Easy cut-out vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookies that can be made crisp or soft. They’re eggless, dairy-free, and filled with the warm, classic gingerbread spices you associate with the holidays. They can be cut out into any shape and decorated exactly how you like them!
In a medium bowl, add the gluten-free flour, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the vegan butter and dark brown sugar until blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of your bowl when needed. Add molasses, blend again until combined.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until a soft, sticky dough has formed. Form the dough into a ball.
Place the dough ball on a piece of plastic wrap and pat down into a disk. Wrap the dough disk and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours.
Remove from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes (it may be too hard to roll out right away, especially if it has been in the fridge for longer than 3 hours).
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
Dust a piece of parchment paper with a little gluten free flour and place the chilled dough on top of the flour. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and using a rolling pin, roll dough out until it is ¼-inch thick.
Cut out shapes and place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 1-inch of space between the cookies.
Gather dough scraps and repeat rolling and cutting until all of the dough has been used.
Bake cookies. For softer cookies, bake for 8-9 minutes, for crunchy cookies, bake for 10-11 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Fully cool before decorating.
To Make Quick Icing (Optional)
Add all icing ingredients to a small bowl and mix together until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add more milk, ¼ teaspoon at a time.
Fill a piping bag with the icing and using a small tip, decorate cookies.
Please read all of the information and FAQ info above, as well as the notes below before making this recipe.
The gingerbread man cookie cutter I have is 2.5" wide by 3" tall and I get 30 cookies when I use it. The recipe will make slightly more cookies, or slightly less if you use a smaller or larger cookie cutter than I do.
This recipe can be doubled if needed. If doubling, separate the dough into two equal pieces and wrap them separately before chilling.
It’s important to know that different gluten-free flour blends use different ingredients and ratios, so results may vary if you substitute. I have never used any other brand of gf flour to make this recipe other than Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour (Amazon link) in the blue package with xanthan gum, NOT the red package, so please know that your results may not be the same as mine if you substitute with another gluten-free flour blend. The weight listed above is for this specific brand of flour.
This recipe will NOT work with coconut flour or any other single gluten-free flour, it must be a blend, the one listed above for the intended and best results.
Powdered sugar, turbinado sugar, and liquid sugar (like maple syrup or agave) will NOT work in this recipe. I have not tested with any sugar alternatives.
Make sure that your butter is slightly softened before starting, NOT melted or TOO soft. To ensure your butter is at the ideal softness, lightly press your finger into it. If it leaves a shallow indent, your butter is at the perfect temperature. If your finger sinks into the butter with barely any effort, your butter is too soft. Refrigerate it until it has firmed up and then test it again.
Use molasses labelled "fancy," “unsulphured,” “dark,” or “baking.” Avoid using blackstrap molasses in this recipe since its flavour is so strong and can be bitter.
If your cookie dough gets too warm while rolling and cutting, place it back in the refrigerator to cool down for about 15 minutes.
In order to end up with cookies that are just the way you like, bake a few test cookies first and allow them to fully cool so you can figure out the baking time that works best for you. All ovens are different, so baking times will be different, depending on the size of your cookie cutters and whether you want soft or crunchy cookies. Start with the ranges I provide in the recipe and adjust as necessary.
If you're using smaller cookie cutters, those cookies will require less baking time than larger cookies. Keep similar-sized cookies on the same baking sheets so they can be pulled out at the same time.
Icing is not necessary if you don't want to decorate your cookies, but if you do choose to decorate them, 2 icing recipes are provided: a quick icing and royal icing (but only one is necessary, the choice of which one is up to you).
Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool, dry spot for up to 7 days.
Freezing Baked Cookies: Freeze cookies in single layers in a freezer bag or airtight container, with parchment paper separating each layer, for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature and when you’re ready to serve, just place them on a plate and bring them to room temperature.
To freeze the cookie dough for baking later: Wrap the cookie dough tightly and place it in an airtight freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake them, remove from the freezer and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. When ready, start back at step 5. If the dough is a little hard to roll out, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
The dough can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 days. When you are ready to make your cookies, remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before rolling out.
Nutrition info is based on 1 of 30 cookies cut ¼" thick without any type of decoration or sprinkles and using the recipe as it is written. This info and is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.