, Walmart and even Target. Or even Amazon, very easy to find.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN FREE GINGERBREAD COOKIES
Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk well.
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients to the same bowl and stir until a thick, cohesive dough forms into a ball.
Step 3: Place the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up some.
Step 4: Roll the dough out in between parchment paper to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Try not to eat all the dough now because it’s absolutely delicious.
Step 5: Place each cookie on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes. Cool before decorating.
STORAGE
These cookies keep wonderfully for a couple of days, especially with icing. They should be stored sealed tightly at room temperature. These vegan gingerbread cookies are shockingly gluten-free. The texture is amazing, crispy, moist buttery center and the structure is perfection. They hold together and don’t fall apart. They even work to make a vegan gingerbread house!
MORE VEGAN HOLIDAY COOKIE RECIPES
- Vegan Gluten-free Sugar Cut-out Cookies
- Gluten-free Vegan Sugar Cookies (Oil-free)
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Almond Butter Blossoms
- Vegan Cardamom Pecan Cookies
- Vegan Coconut Butter Gingersnaps
- Vegan Chai Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies
Vegan Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies (The Best!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (144g) superfine oat flour (I use Bob's Red Mill. Superfine is very important here so the dough comes together)
- 6 tablespoons (48g) tapioca starch* (this is what acts as eggs and gluten and gives them structure so they don't fall apart)
- 2 tablespoons (24g) coconut sugar, ground into a fine powder (this will make for a smoother appearance but is certainly optional)
- 2 teaspoons Gingerbread spice + an extra 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (Use store-bought or my blend OR SEE NOTES below for sub)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (160g) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (80g) unsulphured regular molasses (not blackstrap, see NOTES)
- 1 cup (256g) roasted really creamy/runny almond butter
- Optional: Cookie cutters, chocolate chips, sprinkles for decorating
NOTE
- I recommend highly to use a scale to prevent room for error. You don't need cups or to compare the weights to cups, just simply follow the weights listed, as this is exactly how the recipes are tested and made. Make sure to zero out before adding each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. If you have time, chill the dough in the FREEZER for 30 minutes. This will make working with the dough a bit easier, but it is not necessary if you are pressed for time. The dough is very easy to work with.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the oat flour, tapioca starch, coconut sugar, spices, baking soda and salt and whisk very well making sure it's thoroughly mixed.
- Make a well at the bottom of the bowl and add the syrup, molasses and almond butter. Give the liquids a quick stir and then mix it in with the flour, stirring and pressing the mixture together until it is very thick, sticky and no more visible flour remains (see video). You will want to mix and press it for a couple of minutes so it gets really thick.
- Place a large piece of parchment paper on the counter and drop about half the dough onto it and form and pat it into a smooth ball shape (see video). If you have time to chill it, fold the paper over the dough to secure it and place in the freezer for just 30 minutes. You don't want to over-freeze it or the dough will be hard to work with. If not freezing the dough, use immediately. It is still fairly easy to work with. It is best to do half the dough at a time so you can roll it out to a consistent thickness and so the dough doesn't get too warm. Place the other half of dough in the fridge while doing the first batch.
- Place another piece of parchment paper over the dough and use a rolling pin on top of the paper to roll it out to 1/4 inch thick, NO LESS or the cookies will be too thin and get too dry.
- If using cookie cutters, place the cutter all the way down into the dough and slightly jiggle it side to side. Repeat this with as much of the dough you can use and gently peel away the edges around and in between the shapes. (see video) Gently pick up the cookies by slightly rolling it towards you starting with the head. If wanting to just make round cookies, simply take about 2 tablespoons worth of dough, roll into balls and flatten on the lined pan no less than 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle decorative sugar on top before baking if desired. With the scraps, form back into a ball and repeat the process. Fill as many as you can on the sheet with them spaced about 2 inches apart, as they will spread.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. They should be slightly puffed up and starting to look golden brown on the edges. Please note that the size of your cookies will vary a minute or so in cooking time. Small gingerbread men can cook faster 8-9 minutes and burn quicker, so keep an eye on them. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes and transfer to cool completely on a rack before decorating. They will crisp up considerably as they cool.
- If wanting to decorate like I have in the photos, just simply melt some chocolate chips, add it to a baggie and cut off a tiny corner. Drizzle onto the cookies for eyes and decorations. Use the chocolate as "glue" for buttons. Allow to cool completely before serving.
- These are best the day of, texture-wise, but are still yummy the next day. They are very fast and easy to make, so I recommend making them the day of a party or event, if possible.
Notes
- GINGERBREAD SPICE: If you can't find the Gingerbread Spice at the store or don't want to make my whole blend, then you can sub with 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
- MOLASSES: You can find regular molasses at Kroger, Walmart, Target and online on Amazon. In some countries, people have trouble finding regular molasses, so if you cannot find it, then sub the molasses with 2 tablespoons of blackstrap and 2 tablespoons maple syrup. This will change the flavor and texture somewhat and I have not tested this personally, but think it should work. I believe the cookies will be more delicate with less molasses though.
- STARCH: If you cannot find tapioca starch, cornstarch will work as well, they will just be slightly less crispy.
Nutrition
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Is it possible to freeze the men after baking?
I’ve never tried freezing them, so I’m not sure if they’d freeze well or dry out.
So delicious cookies! I made them the other day, the batter was very yummy, like the others said, it was so hard to resist and not eat all of it, before even making the cookies in the oven 😂👌🏻 Even though I obviously made something wrong, they turned out so yummy! I used homemade oat flour and half molasses as I have only blackstrap and the cookies turned out too soft, so you definately should have store bought oat flour like Brandi recommends! Also probably I should have baked them longer as I used only half of the molasses, but that’s my bad. Brandi was so kind to give me some advices for my next batch. Thank you 😘 Can’t wait to make them again 🤗
What is the difference between ‘regular’ and blackstrap molasses that means blackstrap won’t work for the full dose?
Regular is more mild snd sweet in flavor. Blackstrap is extremely dark and very bitter. It would not taste good. You can find regular molasses at Walmart, target, many grocery stores or online.
So delicious 🤤!!!!!!The almond butter adds an amazing touch.
So happy you loved these Emily!
These look so delightful! lovely recipe – looking forward to giving them a go!
These cookies were excellent! I had made gingerbread cookies many years ago but this is the first time I make them from scratch. I was very excited because they are wheat free, vegan and have no oil or refine sugar. 🤩
My husband cannot have wheat so he was so excited to have gingerbread cookies again. Thanks for such great recipe! I also used her gingerbread spice recipe and it was delicious.
I’ve had these in the freezer for a few hours now, I just haven’t been able to get them rolled out yet! Will the dough be fine overnight like most doughs? Thanks for all your recipes Brandi 🙂
Hi jessica! What do you mean? It’s too stiff? I wouldn’t have frozen it for hours. I only recommend 30 minutes. (Step 5) But just leave it out at room temperature to soften and as long as everything is measured correctly. It should be fine. I’ve made this dough 4 times in the last week, haha, and it’s the easiest dough ever to work with. I only ever chill it for about 30 minutes just to firm it up a bit so it’s less sticky on the cookie cutters. That’s really all you need.
Lovely! Followed exactly except I couldn’t find a good almond butter so I used peanut butter. You definitely taste the peanut butter but they are still so good and the texture is devine. It was a super easy dough to work with. I was scared because it seemed a little crumbly but they stuck together perfectly. I can’t wait to make these again!
So glad you loved them! Yes, peanut butter is much drier, so that will make the dough drier. Glad it worked out!
Hi, Miss Brandi! I love visiting your site! You have a lot of tasty recipes. 🙂
I was wondering if the almond butter could be replaced with the same amount of sunflower butter in the Gingerbread cookie recipe?
Thanks!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Hi Marie, thank you! Yes, if you don’t mind them having a sunbutter taste, it should technically still work. I do find sunbutter to be a bit thicker and not as smooth/runny as almond butter, so it may take another minute for the dough to come together. Just keep working and kneading/mixing it with your hands until smooth, like in the photos.
Just made these cookies today and we are all so pleased to finalllllllyyyyyyy have an actual cookie again. This recipe is so good and very sturdy I’m so happy. Thank you for all your hard work and I can’t wait to try more and more of your recipes. I appreciate all your hard work and testing to bring us all amazing really authentic easy vegan foods we love.
That is so wonderful to hear Amy! Cookies are actually my passion to create, so you will find LOADS of amazing cookie recipes on here, haha! So glad you loved them!
This cookie dough is so easy to roll out and cut! Perfect consistency and I love that they are made with oat flour ❤. My cookie Christmas tree turned out perfect with them!
The cookies turned out really well! My whole family enjoyed them and no one noticed they were vegan and gluten free. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
These are really good. I made an icing from powdered coconut sugar and almond milk. Very flavorful and chewy
So glad you loved these, thank you Anne!
Brandi, thank you for another wonderful recipe! I made two batches of these cookies this weekend and they were so easy to roll out. They are absolutely delicious! I used melted chocolate as you suggested to make faces and that worked perfectly!
Perfection! Seriously, this cookie has everything. Crispy edges, chewy center, sweet and spicy. I’ll never need another gingerbread cookie recipe.
Note: skipped the chocolate decorating and still perfect, used half tapioca and half corn starch since I ran out.
Thank you so much Caroline!!