When I was a teenager, I found a recipe for Soft Gingerbread Cookies in a magazine. I loved the cookies and baked them for years! Then the recipe got thrown away, and I spent years and years looking for it. Eventually a nice person named Laurie spotted the recipe and sent it to me. Thank you Laurie!

These cookies can be gluten-free, vegan, and sugar-free — or you can make them with traditional ingredients — and either way they come out delicious!

The cookies in the photo are sweetened with dates, they use a flax egg — so they are vegan. They are also gluten-free, and the dough balls were rolled in refined sugar before baking. So the only refined sugar in the cookies is a little bit on the outside, which keeps the amount of sugar low — and the cookies are delicious!

Print Recipe

Soft Gingerbread Cookies - gluten-free, can be vegan, can be sugar free -- and delicious!

These soft, chewy gingerbread cookies can be gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and free of refined sugar -- or you can make them with traditional ingredients. Either way, they come out delicious!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 cookies

Author: Valerie Mates

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oil I use organic canola oil
• 3/4 cup of sugar -- or 1 cup dates with no pits and remove any bits of stems
• 1/4 cup of either molasses or any other liquid sweetener the cookies in the photo use organic agave nectar
• 1 egg or flax egg the cookies in the photo use a flax egg
• 2 cups gluten-free flour mix or regular flour if you don't need gluten-free (I used 1/2 cup each of potato starch, quinoa flour, garbanzo flour, and teff flour)
• If you use gluten-free flour that doesn't already include it: 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 5/8 teaspoon dried ginger powder increase to 1 1/4 teaspoons if you are using sugar as the sweetener
• 3/8 teaspoon ground cloves increase to 3/4 teaspoon if you are using sugar as the sweetener
• 3/8 teaspoon cinnamon increase to 3/4 teaspoon if you are using sugar as the sweetener
• Optional:
• 6 tablespoons sugar for rolling cookies in

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• If you are using flax eggs, stir together the ground flaxseed and water.
• If you are using dates, put them and the egg (or flax egg), the liquid sweetener, and the oil into a food processor and blend until the dates are in tiny pieces and paste-like.
• Add all of the rest of the ingredients except for the optional sugar-for-rolling-in, and blend until you have a smooth dough. (If you are not using dates, you can stir the ingredients together in a bowl instead of using a food processor.)
• Use either a medium cookie scoop or your hands to make a one-inch ball of dough.
• If you are using the optional sugar, roll the ball of dough in it.
• Flatten the dough ball into a cookie-shape and place it on a nonstick baking sheet.
• Repeat with the rest of the dough. The cookies don't spread much while they bake, so if you are short on space, it is okay to space them close together on the cookie sheet - an inch apart is plenty, and more is fine too.
• Bake for 11 minutes.