These beautiful vegan ginger cookies are super easy to make! With just a 7-minute baking time, they’re packed full of flavour, quick to make, and a real hit among vegans and non-vegans alike.
Why make these?
- So easy to make and beginner-friendly
- The combination of two types of sugar creates the ultimate cookie dough
- Packed with rich spices for that mesmerising flavour explosion
- Crunchy on the outside, but beautifully gooey on the inside
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these gorgeous ginger cookies. Note that the exact measurements are at the bottom of this post.
Ingredients notes
Sugars - Each type of sugar has a different purpose in this recipe. Brown sugar gives a caramel-like flavour and chewy texture. White sugar on the other hand gives the cookie a crunchy outside. Feel free to substitute for just one kind of sugar but remember that results might differ.
Mixed spice - This is a British spice mix that includes cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, and ginger. It can easily be replaced with pumpkin pie spice.
Black treacle or molasses - Gives an extra depth of flavour and works very well with the ginger. Can be substituted with vanilla paste if you can't get your hands on molasses (US) or black treacle (UK).
Cinnamon – Can be substituted with cloves, nutmeg, all-spice, cardamom, additional ginger or completely left out. Ginger will work well with any of the spices mentioned and if you choose to add ginger only, I wouldn’t add more than a teaspoon per 4 cookies in total. The ginger flavour will become very strong if you add more than that and might become overwhelming.
Step-by-step Process
- Mix butter and both types of sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, mix cornflour, water and molasses.
- Add the cornflour mix to whipped butter and mix well until light and fluffy.
- Sift all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Then add them to your butter mixture. Fold in with a silicone spatula until just combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Scoop out tablespoon-sized balls.
- Lightly roll the balls between your palms until smooth and perfectly round.
- Place them on a lined baking tray.
- Use your fingers to flatten each ball
- Bake at 392°F / 200°C (fan oven) for 7-8 minutes until crisp around the edges but soft in the middle.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t overmix – The key to creating these light but rich cookies is a dough that hasn’t developed too much gluten. When you overmix the dough, it will develop more gluten. This will prevent the cookies from rising and having that airy texture. Additionally, gluten will also make your cookie rubbery rather than crumbly and crispy.
- Bake at a high temperature - The high temperature will activate the rising agents. This will set the outside of the cookie before the inside is fully cooked. As a result, you will get the deliciously chewy, gooey centre.
- Cream your butter until light and fluffy – Creaming the butter and sugar and whipping the mixture until light and fluffy will help dissolve some of the sugar. This will add air into your mixture, giving your rising agents a helping hand in the oven. See how to cream butter here.
- Bake until slightly underdone - These cookies should be set and crunchy on the outside but gooey in the middle. To make this happen don’t bake them until they are completely baked through. Instead, bake until the outer part around the edges is done but the centre sinks when you press your finger on it. This inside will sink as they cook and give a beautiful chewy cookie.
- Don’t overbake – If you want that gooey centre and cracked look on the outside you need to essentially underbake these cookies. If you do prefer a firmer cookie you can bake for longer until the whole cookie is set. However, you won’t get that signature melt-in-the-mouth middle. If you do plan on baking them for longer, make sure to do so at a lower temperature. There is a decent amount of sugar in these cookies so the sugar will burn at such a high temperature if baked for longer (say 15- 20 minutes).
FAQ
The reason behind this is often the type of vegan butter you’ve used. Vegan butter can have a different ratio of moisture compared to fat. Depending on which one you use the butter can make your dough drier or wetter.
If the dough is too dry don’t worry. Simply add half a teaspoon of plant based milk at a time to the dough until it comes together. Add until your dough has a drop cookie texture (in between a firm biscuit dough and a cake batter).
There are a few things that can prevent cookies from having that beloved cracked look.
- The dough is overworked, making it more difficult for the baking soda to do its job and rising to its full potential.
- The oven is not hot enough.
- When you put the cookies in the oven make sure to do it fast to keep the oven temperature high.
- Secondly, make sure you preheat the oven properly.
- Another reason for this could be that you’ve left out one of the rising agents. I find that the best crackled cookies are those that used two types of rising agents: both baking soda and baking powder.
If your cookies are sinking after you’ve taken them out of the oven don’t worry. This is exactly what they are supposed to do.
You want them to puff up in the oven and then sink again so that they are not stodgy and still have a slightly denser chewy centre.
The dough for these cookies is quite sticky but when chilled you should be able to shape it into a ball after scooping.
I used a round measuring spoon to scoop the dough to give them a nice round shape whilst scooping. Then I’ve rolled them in the palms of my hands until perfectly round.
If it gets too sticky try running your hands under cold water, dry them, and try again. Warm hands will melt the butter in the dough and make it even stickier.
If the dough can’t be formed into a ball from the off, pop it back in the fridge for a bit longer to let it cool down further. This way, the butter in the dough will harden, making it easier to shape.
Other Vegan Cookie Recipes
Loved the look of my vegan ginger cookies? Check out my top favourite cookie recipes:
Or explore my full desserts section here!
If you run into any issues when making this recipe don't be afraid to get in touch via the comments below. And if you loved the recipe, it would make my day to hear your review!
🍴Recipe
Vegan Ginger Cookies
Equipment
- Mixer (optional)
- Measuring cups and scales
- Baking tray and baking paper
Ingredients
- 55 g (¼ cup) vegan butter I used Vitalite
- 30 g (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) white sugar granulated sugar
- 40 g (3 tablespoon) brown muscovado sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornflour cornstarch in the US
- 1 teaspoon water
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) molasses
- 75 g (½ cup + 2 tbsp) plain white flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking powder
- ¼ salt
- 1,5 teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) mixed spice or pumpkin spice
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until fluffy using an electric mixer.
- In a seaparate small bowl mix together cornflour, water, and molasses.
- Add the cornflour mix to whipped butter and whisk well.
- Sift together all the remaining dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and mixed spice.
- Add the flour mixture to the whipped butter mixture. Fold together with a spoon or soft spatula until just combined.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime preheat the oven to 392°F / 200°C (fan oven setting) so it's ready for baking.
- If you're not using a fan oven, preheat to 428°F / 220°C.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and scoop out tablespoon-size balls.
- Lightly roll the balls between your palms until smooth and perfectly round. Place them on a lined baking tray. Make sure to leave enough space for the cookies to expand.
- Repeat until you have 9 cookies (or until there is no dough left).
- Use your fingers to flatten each ball until it is about ¾ - 1 cm thick (0,4 inches thick).
- Bake for 7-8 minutes until crisp around the edges but soft in the middle. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
- Use the step-by-step photos in the post above as your visual guide.
- I tested this recipe using weight measurements (not cups). I recommend using weight measurement. Cups vary in size and are considerably less exact.
- Feel free to substitute the mixed spice with any other mix containing cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
- For best results, make sure you're using two types of sugar.
- Cream your butter until light and fluffy. To get the desired consistency you might find it easier to use a mixer (stand mixer or a hand mixer).
- Don’t overmix your batter. Simply mix until just combined.
- Bake until slightly underdone. If you want that gooey centre and cracked look on the outside you need to essentially underbake these cookies.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The nutritional information above is calculated automatically. The author of this post cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of this data.
Leave a Reply