Cookies - Gingerbread


Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free

Meal Type
Dessert
Cuisine
Seasonal
Author
Pinterest
Serves
8
Preparation Time
10 minutes
Cooking Time
12 minutes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour (all purpose)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (iodised)
  • 2 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flax meal + 1/4 cup boiling water)
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter/ nuttelex (130g)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar (130g)
  • 1/2 cup golden syrup/ treacle/ molasses
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional

  • 1-3 tsp plant milk (if needed)
  • 1 tsp grated lemon/ citrus zest (if desired)
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (if not allowing pets to eat or steal cookies)

Instructions

Dry Ingredients

  1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stir well to ensure the spices are evenly dispersed or sift if you can be bothered... it is usually the holiday season when these happen and only crazy people enjoy baking in an Australian summer...

Wet Ingredients

  1. Combine 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal with 3 Tbsp/ 1/4 cup water from a recently boiled kettle... allow to form a gel by cooling in the fridge until needed.
  2. Using a beater or small food processor, cream the vegan butter and brown sugar together... once a smooth, slightly fluffy beige paste has formed you can add the rest of the wet ingredients including the flax egg and zest if using, but leave the plant milk out until the next stage.

Dough

  1. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together until a smooth dough forms. If your mixture fails to combine into a smooth dough (doubtful), you can add a little plant milk, but a little can go a very long way.
  2. Depending on how soft your dough is, you may choose to place it in a container and refrigerate for 30 minutes - 1 hour or more (this is really handy regardless because you can always make the dough ahead of time and enjoy fresh baked cookies). Refrigeration will firm up and or preserve dough.

Cookies

  1. Forming dough into cookies is subjective due to preference and intent, thinner dough will either cook faster or yield crispier cookies, and pudgier dough balls make for chewy cookies regardless of baking time (apparently). Make good choices.
  2. Oven should be 180 - 190 degrees celcius, and cookies will bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Cookies will harden as they cool, and the more browned edges the more intense the flavour of the liquid sweetener used.

Notes

  • this does make quite a few cookies... if experimenting in any way, I strongly suggest a half or quarter batch.
  • I have the recipe the way it is so I can endeavour to make cookies everyone will like - that mean mild. If, like me, you enjoy something more the strength in flavour of a ginger nut... Double the spices...
  • We have successfully made these GF for our friends using either all soy flour, or half soy and half GF self raising flour... Cookies still don't spread, great for shaping or icing.
  • we use golden syrup or treacle because we find the molasses flavour too dominant.
  • we specifically chose to omit nutmeg as it is a cumulative poison for pets and our frenchie demands we share any and all cookies...
  • you can use any flour you like, but liquid ratios may change with wholemeal, gluten free or other alternative flours. These cookies are designed to be dense and not spread making them excellent for pressed patterned cutters (cuts down or omits need for icing). If you want them fluffier and do not care about the spread use raising agents in or on addition to your flour choice.