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ginger molasses cookies

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies (DF)

December 12, 2019 by Rachael Ng 6 Comments

When I set out to compile a list of new (and old) holiday cookie recipes for my 12 Days of Dairy-Free Cookies over on Instagram, I knew I needed a ginger cookie of some sort. Last year, I made these Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies with coconut oil, but I’ve since fallen for the tase and texture that dairy-free (vegan) butter adds to a cookie dough! For this recipe, I adapted the cookies from last holiday season, swapping the coconut oil for vegan butter and adding a delicious (and perfectly festive!) orange icing. You can think of these as the easier version of those stamped and iced gingerbread cookies that are all over the internet. No special tools required!

The dough comes together like any other traditional cookie dough. You’ll cream the butter and sugar together, add molasses and egg, and then stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be sticky. Too sticky to scoop or roll. But popping the dough in the refrigerator uncovered allows the dough to dry out and firm up just enough to get the dough balls rolled. I don’t recommend chilling the dough for any longer as the cookies might not spread!

Once your cookies are baked and cooled, you’ll make a simple icing flavored with a bit of vanilla extract and fresh orange zest. Then you’ll dip the tops of each cookie into the glaze, careful not to submerge the sides, allow the excess icing to drip off, and voila! You’ve got beautifully iced, totally delicious, soft ginger molasses cookies!

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Coconut sugar is my favorite, better-for-you sweetener. It’s low GI, unrefined, and tastes nothing like coconut. It makes a great 1:1 replacement for regular, high GI sugars like granulated sugar and brown sugar.

Molasses brings that seasonal taste we all know and love to these cookies. It also adds necessary moisture to keep these cookies nice and soft.

Egg adds moisture, fluff, and chewiness to these cookies. For a classic cookie texture, egg is best.

Yield: 22 Cookies

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies

Soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies topped with a simple icing made with fresh orange rind! A pretty and extra delicious way to enjoy your favorite ginger cookies!

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter stick, softened
  • 2/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 Tbsp molasses
  • 1 large egg, room temp
  • 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 3-4 Tbsp granulated sugar for rolling (optional!)

Orange Icing

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3-5 tsp plant-based milk
  • Zest from 1 medium orange

Instructions

Make the Cookies

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring your egg to room temperature (if it's not already) by placing it in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and coconut sugar until fluffy. Beat in the molasses and then the egg; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to gently mix. The dough may seem dry when you begin mixing, but it will turn out quite sticky. Chill dough, uncovered, for 15 minutes - this helps dry it out a bit.
  4. Scoop six dough balls 1.5 Tbsp in size. Roll each dough ball and then roll in the granulated sugar (totally optional). Place on prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 350°F for 7 minutes or until cookies have puffed up.
  5. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before gently moving to a cooling rack. Continue baking the rest of your dough. There's no need to re-chill the dough. Be sure to use a room temp baking sheet each time - this is why two baking sheets are handy!


Make the Icing

  1. Once your cookies have totally cooled, you can make your icing. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 3 tsp of the plant-based milk. Add milk 1 tsp at a time until you've reached a thin, drip-from-your-spoon consistency. Finally, stir in the fresh orange zest.
  2. Dip just the top of each cookie into the icing, allowing excess icing to drip off. This process is a bit tedious but necessary. Ideally, you want only the tops of the cookies iced, so be careful not to submerge the sides of the cookies while dipping. Turn each dipped cookie over and allow to set on a cooling rack.
  3. Once icing has set, you can store cookies in an airtight container at room temp, placing a piece of parchment paper between each layer to keep the cookies from sticking to each other.

Notes

  • You won't use all of the icing, but it's nice to have the icing deep enough to dip (which is why I recommend mixing it in a small bowl!).
  • Feel free to leave the icing off. These cookies, especially when rolled in granulated sugar, are delicious and sweet as-is. Alternatively, the granulated sugar can be left off the dough balls if you're icing the cookies. I chose to do both.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

More ginger recipes:

Ginger Molasses Cookie Bars with Frosting (DF)
Pumpkin Butter Sweet Rolls (V)
Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies with Coconut Oil (DF)

Filed Under: Cookies, Dairy-free Tagged With: dairy free cookies, ginger cookies, ginger molasses cookies, holiday baking, holiday cookies, iced gingerbread cookies, molasses cookies, orange icing

Ginger Molasses Cookie Bars with Frosting (DF)

December 3, 2019 by Rachael Ng Leave a Comment

What’s better than a fresh-baked, soft ginger cookie around this time of year? Frosted ginger cookie bars! They have all the great flavors of a traditional soft ginger molasses cookie, but they’re easier and quicker to bake! Plus they’re topped with a dreamy vanilla buttercream frosting made with vegan butter. And you don’t miss out on any chewiness, because these bars have it all – soft and chewy!

The recipe for these cookie bars involves a simple dough. No refrigeration is required as the dough gets immediately pressed into a baking dish – like I said, easy. Once the bars have totally cooled, you’ll whip up my favorite vegan buttercream with just a handful of ingredients – an easy, no-fail, can’t-tell-it’s-vegan frosting. If you love molasses, spicy ginger, and the sweetness of a sugary frosting, then these bars are for you! Top them with your favorite sprinkles for an extra festive feel!

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Coconut sugar is my favorite low GI, unrefined sugar. It makes for a great replacement for granulated sugar and tastes nothing like coconut. It tastes less sweet than regular sugar, which balances out the sweetness of the frosting on these bars.

Solid coconut oil beats together with the coconut sugar like in a traditional cookie dough. Feel free to use softened vegan butter instead. I don’t recommend melted (or liquid) coconut oil as I don’t know how the bars would turn out.

Egg yolk adds an extra bit of chewiness to these bars!

Vegan butter acts as the perfect dairy-free alternative to regular butter in this frosting. It’s delicious and creates the perfect frosting texture! Plus, nobody can tell the frosting is vegan!

Vegetable shortening stabilizes the vegan butter, giving it the perfect texture to swirl your frosting on top of the cookie bars!

Yield: 16 Bars

Ginger Molasses Cookie Bars with Frosting

Ginger Molasses Cookie Bars with Frosting

Soft cookie bars flavored with spicy ginger and sweet molasses - all topped with a simple, dairy-free buttercream frosting. A festive and delicious holiday treat!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours

Ingredients

Bars

  • 3/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil, solid
  • 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temp
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 cups + 2 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Frosting

  • 1/3 cup vegan butter stick, softened
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable shortening (or more vegan butter)
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 3-5 tsp plant-based milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare an 8x8" baking dish with non-stick spray + parchment paper. I like to cut one long strip of paper, folding the excess over two of the edges and trimming. Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together the coconut sugar and solid coconut oil. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and molasses; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to combine. The dough may seem dry, but it will come together with enough mixing (and may even seem greasy).
  4. Press the dough into your prepared baking dish, using your fingers or the back of a spoon to smooth out the top. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, being careful not to over bake the bars - you want them nice and chewy!
  5. Allow bars to cool in the dish for at least an hour. Gently remove the whole cookie bar by running a butter knife along the edges without parchment paper, and then using the excess parchment paper to lift the bar up and out of the dish. Allow cookie bar to cool completely on a cooling rack.
  6. Once the bar is cool, you can make the frosting. Beat together the vegan butter and shortening until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract and then the powdered sugar. Add plant-based milk 1 tsp at a time until the frosting reaches a spread-able, but still-thick-enough-to-create-swirls, consistency.
  7. Scrape all of the frosting onto the cookie bar and use an offset spatula to evenly spread over the surface, making swirls as you go along. Top with sprinkles or other topping of your choice.
  8. Slice into 16 bars, wiping your knife clean between each slice. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 254Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 157mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 0gSugar: 25gProtein: 1g

calculated nutrition information may not always be accurate

© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Bars

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

Filed Under: Bars, Dairy-free Tagged With: cookie bars, frosted cookie bars, ginger molasses, ginger molasses cookies, holiday cookie bars, holiday cookies

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Meet Rachael

Hi! I’m Rachael, a home baker who creates dairy-free, indulgent treats. As a sweets lover and former candy addict, I believe we shouldn’t have to give up everything we love in pursuit of wellness. That’s why I create delicious and approachable desserts that you can enjoy, in moderation, no matter your goals! Because, let’s face it, sometimes you just need a giant slice of frosted cake, sans guilt! Read More…

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