Vegan Gluten free Ginger Molasses Cookies are easy & have a few ingredients. Look at those crinkles! no shortening.Vegan, Dairy-free, Palm-oil-free Recipe Jump to Recipe
Look at them Crinkles!
These easy and delicious cookies come together in minutes and can be made fat and crinkly for soft cookies and and small, thin and snappy.
These cookies have a good load of molasses. If you do not like molasses, use light molasses or maple syrup. These are gluten-free with Oat + almond + rice flour. You can also make these with spelt or whole wheat pastry flour for a with gluten version.
The cookies are rolled up in sugar and cinnamon. Use chai spice for variation. These are adapted from my Triple Ginger Molasses Spelt Cookies(not gf). Try these for regular non gf version or try the 1 bowl Giant Molasses Cookies. I wanted to make them more crinkly and gluten-free.
Typing up this post while watching the Seahawks. Go Hawks!
More cookies from the blog
Triple Ginger Molasses Spelt Cookies
You can make these soft or snappy. Shape them into fat balls, flatten slightly and bake for soft crinkly cookies. Make smaller flat coins (1.5 inch) for snappy cookies.
Vegan Gluten free Ginger Molasses cookies
Ingredients
Wet
- 1/4 cup (56 ml) oil neutral oil like safflower
- 1/4 cup (84.25 ml) molasses
- 3 Tbsp non dairy milk
- 1/2 cup (80 g) coconut sugar or ground raw sugar
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) ground cloves
Dry
- 1 cup (120 g) Oat flour
- 3/4 cup (84 g) finely ground almonds
- 1/2 cup (80 g) rice flour white or brown
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 2 to 3 Tbsp chopped candied ginger
To coat
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon or chai spice optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and whisk until the sugar dissolves. 1 to 2 minutes.
- In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Whisk well.
- Add dry to wet and and mix to make a soft somewhat sticky dough. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 360 degrees F / 180ºc.
- In a bowl, mix the ingredients to coat.
- (If the dough is too sticky, add a Tbsp or more oat flour and mix in into the dough). Grease your hands and take 2 to 2.5 Tbsp of the dough, roll it into a smooth ball, coat in sugar mixture. Place on parchment lined sheet and flatten slightly.
- Put a drop of water in the center of each cookie. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until the top is set.
- Cool completely before serving (15 to 20 mins). The cookies keep cooking and pick up the sweetness from the sugar coating as they sit.
Notes
To make with with gluten : Use 2 to 2.25 cups Spelt or whole wheat pastry flour + 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Add 2 cups flour and add more only if the mixture is too wet. You want the mixture to be a soft somewhat sticky dough. Nutritional values based on one cookie
Nutrition
Why I support Help animals India (HAI)
HAI is a 501 (c) 3 charity that supports multiple sanctuaries and rescues all over India.
One such sanctuary, HOPE in Raachi provides free anti-rabies shots because of HAI support. This family with their limited means, took their adopted street puppy any way they could to get the shots! How sweet is that. (bicycle + cloth bag).
Why is this important. Every time a stray dog bites a human, several strays are killed by cruel methods by the state government or people because of the scare of rabies. Even though the dog that bit, might have done so out of being threatened and not because he/she had rabies.
There are many street dogs in India. Some of the strays become community dogs, that means they still live on the street, but are given food, vaccinations, spay and neuter by people of the community. This way the population gets controlled and the dogs do not get killed out of rabies scares. HAI supports several such measures with the sanctuaries and rescues, to help communities and families adopt the strays and live harmoniously.
Another sanctuary supported by HAI is VSPCA . VSPCA keeps taking in discarded cows and calfs that head for illegal slaughter and keep adding to their ever growing herd. Their herd is already more than 800 and this current rescue (pictured below ) is 230 babies (male dairy calves) are now headed to rescue.
How many sanctuaries do you know that support thousands and thousands of animals that include wildlife, dogs, cats, domestic animals, cows, calfs, pigs, turtles and support the homeless with vegan meals!
Read more about VSPCA here and how to sponsor animals as well.
Join me in supporting the amazing work at HAI here. A Dollar goes very far with the conversion rate in India. Donation to HAI is also tax deductible.
Anni
Thank you Richa for yet another wonderful cookie recipe! Today I made a batch of the gluten-free choc chip cookie from your recipe book as well as this one. It’s the first time I’ve made your ginger cookies and I have to say I think they are going to become a staple in this family. Thanks again for all your efforts in bringing us great food ideas!
Richa
Yay
Gabriella
These are outstanding! Best molasses cookies I’ve ever had. Thanks!
Vegan Richa Support
wow – thank you
Kat
I love your recipes so much! Could I make these with sweet rice flour? I’d imagine I should reduce the sugar, but by how much?
Vegan Richa Support
1 3/4 tbsp will work
Joanne
Hi Richa, I’ve made and love your spelt version but can’t find spelt at the moment, so I want to make the gluten free version but I don’t have rice flour to complete the mix, can this be subed for anything? Thank you
Vegan Richa Support
thanks for your question – you could sub Tapioca flour or Potato flour
roni uzan
this is just a perfect cookey!
thank you
Vegan Richa Support
sweet! thank YOU!
Richa
Awesome! Thanks
Erin
Oh my goodness, why didn’t I make these cookies sooner!? They are our absolute new favorite Christmas cookie.
My Great Grandma used to make molasses cookies when I was little, & making them with her is a favorite childhood memory for sure. Those were of course not gluten free, and not vegan (there was lard in them and Crisco wasn’t a good enough replacement from my experiments).
They freeze well! I doubled the recipe, scooped the batter onto a cookie sheet and froze them, then transfered the frozen dough balls into a ziplock bag. The dough does remain pretty soft. I bake as many as I need from frozen & they are AMAZING.
Thank you for updating this memory for me and making it our new favorite! I printed this recipe out last year and never got around to making them. This year I’m so, so happy I did!
Thank you so much! ❤️🎄💚
Richa
Awesome
mona
OMG I just made these & they are delicious! I didn’t have almonds so I ground the equivalent of golden flax meal & chia seeds & added an addl TBS milk. I made 3 of them in my Dash mini waffle maker & they turned out great. The remaining batter is in the fridge so I can have a cookie whenever I want thx for great recipe.
I’ll try to post a pic. The pic I took looks darker than the actual.
The candied ginger gives a nice burst of flavor too!
Vegan Richa Support
thank you mona. good to know when you don’t have almonds on hand.
Anne-Marie
I made these for a Christmas cookie exchange and they turned out fabulous. A week later the leftover few are still soft and delicious! I shared with a friend and she immediately asked for the recipe. Thank you for a wonderful cookie!
Richa
awesome!
Tan
These are great! I used sorghum instead of oat flour, tapioca instead of cornstarch, and granulated sugar instead of coconut/raw sugar. Mine cooked for about 11 mins. They didn’t get as dark as the ones pictured here but they were well cooked, they crinkled, and they were very tasty.
Kristi
What is a serving, 1 cookie?
Richa
yes, makes about 20 cookies and nutrition is for 1 serve
Jeanna Duke
I weighted them and it was around .9 of a ounce for the 20 cookies. I did just sub the oat flour for WW wheat and it worked really well. Not sure if that would effect the weight. I did put a drop of water in the middle but it melted the sugar. What does that do? They are so good these cookies!
Richa
the water generally helps it crack and crinkle more
Ben
Hi Richa, just want to be sure on the wheat flour substitute, since I don’t have all the GF ingredients handy – 2 to 2.25 cups whole wheat pastry flour for all the oat, rice, and almond flour combined, right? Thanks for the recipe and I’ll answer my own question if you haven’t gotten back to me in the next few days.
Richa
yes its for all the flours combined. You will need less wheat flour than the gf flours combines as wheat absorbs more moisture. start with 1.5 cups, a tbsp of starch (+ 2 tbsp almond flour as it adds a better texture), and add more wheat flour if the dough is too sticky wet after mixing.
Aileen
I would not put the arrowroot in, it gives it a off taste. My cookies did not crack.
Richa
hmm 1 tbsp shouldnt make much of a difference in flavor. Maybe it was some other ingredient? Sometimes the premade oat flour tastes bitter as it has gone rancid or just that it was processed differently. It can also be rice flour – brown rice flour adds a stronger flavor and can sometimes absorb more moisture leading to less chances of cracking. Cookies crack when the dough is soft, moist and mot too dry.
James Best
This recipe is the best GF ginger cookie receipt ever! It is a total crowd pleaser. Thank you!
Laura Ann
Though I’m late to the comments party, I have to say that these cookies are AMAZING. My only regret is that I only doubled the recipe instead of tripling it. Some friends are going to thoroughly enjoy them tonight at a gathering, and undoubtedly gobble up every last one.
Anju Gandhi
Hi Richa, i’m so glad to have found your recipe. The cookies just completed baking – is it normal for them to be soft immediately after the bake? This is a great way for me to use the leftover almond pulp. Thank you so much- can’t wait to taste them !!
Richa
yes, they will be soft just when done and will harden as they cool
Hailey Cohen
these came out like rocks way too hard.. maybe i need to take them out of the oven at 9 to 10 minutes
Richa
oh no! some brands/ types of the molasses can make the cookies hard really quickly once baked. Bake for a few minutes less.
You can pulse the hard cookies in a processor and use them to make gingersnap crust for pies.
Michelle
Made these today…. Turn out perfectly! SO happy. will be putting this recipe in my “keepers” file.
Richa
Awesome!
Thom
I would like to make a vegan gluten version. How would I substitute regular flour?
Amanda West
These are wonderful! Thank you. I just made them tonight and not only are they beautiful to look at but very tasty too. Just what I needed!
Richa
Great!!
Eileen
Fir the almonds, 3/4 cup of almonds and then grind them or 3/4 cup ground almonds? Thanks!
Richa
3/4 cup ground. if you grind/blend a loaded 3/4 cup almonds, you will get about 3/4 cup ground.
Karen
Yum! I just made these and they turned out fantastic. Thanks for the recipe!
I used melted coconut oil instead of the safflower oil, and 1.5 c. of an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of the oat and rice flours, and the substitutions worked fine.
Richa
Awesome! so glad it worked out with the subs!
Courtenay
Really want to make these but my kids are allergic to all nuts and sunflower seeds. Any sub suggestions? Thank you!
Richa
I havent tried these with anything else. Maybe use a gluten-free flour blend for all of the flour + nut flour ?
Courtenay
Thank you so much, I will try that today and let you know how they turn out 🙂
Jamie
How did this work out?
Nita
As I’m almond intolerant, what can I use in the place of the ground almonds?
Richa
try a different nut flour. Cashews, hazelnuts etc.
Emma
These cookies are amazing. they have just the right kind of crunch and they look so pretty.
Lianne
I was wondering the same as Roopam about using apple sauce in place of the oil.. do you think that would work?
Richa
You can use apple sauce. The cookies might be softer thats all.
Roopam
Hi Richa, long time reader here. LOVE your recipes. Just made these cookies and my picky picky husbands first response was a surprised “these are vegan?!” And stated he was looking forward to having them with his chai. QUESTION: can I replace the oil with an apple sauce or another puree, do you think that would work! Thanks again!
Richa
You can use apple sauce.The cookies might be slightly softer.
Jess
These are now a staple in our house. I crave these and would eat them all if I thought I could get away with it. I’ve refrigerated the dough and it works great -easier for 6 year old to roll in sugar. Thank you for all your fabulous recipes and providing hope for us vegan and gluten free food snobs (yes food needs to taste good and be varied too).
trish
Oops I also forgot to ask…could I use the almond pulp after I make almond milk instead of the ground almonds? I always have so much pulp.
Thanks
trish
Thank you so much for this recipe – I don’t have any oats or oat flour….do you think buckwheat flour might work? And thank you for the wonderful write up . I was so excited that you support HAI as well! Whenever I can send money to them I do as there is such tremendous need – and as Eileen always says, the money goes very far in India (although our CAN dollar is pretty low right now). May all beings know peace!
Richa
Buckwheat can be quite dense. Use sorghum or a combination of buckwheat and sorghum instead.
almond pulp should work as well. The dough might need another Tbsp or more flour because of the added moisture.
So glad to hear that you support HAI as well. Eileen is such a hard worker. and all the amazing people at the sanctuarries she supports as well.
The vegan 8
Those look so gorgeous Richa! I love, love that they are gluten-free and I have all the ingredients!!
Richa
yay!