Since several people recently suggested I needed a good gluten-free vegan gingerbread men cookies recipe on here, gingerbread men have been at the top of my priorities list ;) . I had a recipe for some from previous years, but I decided to take this opportunity and tweak it so as to cut out some of the sugar from my already dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free recipe. The results were, well... they were all eaten up in one morning! I actually had to guard them and fend people away until I managed to snap some photos to show you. The little guy in the tea cup lost his head seconds just after the shot above was taken ;) #caught!
My favorite part of the process of making this classic gingerbread men recipe was using "gingerbread boys" cookie cutters by Tovolo. I heard about them through someone on facebook recently and fell in love. I mean, c'mon, how stinkin' cute are these cookies?!? The grumpy guy was the best! {and the most coveted around here!}. What I loved about these cutters is that because they are imprintable I was able to get away with having gingerbread men without the icing. I know, I know, the icing is the fun part, but it's also full of sugar... And you have to wait for it to set... {and who wants to wait anyhow when you have fresh out of the oven, warm, fragrant cookies right in front of you?!?}. Anyways, once I had seen these, I just couldn't go back to my regular old cutter, and these were definitely worth the $6 investment. {If you do want to ice your gingerbread boys, by the way, feel free to use the vegan royal icing from this recipe}.
Now if you want to be even more radical than imprinting instead of icing your gingerbread men cookies, check out these ninjabread men for inspiration. What an awesome idea this girl had! I definitely think those are genius cutters too. I especially enjoyed the ginjabread men fight :)
Anyways, back to these tasty gingerbread men cookies... ;)
PrintGingerbread Men Cookies
Adorable gluten-free gingerbread cookies, lightly spiced and perfectly crunchy. No dairy, vegan recipe.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 17 gingerbread men
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
- ½ cup non-dairy butter, at room temperature OR coconut oil, softened
- ⅓ cup maple syrup {or liquid sweetener of your choice}
- 3 tbsp blackstrap molasses {I recommend using a sulphite-free brand}
- 2 ½ cups gluten-free flour blend {I recommend Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend} {or make your own by combining: 1 ¼ cups brown rice flour, ¾ cup tapioca starch, ½ cup sweet rice flour, ½ teaspoon guar gum}
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp cloves
- dash of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper for that, and have your gingerbread cookie cutter(s) handy.
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it's creamy. Add sweetener and molasses, vanilla, spices and salt and mix once again to combine. Add in flour and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: as depending on the flour mix you use there may be a slight variance, know that the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together when pinched -- be sure to knead it really well first for some time -- if it's a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it's a little dry add a little more sweetener (try 1 tbsp)}. Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.
- Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼" thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½" apart {they won't spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough ball.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 11-12 minutes, until the edges just begin to darken. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don't overbake}. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!
Happy baking!
xo Audrey
~~
Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link to the gingerbread men cookie cutters and gluten free flour blend.
Fatma Bahri says
Thank you for the recipe!
What substitutes can I use instead of sweet rice and guar gum?
Thank you for your help!!
Audrey says
Hi Fatma. In my experience that flour combo (or Pamela's mix) produce the best results in terms of texture and consistency. That said, you can always use a different GF baking blend of your choice, or just use more fine rice flour and omit the guar gum. The end result will be somewhat different though, naturally. If you give it a go, would love to hear how they turned out.
Esther says
Can you use all purpose flour instead of gluten free flour?
Audrey says
Hi Esther, yes, that should work fine here based on feedback from some of my blog readers. Enjoy! :)
Jake says
My wife made these as a trial for a cookie swap coming up at school and they were great. We really enjoyed them and will definitely be making them again. The molds are just perfect for the boys too. They really got a kick out of them.
★★★★★
Audrey says
Hi Jake, that's awesome! I hope the cookie swap goes over well -- sounds like a lot of fun :) Thanks so much for the feedback.
Cara Riley says
These are just wonderful! I froze my cookies on the tray for 10 minutes prior to baking as it was very hot here in Aus, and they worked a treat. My DF hubby and vegan/GF club members (and the doggy mascot!) all loved them - they are now my go-to. I swapped out the individual aromatics for mixed spice (as it was all I had) and upped the ginger to 2.5 (metric) tsp, and hubby says they were not ginger-y enough, so 3tsp next time :) But thank you for a wonderful recipe :)
Audrey says
Thanks so much for sharing, Cara! I love all the swaps. So happy you all enjoyed them!
My pup is always excited for cookies as well -- he thinks I bake them for him haha.
Amy Miller says
As others have stated, these were not that great tasting. I don't know if it was the kind of sugar (maple syrup) or what it was but they were bland tasting.
★★
Jenna Parker says
Can whole wheat all purpose flour be used in place of the Artisan flour blend?
Fionna says
These are amazing! I ordered the molds so next time I can make some grumpy guys too :D Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Audrey says
I'm so glad you liked these, Fionna. The grumpy guys are the best :)
N says
Beautiful fun pics. Love the aesthetics of this article but we did not care for the taste or texture of these at all. I would not make again. Going back to our old fave. We
★★
Audrey says
Sorry these didn't work out to your liking, but thank you for sharing your feedback. If you don't mind me asking, did you change anything in the recipe at all?
Also, what were you expecting from the taste and texture? There are different kinds of gingerbread cookies -- some more on the soft and chewy, some dry and more like a cut out cookie (like these ones -- more "dunkable") -- which were you looking for?
Also, your comment seems to have gotten cut off there earlier, so not sure if you wanted to share something else.
N says
Here’s a more complete explanation of my review. Again, beautiful and clever site. We prefer a softer cookie with a little lift. These held their shape extremely well but are quite hard. They also have a slightly acidic and not quite spicy taste. I had to look back to see if I had left out some baking soda but I didn’t. I used earth balance and a maple agave blend. I also used ceylon cinnamon as opposed to cassia. This does have a different more subtle flavor and could account for some of the lack of spiciness but I never use cassia because of its potentially high levels of coumarin.
★★★
Audrey says
Yeah, these are definitely not the softer type of gingerbread man cookie (I know the kind you mean). They're firmer, more "snappy", and lend themselves to more detailed cookie cutter shapes. They are one of the blog's most loved recipes around Christmas time, but I totally understand that not all recipes will appeal to everyone so I appreciate you sharing more.
Dawn says
Used Coconut oil and Gluten Free Cup 4 Cup-tastes great. Crunchy and nice ginger flavour. Kids loved them!!
★★★★★
Audrey says
Thanks so much for sharing, Dawn! I'm glad the recipe worked well, and also glad to hear the cookies worked well with the Cup 4 Cup mix.
Scarlett Medina says
These tasted very much like molasses, any way to dilute that taste a bit??
Amanda says
Could you use palm shortening instead of vegan butter?
Audrey says
Hi Amanda,
Sorry I missed your question earlier. I haven't tried these with palm shortening (actually I haven't worked with it at all so far), so can only offer hypothetical advice. I think in terms of achieving a cookie it will work well. In terms of achieving a good, tight, cutout cookie I'm not sure... Just referring to other baking experience, butter tends to produce crispier cookies, whereas shortening tends to spread out a little more. That said, vegan butter is sort of a hybrid I find -- neither here nor there :D so can be a bit hard to tell how the palm shortening will affect things without trying. I know I made these with coconut oil before and they worked great, so I have a feeling like you're safe to give the shortening a try too.
Sophie33 says
A wonderful tasty recipe! I love your cool gingerbread men cookie cutters! How cool is that?
Ha!
★★★★★
Audrey says
Hehe. I know -- they are the reason I love gingerbread season ?? My favorite cutters ever (although I do love the ninjabread ones a fair bit too :) ).
Emilie says
Not the best gingerbread cookies i've ate. It has no flavor.
★★
Audrey says
Hi Emilie. Thank you for sharing, and sorry they didn't turn out to your liking. That's strange though, because they are quite flavorful to me and I heard from many people who made these that they quite enjoyed the flavor combination. I know of course that tastes differ too. Just wondering, did you alter anything in the recipe by any chance?
Voldemort says
Just made these and they are absolutely delish, cannot get enough !!! Amazing on their own but I also tried with almond butter and a sprinkling of nutmeg - divine
★★★★★
Audrey says
Oh, my. With almond butter and nutmeg... I think I have to go make a batch like that now myself :) So happy you liked these! Thanks for the feedback.
Tara says
Do you think cassava flour might work as the flour component in this recipe?
Audrey says
Hi Tara, I haven't experimented with cassava much myself (yet), but from what I've heard of its properties in terms of baking, I think it should work just fine in a recipe like this.
Angela says
Hey Audrey - could I make a gingerbread house with this recipe? Is it sturdy enough? (Gingerbread houses look and taste just as great with chocolate seams and nuts and dried fruit for decorations. goji berries and pumpkin seeds are red and green!) Thank you!
Audrey says
Hi Angela -- yeah it should hold up just fine. I love the wholesome decor btw :)
Andrea says
I'm making this right now! Just curious, does the cookie baking sheet get left ungreased? Thanks!
★★★★★
Audrey says
Hi Andrea. Yes, I find the parchment paper is sufficient so I don't usually grease my trays.
Magali says
I've just tried making them and they came out extremely crumbly, despite using less flour and using extra sweetener (molasses and maple syrup). Would you have any tips to salvage the dough that's left?
★★
Audrey says
Hi Magali. Sorry it didn't turn out. I'm curious what flour measurement you used (cup sizes)? Did you make any substitutions in the flour mix?
For salvaging, I'd add a lot more liquid -- I'd go with adding more non-dairy butter to the mix. And possibly some non-dairy milk, until the dough is no longer crumbly.
Mags says
Hi Audrey, if I make the gingerbread men with ordinary flour, should I change the quantity of method?
Thanks, Mags
★★★★★
Audrey says
Hi Mags, I think it should be measure-for-measure or close to it. Just adjust the wet ingredients (by adding a bit more df butter or sweetener) if the dough is drier, or add a bit more flour if it's too wet, until it's pliable. And you'll be good to go.
HealthyLaura says
That looks so good! I´m gone try this one when Christmas comes. Can I replace the blackstrap molasses with something else or is it a must have ingredient?
Audrey says
The molasses is there for flavor, as that's an "essential" part of the gingerbread flavor, but it's not a must as far as the cookie goes. Without it they'll be nicely spiced cookies, but if you want something truly "gingerbready" I recommend finding some molasses :) That said, if you decide not to go the molasses route, just substitute with another liquid sweetener (like more maple syrup).
Elise says
Oh my gosh, these little guys are just too cute! And I'm so excited that they're sugar free!
Thanks for sharing with the Waste Not, Want Not link part!
Audrey says
Thanks, Elise! I'm pretty much in love with these guys too :)
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas says
How adorable Audrey, I love the imprints in these yummy looking cookies. This has been the most viewed recipe over at Sweet and Savoury Sunday. I'm opening the link party early this week to make up for missing last weeks, so be sure to stop by and link up at the earlier time of Saturday 8am UK time. Happy New Year!
Audrey says
Yay, thanks Laura! Glad they were a hit on Sweet and Savoury Sundays! :) Happy New Year to you as well!
Shirley @ gfe & All Gluten-Free Desserts says
Those are super cool little guys! I've always loved gingerbread men without icing. It's just not necessary. Great recipe, Audrey!
Shirley
Audrey says
Thanks, Shirley! I say nay to the frosting on these too -- how could I mess with those faces ;)
vegetarianmamma (Cindy) says
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :) I can't wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
Kristina says
Yum! These are the best gingerbread men I've EVER made! Thanking you kindly for sharing the recipe for this and all the other delicious treats on your website (especially the divine looking recent festive cookies)! I decorated mine with currants for eyes, coconut for the mouth and slivered almonds for buttons. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Audrey says
Thanks so much, Kristina! Love to hear that you liked the recipe and how you "outfitted" your gingerbread men :) Merry Christmas to you too!
Vera says
These are seriously awesome. Gingerbread and shortbread in one week! How lucky! My two favorites.
I can't stop giggling at how cute and fun they are! Looks like an easy recipe too. Another one to add to my bake list!!! Good one Audrey!
★★★★★
Audrey says
Thanks so much, Vera! I'm in love with these ginger boys too :) . Enjoy the cookies!
Amanda Vuu says
Thank you so much for sharing my blog on yours! That means a lot! :)
I think these gingerbread men are so cute!! I like how they are imprinted instead of iced.
Audrey says
Thanks so much, Amanda! I think your ginjabread men kicked mine's butt ;) Who knew one could have this much fun with these little gingerbread boys! :)