These vegan gingerbread sugar cookies are everything you love about the holidays- buttery, sweet, and full of cozy charm. Mini gingerbread shapes are wrapped in vanilla cookie dough, sliced, baked and decorated with some simple icing for that perfect festive touch. Whether you’re gifting them, sharing or enjoying them with a cup of tea / coffee, these cookies are a holiday must make! Vegan, No-Egg, No-Dairy and super easy to make! Keep reading to learn how to make them!
Vegan Gingerbread Sugar Cookies
This super cute and festive cookies are inspired by the Pillsbury ‘Slice and Bake’ Cookies, but even better because they’re completely vegan friendly. The cookies melt in your mouth and are super buttery! The little gingerbread shape baked in the middle is actually gingerbread flavour, spiced with ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg for a festive touch. The vanilla dough contains vanilla extract and pairs perfectly with the spiced ginger cookie. I couldn’t leave it there, I had some extra fun decorating the little gingerbread men in the middle with a simple 2 ingredient icing and that simple touch makes these cookies a showstopper, a must make for any festive celebration, or to enjoy watching a cozy festive film!
Looking for more gingerbread recipes? Check out my:
- Vegan Gingerbread Tiramisu Brownies
- Easy Vegan Gingerbread Cream Cookies
- VIRAL Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Easy Vegan Gingerbread Millionaires Bars
- No-Bake Gingerbread Oreo Pops
- The BEST Vegan Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Gingerbread Steamed Pudding
Why you’ll love these vegan gingerbread sugar cookies:
- Festive and fun: Each slice reveals an adorable gingerbread man right in the middle- perfect for holiday cookie platters and cozy gifts.
- Completely vegan: No dairy, no eggs yet melt in the mouth, made using a dairy-free butter!
- Easy to make ahead: The slice-and-bake dough chills beautifully, so you can prepare it days in advance and bake whenever you need a fresh batch of scrumptious gingerbread sugar cookies.
- Soft yet crisp: These cookies have that ideal texture, soft and tender in the middle with lightly crisp edges. They’re heavenly!!!
- Beautifully iced: A simple vegan icing adds just the right sweetness and brings the little gingerbread design to life! Great for kids to get involved in making and decorating!
- Crowd-pleasing: They taste just like classic sugar cookies, rich with ginger and cinnamon but perfectly sweet and buttery! It’s the the perfect combo!
Ingredients you’ll need:
You be surprised that this recipe contains less than 10 ingredients! Find the full recipe with method and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- All purpose / plain flour – As we don’t need these cookies to raise unlike sponge, simply use a plain flour. Make sure to sieve to remove any lumps.
- Caster sugar – A fine white sugar. Don’t use granulated or the cookies may be gritty in texture.
- Ground spices – A mixture of ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg for the gingerbread man cookie.
- Icing / powdered sugar – Helps add sweetness to the cookie, as well as pairing with the aquafaba to make a vegan royal icing!
- Vegan butter – Make sure the butter is cold / chilled as we want to keep the cookie dough cold. This makes it easier to work with and will allow the cookies to hold their shape when baking!
- Vanilla extract – You can use vanilla extra or vanilla bean paste for a more intense flavour!
- Dairy-free milk – You can use any dairy-free milk for this recipe, as it’s added into the cookie dough to bring it together. I persoally use unsweetened soya milk.
- Brown food gel / cocoa powder – This is optional but will make the gingerbread man stand out more!
- Aquafaba (chickpea brine) – Use the brine from a can of chickpeas, this acts as an egg replacer and makes for a vegan royal icing that sets!
How to make gingerbread ‘slice and bake’ sugar cookies
Below is a quick overview of how to make these ‘slice and bake’ sugar cookies. You can find the full recipe with quantities and written method in the recipe card at the bottom of the page!
- Make the inner gingerbread shape
Combine all of the gingerbread cookie dough ingredients together until you have a soft cookie dough. Roll out the gingerbread dough to about ½ inch thick. Use a small gingerbread man cookie cutter to chomp out a bunch of shapes. Stack the cutouts tightly together in a log, freeze until firm.
- Make the vanilla cookie dough
Combine all of the vanilla cookie dough together until you have a soft vanilla cookie dough. Roll out the vanilla dough and wrap it around the frozen gingerbread man log to form a smooth cylinder. Chill again until very firm.
- Slice and bake
Slice the log into rounds, each one should reveal a gingerbread man in the middle. Bake on a lined baking tray until just golden at the edges (full baking time in the recipe card at the bottom of the page).
- Decorate
Once cooled, pipe vegan royal icing (made with icing / powdered sugar and aquafaba) to outline and add little faces/buttons on the gingerbread men visible in the slices.
Gingerbread ‘slice and bake’ cookies FAQ
- How to make the gingerbread man inside? You make two doughs – a darker gingerbread dough and a lighter vanilla cookie dough. Cut and stack the gingerbread men to form a log, freeze it, then wrap it in the lighter dough before slicing and baking.
- Why is my gingerbread man blurred when baking? If your dough is too soft or warm, the design will spread. Its key to keep it very cold before baking, hence using cold butter and don’t over-mix your dough. You can keep chilling the dough before baking!
- Can I make them ahead of time? YES! The cookie dough freezes perfectly, simply wrap tightly and slice/bake whenever the sweet cravings hit. Iced cookies also store well at room temperature for several days (in a sealed / air-tight container).
- What vegan butter to use? Its best to use a cold vegan block butter as you want these cookies to be as cold as possible when handling. I use Flora Unsalted Plant Butter, i also love Naturli Vegan Block. Don’t use a dairy-free margarine or they’ll just be too soft.
- Can this recipe be made gluten-free? They sure can! You can make them gluten-free by using a 1:1 gluten-free plain / all-purpose flour blend (with xanthan gum or another binder), till will prevent them from falling apart when baked. Chill the dough well before slicing! Gluten-free doughs can be tender and more delicate, but they bake up beautifully with the same layered gingerbread man effect.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram , TikTok and Facebook! Pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Gingerbread Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10–12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make the ULTIMATE festive cookies this Christmas. Festive spiced gingerbread man slice and bake cookies topped with icing, vegan, no-egg, no-dairy and surprisingly easy to make!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the gingerbread cookies
- 180g of all purpose / plain flour
- 60g of caster sugar
- 25g of icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 75g of vegan butter (chilled)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Drop of brown food gel or 1 tbs of cocoa powder (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of dairy-free milk
Ingredients for the vanilla cookie
- 180g of all purpose / plain flour
- 60g of caster sugar
- 25g of icing sugar
- 75g of vegan butter (chilled)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of dairy-free milk
Ingredients for the icing
- 80g of icing / powdered sugar
- Aquafaba (chickpea brine) (See step)
Instructions
Method (gingerbread cookie dough)
- Add the flour, sugars, ground spices, butter, vanilla and drop of brown food gel or heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times adding in the milk and continuing to blend until a smooth ball of dough forms.
- Shape the dough into a disc and wrap loosely with cling film or grease proof paper. Place into the fridge while you make the vanilla dough.
Method (vanilla cookie dough)
- Add the flour, sugars, butter and vanilla into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times adding in the milk until a smooth ball of dough forms.
- Shape the dough into a disc and wrap loosely with cling film or grease proof paper. Place into the fridge for at least 1 hour or until it feels firm / not sticky.
Method (shape the cookies)
- Remove both cookie doughs from the fridge. For the gingerbread men, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of grease proof paper until approximately 1/2 inch thick. Use a small gingerbread man cookie cutter to chomp out the shapes (mini cutter 1–1.5 inches works best).
- Stack the cutouts right on top of each other, lining them up perfectly to form a tall, long “tower” of gingerbread men. Press gently to adhere.
- Freeze for around 1-2 hours until very firm! This will make it easier for adding on the outer vanilla cookie dough and wont smush the gingerbread men.
- Take the frozen gingerbread-man log out of the freezer.
- Press the vanilla sugar-cookie dough around the entire gingerbread log evenly (watch video for example).
- Patch any gaps so the center stays hidden. Roll gently into a smooth cylinder about 2 – 2.5 inches in diameter.
- Wrap tightly and chill or freeze until firm (at least 1 hour; overnight is ideal).
- Preheat oven to 175°C fan and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
- Use a sharp knife to slice ¼-inch cookies. If the center tries to crumble, let the log warm for 5 minutes.
- Place the cookie slices on the lined tray, separated as they will spread slightly.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown in colour.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely at room temperature.
Method (icing)
- In a small bowl, add in the icing / powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of aquafaba. Mix until its smooth / toothpaste consistency. Add more icing sugar or a few drops of aquafaba at a time – it should hold its shape when you draw a line.
- Transfer the icing to a piping bag with a tiny round tip (#1–2), or use a zip-top bag with a very small corner snipped off.
- Pipe the gingerbread man face and body details (refer to photos for example).
- Allow the icing to set at room temperature for around 5-10 minutes, then tuck in.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
To store: Store the cookies in an air tight / sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, and in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Store cookies with the glaze – Store the cookies with the glaze on in the fridge, and allow them to come to room temperature before enjoying. Make sure they’re stored flat, as if stacked, it will disrupt the icing.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
- Category: cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
