A few weeks ago I opened the pages of my friend Cara Reed's new book, Decadent Gluten-Free Vegan Baking. It is gorgeously filled with loads of dreamy dessert photos, cravable gluten-free baking recipes, tips and advice. So today I am sharing Cara's recipe for Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Men Cookies, just in time for those holiday parties on your calender.
Gingerbread Men. Hot Holiday Dates. Or gifts! These little men are even adorable and delicious enough to double as a homemade gift! So start baking, grab some red cellophane or gift boxes and check everyone off your holiday gift list. I mean, who wouldn't smile at a plate of these delicious little fellas? And if all else fails, you can bite off a few heads to squash holiday season stress. Right?
Get Cara's recipe, and my recipe that I tweaked a bit because I was out of a few things, some holiday baking advice and a GIVEAWAY of Cara's book..
(photo at top is copyright and courtesy of Cara Reed, interior of her book. All other cookie images by me.)
You can see my recipe substitution of chia seeds poking through the little men. Use ground chia or ground flax as the recipe calls for, for less texture...
Baking Advice: Embrace Your I-Am-Not-Martha-ness. One perfect cookie in the bunch is more than good enough. Seriously. If you think holiday baking has to be perfect, with elegantly frosted sugar cookies and perfectly placed sprinkles, think again. The best cookies have a little character. Go on, serve your Gingerbread Men with twisted arms, lopsided heads and crinkles in their toes. No biggie. I promise, they taste just as amazing as Martha's. And these are gf and vegan!
A Few Tweaks. I actually tweaked Cara's recipe a bit. I was out of flax, so I subbed with whole chia seeds. Use ground chia seeds if you do not like that chia seed texture. I was also out of Cara's gluten-free flour ingredients so I used half oat flour and half wheat flour. So not 100% gf for me, but that's ok. Oh! And I was even out of vegan butter so I subbed with virgin coconut oil and ½ teaspoon salt to replace the salt in the vegan butter. And I was out of ground cloves, so I added in some nutmeg and a bit more ginger because I love things spicy. Lots of little tweaks, but the subs worked beautifully! I double checked Cara's book, and she indeed has a great section on substitutions, so I felt good making a few changes based on what I had on hand.
I loved these little cookies, and we gobbled them down for breakfast along with some fresh fruit and lattes.
I mean, if you can't eat cookies for breakfast in December, when can you eat cookies for breakfast?
Frosting was a simple and sweet..
Cookbook Review. This book is filled with recipes that you will want to actually MAKE, not just gawk at and drool over. These pages will get used! I love Cara's tips at the end of each recipe and I love how minimalist and cute the cookbook design is, very un-intimidating for newbie bakers or for anyone who may not know how to bake "gluten free" or "vegan." You can do this. Cara will help. And the desserts will be amazing. Some highlights: homemade sprinkles, Pumpkin Spice Muffins, German Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Frosted "Pop-Tarts," Peanut Butter Cup Bars and Maple Donuts. And if you have never checked out Cara's AMAZINGLY creative blog, go on and check it out. She submits so many yummy things to my site FindingVegan.com, I love browsing her gallery! Another yummy photo..
*photo copyright Cara Reed, Pumpkin Spice Muffins
And do not forget to enter the cookbook giveaway at the end of this post!
Cara Reed's Gingerbread Men
By Published 12/05/2014
From Cara: Nothing screams the holidays like a big batch of these cookies filling your home with
the amazing aroma of ginger and molasses. This roll-out dough is not only
beautifully textured, but it also tastes great straight from the bowl (or so I have
heard) .
Ingredients
- ½ cup / 112g vegan butter
- 2 ½ cups / 413g Cara's All-Purpose Blend (Flour) (pg 166 in her book)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup / 50g granulated sugar
- ½ cup / 176g unsulphured molasses
- 1 Tbsp/7 g flaxseed meal plus 3 Tbsp/45 ml warm water
- 1 batch Royal Icing (page 158)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the vegan butter with an electric mixer on medium to high
speed about 30 seconds or till softened.
Whisk together the flour blend, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Beat half
of this flour mix, sugar, molasses and flaxseed soaked in water into the butter. Beat
until thoroughly combined. Stir in the remaining flour. - Divide the dough in half and create 2 balls. Place in a bowl, cover and chill for about
3 hours or until easy to handle. - Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough between 2 pieces of parchment
paper into ⅛–inch/3-mm thickness. Create shapes into the dough using the cookie
cutter of your choice. Place 1 inch/2.5 cm apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned and firm. Cool on the
baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring cookies to a wire rack. - Decorate with Royal Icing.
- CARA’S TIP: While you are rolling out a portion of the dough, keep the remainder in
the fridge. The longer the dough sits out, the stickier it becomes, causing it to be a
hassle to work with. The chilling process allows it to be workable.
Yield: 2 dozen cookiesTags: dessert,glutenfree,cara reed
Buy Cara's book on Amazon!
NovElla Banannabelle says
I made some gingerbread cookies with icing! They always
remind me of the holidays 🙂 .
Emily says
Ginger and molasses cookies are my favorite, especially the really soft cookies. I don't discriminate against many types of cookies, except for those with nuts!
Jessica Isaac says
I love a crunchy, spicy gingersnap cookie with my coffee. Yum!
Jordyn Manucci says
spiced cookies are my favorite!
Christina Bauer says
I just made a ton of peanut butter cookies with homemade truffles on top!
Hannah Sharp Walker says
I'm excited to make chocolate peanut butter cookies!
Julie L says
oh the cocoa candy cane will be a fave at our house!
BETSEY WRIGHT says
I've bought this wonderful cookbook and have a friend to give one to. She also loves gingerbread!
Erin O'Dwyer says
vegan thin mints
Sara Luehring says
mmmm Maybe Ill try gingerdoodles!?
Tory says
Peanut butter cookies!
Angela R. says
Molasses and ginger is exactly what I want in a cookie right now.
amber says
I'm making your cocoa candy cane cookies with my mom for Christmas this year! We can't wait! 🙂
Kristina says
I love ginger cookies.
Sarah Gervais says
Candy cane cookies!
michele says
I like to make biscotti and chocolate chip cookies for the holidays.
cour10a says
I love making snickerdoodles and classic chocolate chip cookies!
lufaa says
Next to these, I really want to make RFFMBT's adorable rabbit 'circus animal' cookies. Maybe I'll just combine the two, haha.
Sarah McLaughlin says
I'm excited to make vegan snickerdoodles 🙂
Melissa K. says
My favorite holiday "cookie" is rugaluh (for Hanukkah)
Josée Cyr says
I love making cinnamon snickerdoodles 🙂
Shastina Gamble says
chocolate peppermint
ammauceri says
I love traditional sugar cookies! Decorating them is the best. 🙂
Mariana says
I can't wait to make my "white chocolate" pistachio cookies!!
Jasmin Harris says
Baking is a huge hobby of mine, and I can actually thank my pursuit of healthy baking alternatives for kickstarting my ultimate decision to switch to a vegan diet! I'm actually making vegan thumbprint cookies for the first time this Christmas, can't wait to see how they come out!
Melissa says
I can't wait to make italian sugar cookies with multicolored sprinkles. So yummy & so easy!
karen says
cut outs involve the whole family i still have not found a good gluten free one though.
Shira says
I'm making sugar cookies (Chanukah shapes) and gingerbread people -- promised my kids a cookie decorating party.
Abby Heugel says
I love everything Cara does!
Carolsue says
I want to make Snickerdoodle cookies.
RAFFLECOPTER: CAROLSUE
Laurie A. says
Some kind of peppermint cookies and I'm looking forward to trying shortbread and some biscotti.
Lauryn Linley says
I love making any kind of shortbread cookie! Last year I made cranberry pistachio 🙂
Dana says
vegan sugar cookies for my kids to cut and decorate
Deborah says
Can't wait to make these with my girls!
Art3mis21 says
I always look for some sugar and spice, and these gingerbread men fit the bill. My daughters still like icing cookies even though they are adults.
Shastina Gamble says
chocolate peppermint !
Jackie says
We always make butter cookies in holiday shapes with festive sprinkles!
saniel says
Chocolate chip with nuts and cherries.something my sister's made years ago And my asks every year if we are making with our kids. This year we will make cuts we will all be together.
Jennifer Manriquez says
I'm going to try my hand at lemon-iced sugar cookies this year!
Marina D says
I can't wait to make gingerbread men and sugar cookies!!! 🙂
Krista says
I am most excited to make chocolate chip gingerbread cookies. They are my favorite!!!
Jenifer says
I am really excited about trying these gingerbread cookies!
jacquie says
pecan balls
Kindness says
I will be making more almond meal cookies to use up my left over almond meal from making almond milk, I have too much and even have to freeze it.
Suzanne Correnti says
I'm excited to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Buckeyes!
Cynthia Winter says
I love making peanut butter kiss cookies.
Mackenzie Rifkin says
I always love making white chocolate macadamia nut cookies during the holidays!
Tory says
Can't wait to make vegan snowballs, decadent brownies, English muffin bread, and vegan coffee cake!
Greg Allbee says
I'm probably not making cookies, but if I did I'd make some kind of oatmeal-raisin-chocolate chip type thing 🙂
Jess says
I'm wanting to make some gingersnaps and Italian Anise cookies!
Sophia says
I'm totally overwhelmed by the ridiculous number of amazing-looking vegan cookie recipes I've looked at so far this month! I'm leaning towards something spicy or pignoli cookies.
Michelle says
I can't wait to make Oh She Glows Toffee Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Bars when I get a chance 🙂
Aimee Brimmer says
My kids really want me to make snowball cookies aka Mexican wedding cookies. 🙂
Brandee H says
My favourite cookies to make during the holidays are gingerbread men with my son.
Sheelagh says
I love all Christmas cookies but my favourite are these chocolate chip shortbread ones I make -- I have to make 3 batches because my family devours them so fast!
Rebecca Wright says
I make a gingerbread actually already that I do love, but sadly it isn't vegan so I cannot wait to try this one out, I'd love a good vegan recipe for one!
Itzia says
i'm excited to make snickerdoodles
Claire Elizabeth says
I am super excited to make gingerbread cookies! Gingerbread is my favourite! So spicy and warm and cozy! Ah, I LOVE it! These look like the PERFECT recipe to begin ringing in that warning, seasonal sensation! Love these recipes! 😀
Andrea says
I'm looking forward to making snickerdoodles!
Liz S. says
The cookies that I am excited to make this holiday season are gingerbread cookies with white chocolate chips.
The Veg Abides says
It's ok to just eat the frosting, right? Great post, and Cara's cookbook rocks!
Jessica Eagle says
Thanks for this giveaway !!! Hope it is open to Canadian too 🙂
I'm really excited to make some gingerbread cookie and I might try Cara's one this year. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Saran Dan says
This is the first christmas-tastic *yes thats a word * gluten free vegan cookie recipe I have found that I am so excited to make!! Thank you!!
Nicole says
I'm always excited to make gingerbread cookies this time of year. Cara's look great too!
Kristina says
My favorite holiday cookies are molasses cookies.
Vandy says
I'm making candy cane cookies & buckeyes this year! They are a favorite in my family!
Barbara Long says
GF vegan baking recipes - a gift from heaven !
Devin says
My family has a tradition of always decorating Christmas sugar cookies and I'm excited to make vegan sugar cookies this year!
Bianca says
frosted sugar cutout cookies!
gail says
Always something gingerbready - these look delicious!
BabyJune says
Hmmmm... I'll probably be making some (vegan) peppermint oreos sometime soon!
Shannon Hickman says
I can't wait to make some sugar cookies this season! Although, those gingerbread men look pretty fantastic too.
megan says
My favorite cookies to make are minty ones.
Christina says
I have a favorite maple pecan cookie that I make every year but I'm always creating new flavor combinations and putting them in cookie form 🙂 This looks like an amazing cookbook and the photography is gorgeous. I actually love subbing chia for flax because of the texture it gives!
Kathy Patalsky says
Me too!
Chris says
Chocolate Crinkles!
Kara says
Oooh these look wonderful! I can't wait to veganize all my families favorite cookies! 😛 Almond cookies, cranberry bars, chocolate coffee cookies ... yum!
Kristy says
I am super excited to make gingerbread men and oatmeal raisin cookie bars!
Breanna Excell says
This looks like an awesome cookbook! I just recently discovered Cara's blog, and I am loving it. This is my first Christmas being vegan, so I'm looking forward to making some delicious food and sharing the delights of veganism with my family. 🙂 I am also really excited to make gingerbread men!
Jennifer says
I'm excited to make Russian tea cakes! Something my family makes (vegan of course) every year and they go so nicely with any hot drink!
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit says
My gingerbread men are always slightly deformed too, but you're right cookies with character have the best flavor 🙂 Cara's book looks amazing, and the idea of homemade sprinkles definitely piqued my interest!