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!
These were soooooo good!!!!!!!!!! And easy! Thank you!!!!!
I want to make more!! Ate so many
Every recipe I try of yours is perfect! This was no exception. I added a small piece of candied ginger on the top before baking which was nice.
Love these.Thank you
You are welcome! I’m glad you love the cookies! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review and feedback!
Love this recipe! I needed to make them GF so I just used King Arthur all purpose GFflour and I used 3 cups. I added a pinch of ground clove too. Turned out PERFECT.
Great to know, Kate! Thank you for sharing your fabulous review and feedback!
Hi Nora,
Can i freeze cookies Dough???
Yes, you could freeze the cookie dough. I recommend shaping it into balls first just to make it easier when you want to bake them.
These cookies are soon chewy and delicious! BTW I cut out a 1/4cup brown sugar, as I don’t like my cookies to sweet and the taste was still great.
As for those who remarked that their cookies didn’t flatten out and crackle, use the spoon method for measuring the flour as I did. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup by the tablespoonfull and then level off. This ensures that you don’t have too much flour in the dough. That’s why some recipes include gram measurements so you’ll have the exact amount of ingredients for a successful bake.
I’m glad you loved the cookies! Thank you for sharing your great feedback and review! I’m thrilled you loved the cookies!
Turned out perfectly. Everyone wanted the recipe.
I’m thrilled everyone loved the cookies! Thank you for sharing your fantastic feedback, Karen!
I followed the recipe but made a couple changes. Switched baking soda to baking powder and increased the amount to 3 tablespoons (the recommended conversion). I also added almond milk because the dough was extremely dry and wouldn’t form into balls without it. They turned out perfectly.
These were amazing! I am vegan but my husband is not. He said they were the best cookies ever! I am going to try them with
Gluten free flour so that my daughter can enjoy them also.
Yes. Thank you for sharing your terrific feedback about the ginger Christmas! I am glad that you guys love them!
Hi Beth. Did they work with gf flour?
These cookies turned out amazing. They are delicious and look perfect. I refrigerated them due to not being able to bake off right away. Baked at 375 for 14 min. Thx for the recipe
You are welcome, Tammy! I’m glad the cookies turned out wonderful for you! Thanks for sharing your terrific feedback!
Followed your directions exactly but cookies didn’t flatten out or crack. Tried cooking longer as my oven runs a little cool, but didn’t help. Dough tastes great, cookies just didn’t work as expected.
This can happen when your butter is too cold, if there was too much flour added to the dough, or if your oven wasn’t hot enough (turn the temp up to 375ºF next time). Keep these in mind if you try this recipe again! Happy baking!
Dough tastes amazing but cookies are not flattened or cracked. Next time I’ll lessflour and add T of vg milk
Same thing happened to me. Tasted good but not the look I wanted. I measured my ingredients carefully and yet my dough was way too dry. I added melted butter and saved the day but next time I’ll just use less flour. I want a large flat cookies but that didn’t happen. Should I have flattened them with a fork before baking?
I plan to make these this weekend and was wondering if cookies were flattened before baking. Did not see that in the steps.
No, they will flatten in the oven. If they don’t flatten, that means the flour probably wasn’t measured correctly so the dough was too dry. So be careful with your measurements. I suggest spooning flour into a measuring cup, and leveling it with a knife. Don’t pack it down, shake it down, or just scoop it. You will end up with too much or too little flour. Hope that helps!
These are the best cookies. I measure accurately using a scale and they never fail. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
These were perfect. I only had coconut sugar and was worried it would change it, but I could eat them all, and just may!
Hi Deborah. I’m glad to hear the cookies turned out perfect for you with the coconut sugar! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback, and enjoy those cookies!
Hi, these look wonderful! I am going to try to make some today. I just want to be sure that there is 1 Tablespoon of baking soda. Thanks, Julie
Julie. Yes that is correct 1 tablespoon of baking soda. I hope you love the cookies!
These are perfect! Love that you can make them small or big
Thank you for sharing your great feedback! I’m glad you love the ginger cookies!
Hi! Recipe looks amazing and your other recipes have always turned out great for me! Just wondering if you’ve tried freezing these with any success? Looking to make some ahead and gift later on. Thanks! 🙂
Thank you! Yes, they freeze very well.
I love these, and I saw that you did freeze them for later. Do you mean the dough or cookie? Can I make the dough and freeze for later or do u need to bake it first? If you need to bake it, how do you thaw it?
Cookies were way too sweet for me, but good tasting!
These are some of the BEST cookies ever. They have the perfect amount of kick from the ginger and are so chewy and delicious, I love them!
I am not vegan but I made these for a friend that is and has not been feeling well. These cookies are wonderful. I am so surprised. Most of the vegan dishes I have tried are so dry and well, not to my taste, but I must say this ginger snap recipe is so easy and the cookies are great. My friend loved them.
Hi Kate. How lovely of you to make cookies for your friend! I’m glad your friend, and you, loved the cookies! Thank you for your wonderful feedback!
We enjoyed these and they’re easy to make. I kind of messed up the first batch by squishing them down into discs- they ran everywhere and were a bit crisp. The second batch got to chill in the fridge for 20 min, plus I left them as rolled up balls on the tray. The presentation for these was really nice 🙂
Do you think I could roll out the dough and stamp them with cookie cutters?
Glad you enjoyed the cookies! I think it would work but I haven’t tried it.
I just rolled them out to make gingerbread men, worked totally fine! I would recommend chilling the dough first though if you’re going to roll them out, just easier to work with.
Just popping up to say I’ve made these a few times now with 3 2/3 cups oat flour as a GF sub and they’ve been awesome!
Hi there,
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but love many of the ones you’ve shared. I was wondering if you have the flour measurement in grams? This helps me so I don’t worry about the density of my flour measurement.
Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth. To the right of the ingredients list, there is a ‘metric’ tab you can click on. That should show the measurement in grams. Hope this helps!
Hi
Thanks for the recipes, I’ve tried a couple now, but I think I’d have more success if the metric conversion was working properly – on this one for example, it still stays US on the metric option for SOME of the ingredients and becomes quite confusing when trying to make less than the original recipe, e.g. 0.83 of a tbsp is a bit time consuming to figure out and concerned I’m getting it wrong when converting from cups. Thanks!
These are AH-MAZING!!! Perfect! So easy and super yummy! Your waffle recipe is also our go to. Thank you!
Hi Tammy. These cookies are one of my favorite cookies! I’m thrilled that you love them! Thanks for your wonderful feedback and review!
Every recipe of yours I’ve tried is a hit, and this is no exception. I’ve made these cookies a number of times now and everyone loves them. I find a true test is when my non vegan friends and family love a plant based recipe and can’t tell the difference.
Sometimes I play with the amount of flour to change the texture. I hold some back for extra thin chewy cookies, or add a bit more for a more dense cookie. No matter what, they turn out awesome!
I never comment on recipes out of laziness, but your website is my go to and I want you to know how much I appreciate you!
I forgot to hit the star rating! Definitely 5 stars
Hi Kimberly. I feel honored by your very kind words! Thank you! I appreciate you taking time to share your amazing feedback! I’m thrilled you are enjoying my recipes! Thanks for the love and appreciation, it is very encouraging!
My absolute favorite cookie recipe! I’ve made these way too many times to count, but they’ve always turned out perfectly.
Thank you for sharing your great feedback and review! I’m thrilled you love the cookies! They are one of my favorites!
My cookies didn’t flatten out! What did I do wrong?
This can happen when your butter is too cold, if there was too much flour added to the dough, or if your oven wasn’t hot enough (turn the temp up to 375ºF next time). Keep these in mind if you try this recipe again! Happy baking!