Hannah Sunderani is an expert at creating a vegan Christmas menu. Her take on the classic Christmas dinner feast is filled with festive plant-based fare, but no holiday is complete without cookies. These easy vegan gingerbread cookies are made with Hannah’s favourite egg substitute, chia, and uses blackstrap molasses (you can use the leftover molasses from Hannah’s Vegan Pecan Pie to add intensity and flavourful depth.
Classic Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ground chia seeds or ground flax seeds
- 3 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup vegan butter cold
- 3/4 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour more for sprinkling (gluten-free flour also works)
Instructions
- Make the chia egg: in a small bowl combine the ground chia and water. Let sit for at least 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl add chia egg, coconut sugar, almond butter, molasses, maple syrup, vegan butter, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda. Beat with a hand mixer on low to combine.
- In batches add the flour and mix on low speed until well combined. Your dough should hold its shape when pressed, but not feel dry. (1 1/2 cups of flour was perfect for me, you might need a little more or less). Turn the cookie dough onto work surface and bring into a dough ball, form a disk and chill the dough for 1 hour, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Generously sprinkle work station with flour before rolling. With a rolling pin, carefully roll out dough to be about 1/4 inch.
- Dip your cookie cutters in flour and cut out shapes. Gently transfer the cookie cutouts to the baking sheet using a lightly floured spatula. (Leave 1 inch between the cookies for spreading).
- Quickly roll any of the remaining dough back into a ball and roll it out again, 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle work surface with flour to avoid sticking as the dough warms with additional rolls. Cut out shapes and transfer cookies to sheet with a spatula.
- Bake the cookies in oven for 6-8 minutes, or until they appear only slightly browned on the edges. They'll continue firming up as they sit on the pan. Let cool for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
