Well you know what they say, it takes a real man to be vegan!
LOL, these vegan gingerbread men are definite proof of that!
Slightly crispy but slightly soft and chewy too; basically everything I have always wanted in a man!
Use this dough for your gingerbread house project this year and of course for the best gingerbread men & women cookies you will find; or follow me through to my Winter Wonderland Gingerbread Cake where I take this dough and make a forest of gingerbread trees to decorate the top!
For the decorating part you can use my vegan royal icing, and I do love this recipe more than the original royal icing I used in my past life!
I was never a great fan of royal icing to begin with, but there’s something about this vegan version made with EnerG egg replacer that I really love so much.
The icing will harden as we want royal icing to do of course, but it stays slightly soft. It’s a strange phenomenon that I actually LOVE!
If you do not want to make the EnerG version recipe then simply use the vegan sprinkles recipe here, it is essentially royal icing, but a simpler (harder drying) recipe
I was recently told by someone who never liked gingerbread cookies that she loves my recipe!
She thought it could be the addition of black pepper! Whatever it is I have to agree!
This year I made some mini gingerbread houses to go into my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies compilation
- All Purpose Flour 3 cups (390g)
- Natural Cocoa Powder 2 teaspoons
- Baking Soda 1 teaspoon (5g)
- Ground Cinnamon ¾ teaspoon (2g)
- Ground Ginger 1¼ teaspoon
- Cloves ⅛ teaspoon
- Nutmeg ⅛ teaspoon
- Salt ¼ teaspoon
- Black Pepper ⅛ teaspoon
- Shortening or Vegan Butter ½ cup (113g)
- Light Brown Sugar ½ cup packed (105g)
- Molasses ⅔ cup (226g) (158ml)
- EnerG Egg Replacer1 Tablespoon
- Warm Water 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
- Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml)
- Combine EnerG Egg Replacer with the warm water and whisk smooth, add the vanilla extract
- Sift the flour with the cocoa powder, baking soda and all of the spices and the salt and pepper, set aside.
- Cream the shortening or vegan butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy about 4-5 minutes,
- Add the egg replacer mixture and then mix well, scarpe the bottom and sieds of the bowl for an even mix
- Add molasses to the creamed butter mixture and mix well
- Add the sifted flour mixture slowly while blending on low speed, mix until it is all incorporated evenly.
- Turn out the entire dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap.
- Wrap the dough tightly and press into a disc.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight before rolling.
- Once out of the fridge you must re-roll this dough. It may seem dry and crumbly this is normal, you must mash it all together and knead it back together, then RE-roll on a floured work surface until it is pliable.
- Cut your shapes, and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F, you will bake for approximately 18-22 minutes or until light golden brown.
For the Vegan Royal Icing
- EnerG Egg Replacer 4½ teaspoons (20g)
- Warm Water 6 Tablespoons (90ml)
- Vanilla Extract ½ teaspoon
- Confectioner's Sugar 4 cups (480g)
- Combine the egg replacer with the warm water and whisk smooth
- Place the sifted confectioners sugar in a mixing bowl and then add the vanilla extract and the egg replacer mixture.
- Mix on medium to high speed until it is smooth
- Color as desired and decorate as you like
- Allow cookies to dry slightly at room temperature overnight on a sheet pan uncovered
The cookies turned out great. The best recipe for gingerbread men I have made.
thankyou for the feedback!
hi, would it work to make the dough, roll it out, THEN put in fridge and then cut out?
yes sure
Omg! I loveeee that i no longer have to convert your awesome recipes to be egg free!!
Years ago after trying several different Italian butter cookie recipes, I found yours and it was the only one that ever converted over perfectly to make the most delicious beautiful cookies. I went through all the work of trying so many recipes and converting them over to egg free for my son who has severe food allergies .
He was quite young at the time but would always be sad whenever I told him he couldn’t eat those pretty colored cookies with sprinkles and frosting on them that people would put out on their tables because we had to worry about eggs being in them or cross contact from any peanuts or tree nuts .
The recipe turned out so good six years later I’m still making them and people are requesting for me to bring them for soecial occasions.
I cannot wait to try making these gingerbread cookies I’m so excited !!! Thank you ❣️
YAY! awesome!! CLick here for another great one!
Hi
What can I replace the egg replacer as I can’t find in Singapore. Thanks
you can use flax meal as an egg replacer 1 Tbs + 3 Tbs warm water
I need to make 200 ginger bread men… can I just times your receipe by
5 and will dough keep in fridge for how long??
yes dough will be fine for a week or more
Love love everything you do. Thank-you for all of your hard work.
I am excited to make your gingerbread “girls”, would you please give me a source for the eyes you use.
Thank-you for your time,
Suzie
Hi Thanks! Yes you will love this recipe! The men that I show here in this picture was from before my vegan days so I just bought candy eyes from Wilton and I am not 100% sure they are vegan. But you can always just make your own with some white royal icing and then black (or blue) for the iris
Excellent recipe thank you!
Can I use Bob Red Mill egg replacer for the icing?
No that kind of egg replacer is not good for this icing. Instead you can just make this royal icing, its so easy I use it for making Sprinkles all the time,and it is great for icing cookies too CLICK HERE
I used it on my Mini Gingerbread Houses
Hi Gretchen, would you be able to provide the gingerbread dough recipe which is not vegan. I’ve baked them every Christmas but now I can’t find it on the internet.
Thank you,
Mary
Hi Mary, sorry I no longer share non vegan recipes, but this recipe is a prefect rendition, no one would know it is not made with eggs and such.
Otherwise I am sure you can find some great non vegan recipes on the internet, but I DO hope you try this one.
Hi Gretchen
Will this cookies be “sturdy” enough to use as hanging tree ornaments?
Thanks in advance for your guidance.
YES!
Thank you for such a quick reply :). I absolutely LOVE every recipe of yours that I have tried. Are there plans to make your book available on Google Books? I keep searching for it there but never see it as an option for purchase.
I’ve never made gingerbread cookies before. How thick do I roll them out? Is there a benefit to waiting to roll it after 3 hours versus right away?