Chewy Vegan Ginger Cookies are everyone’s favorite holiday cookie! They’re filled with molasses and warm winter spices and decorated with a crisp sugar coating. Easy to make in 1 bowl!
Fill your cookie boxes with even more classic vegan Christmas cookies, like my Vegan Snowball Cookies, my Vegan Sugar Cookies, and these Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies!
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“Just made these and they came out perfectly! I’m seriously in love with these and can’t believe they are vegan!” – Courtney
These Vegan Ginger Cookies are always some of the first cookies I bake around the holidays. They’re full of molasses, brown sugar, and cozy winter spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Usually, I have to bake a few batches because of how incredibly chewy and irresistible they are!
Believe me when I say I tested these vegan ginger molasses cookies until they were absolutely perfect. After a days-long cookie-baking marathon, I finally nailed the recipe! With gorgeous cracks on the outside and an irresistible soft chew on the inside, they were well worth the effort.
Why you’ll love these chewy ginger cookies
- Seriously chewy – The cookies I first tested were too puffy and cake-like. I’m happy to say that this now-perfect recipe gives you some seriously soft and chewy ginger cookies every time.
- Coated in sugar – I mean, just look at the glistening sugar granules surrounding the cookies. It’s gorgeous to look at, sweet in flavor, and makes them that much more eye-catching.
- Easy 1-bowl recipe – Just like my Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies, these ginger cookies are oh-so easy to make in only one bowl!
These easy ginger cookies are perfect for sharing with friends, neighbors, and co-workers. If you want to treat them to even more ginger cookies, try my Vegan Gingerbread Cookies or these Gingerbread Latte Cookies next!
How to make vegan ginger cookies
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Start by beating the vegan butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Next, beat in the molasses and vanilla.
Add 2 cups of flour and the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl. Mix on low speed to combine, then add the remaining flour. Mix again until incorporated.
Roll 2 tablespoons of cookie dough at a time into balls (or 1 tablespoon for smaller cookies), then roll each one in a bowl of sugar until coated. Place the balls on a prepared baking sheet.
Recipe Tip
You can always skip the sugar coating or roll the cookie dough balls in powdered sugar instead, just like with my Ginger Crinkle Cookies.
Bake the ginger molasses cookies until they begin to crack on top. They’ll look a little soft coming out of the oven, but will firm up as they cool.
Set them aside to cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!
Chewy vs. crisp ginger cookies
As-is, these cookies are all about the chew. If you want crispier cookies, like vegan gingersnaps, bake them for 14 to 15 minutes instead.
Frequently asked questions
I usually use unsulphured blackstrap molasses, but these cookies are flexible in terms of what molasses you use.
Yes, that should be fine. A few of my readers have made these with a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour (like King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour) and had great results!
I haven’t tested it, but softened coconut oil (not melted) should work. Your cookies may spread a little more in the oven, but they will still be very delicious.
Absolutely. Roll the cookie dough balls, place them on the baking sheet, and freeze until they’re solid. Transfer the balls to a sealed container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the balls at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before coating in sugar and baking.
They’ll stay soft and chewy for about 3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also store them in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Vegan Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the softened vegan butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Add the molasses and vanilla, and beat in until smooth. Scrape the sides as needed with a spatula.
- Add 2 cups of flour to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the flour. Mix on low speed to combine. Now add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and mix until incorporated. The dough will be quite thick, but not dry.
- Fill a small bowl with the cup of sugar for rolling.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough for large cookies (1 tablespoon for small cookies), roll into a ball, then roll each ball in the sugar until completely coated.
- Place on the prepared baking sheets, and bake for 11-12 minutes, until they begin to crack on top. They will look very soft, but they firm up a lot as they cool. If you over bake, they will be crispy.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then enjoy!
Video
Notes
- For better cracks in the cookies: After a few minutes in the oven, sprinkle a little bit of cold water (I just flick it in the pan with my hands, about a teaspoon) on the pan. Cracks will form! (I learned this from my grandma)
- This recipe makes 36 large cookies, or about 48 small cookies. You can always cut the recipe in half if you don’t want that many. They are perfect for sharing with friends, neighbors or co-workers!
- Make sure to correctly measure your flour, or the cookies may not turn out right. To do this, use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup. Don’t pat the flour down or tap the cup. Use a knife to level off the top of the cup.
- If you want crispier cookies, like gingersnaps, simply bake these a bit longer, 14-15 minutes, and they will be quite crisp!
Nutrition
12/22/18- I found after further recipe testing that it was unnecessary to chill the cookie dough before baking the cookies, so I removed that step, making this recipe even easier!
Gingersnaps are my favorite cookie, I was super excited to try this recipe. Cookies did not flatten for me, boohoo. I did use a gluten-free flour 🙁
Any way to cut out the brown sugar ? what would happen if I omitted this ingredient?
The cookies wouldn’t taste as sweet and the molasses flavor would be stronger, but you could try cutting the sugar down to 3/4-1 cup.
I have tried a lot of your recipes and every single one has been absolutely fantastic! This one is no exception: they are PERFECT. Thank you SOooo much for doing what you do and sharing with the ret of us the results of what I’m sure has been a LOT of experimentation and hard work ?
Hi Liza. I love creating new and delicious recipes that are easy to make! Thank you for your recognition of the effort involved! It makes my day to know the results are helpful to others, and enjoyed as well! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
I’ve been making these cookies for a couple of years now. I never get tired of them. I use salted butter instead of vegan; they turn out great every time. Everyone always asks for the recipe!!!
Thank you for sharing this amazingly delicious recipe 🙂
Thank you for sharing your fantastic review and comments!
Another perfect recipe!
OMG, these are absolutely delicious. I couldn’t wait the 15 minutes to enjoy LOL.
Crunchy outside chewy inside and just a great flavor. Nora, your recipes NEVER disappoint.
Thank you so much for your wonderful and encouraging feedback! I’m so glad you love the cookies! Happy cooking!
The spicing on these is spot on. I patted each down a bit and instead of regular sugar, i used sanding sugar and dipped the top half (instead of the whole cookie0. I also put in about 3/4 C candied ginger.
Raves.
Your cookies sound delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and review!
Just made these and will be making again ! I added a dash of clove but would be fine without ! Not sure if you were supposed to press them but. Did squish out of the oven .
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! Glad you loved the cookies!
Great recipe! I only had half a cup of vegan butter so I used half a cup of coconut oil too. They were nice rolled in sugar or plain for those with less of a sweet tooth.
Hi Nora, Do you use salted or unsalted plant based butter
Hi Sharon. All my recipes have been developed with salted vegan butter, because only recently has unsalted been available. If using unsalted butter, I find increasing the salt by perhaps 1/4 teaspoon per 1/2 cup unsalted butter works well.
Perfectly chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The whole family loved them and couldn’t tell they were vegan!
Thank you for your fantastic review!
Delicious and easy to make. Christmas classic.
Did you use light or dark brown sugar? Can’t wait to make these!
I’ve used both dark and light, most often I use light though. Either is fine. 🙂
Unbelievably good recipe! I’ve never really been a fan of ginger cookies but made these for my partner at Christmas. I love them! Caramelized on the bottom, chewy, sweet and delicious spice. Sooo good! Please try this recipe out! I cut the X1 in half and it made a baker’s dozen.
I was eating these over the chocolate chip cookies I made!
I appreciate you sharing your great review and feedback! Glad you loved the cookies!
I bake cookies as gifts for family and friends every year for Christmas and this is my first year doing it vegan and I am SO glad I found this recipe. So delicious and cruelty free, will be making these every year now ❤️
Thank you for sharing your fantastic review and comments! I’m am honored you chose my recipe to give as gifts! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Delicious! Baked them for a christmas present this year and were very popular!
What fun! I’m so glad you love them! Thank you for sharing your great review!
The best vegan cookies ever!! Didn’t know what to expect when I made these, but wow they were amazing!! Super soft and chewy. Perfect amount of sweet and spice! Will be making these every year.
These are delicious cookies. I made your exact recipe and used Miyoko’s salted butter. They were perfect. Chewy and spicy and sugary. Such a wonderful holiday treat.
Great recipe.
I made these but didn’t add the flour and they were still very good!!
Like all of Nora’s recipes, these were fantastic! I used my measuring spoon to get nice round little cookies, baked for 8 minutes and they turned out just soft enough and so tasty! Everyone at worked enjoyed them, especially me!
Very very good!!!! My family didn’t know they were vegan till I told them! I love how heavily spiced they are as they should be. I added a 1/8 tsp black pepper because they elevate ANY gingerbread cookie:) I used the coconut oil method and it worked great, I microwaved it a little to soften it and it worked beautifully!! Use refined so they don’t have a coconut taste!!!
Thank you for sharing your fantastic review and comments! I’m so glad you love the ‘spicy’ cookies! Happy holiday cooking!
Thank you for this recipe. I used whipped vegan butter which I think may have been less dense, and whole wheat flour, which was more dense. Consequently, I could only incorporate about 2 1/2 C of flour and it was similar to pie dough. All came out very tasty but maybe I will dial back the spices a bit if I am to use whole wheat flour.
Thanks for sharing your review and comments! I’m glad the cookies were tasty for you!
My family is obsessed. Thank you!!
You are welcome! Glad you love the cookies!
Hi! I’m in the middle of making this recipe and I see it requires 1 TABLESPOON of BS… is this correct? I’m so scared to add that much, and it’ll that weird bitter taste when you add too much BS. I’m adding a teaspoon for now…
Thank you!
It actually is correct, yes! It makes quite a few cookies and without eggs it helps them rise and stay soft and chewy. Hope that helps and you enjoy them!