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

Name: Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 22 Cookies
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 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 cloves; 3-4 Tbsp granulated sugar for rolling (optional!); 1 cup powdered sugar; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 3-5 tsp plant-based milk; Zest from 1 medium orange

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 cloves
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

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.
In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and coconut sugar until fluffy. Beat in the molasses and then the egg; set aside.
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.
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.
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

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.
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.
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.

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More ginger recipes:

Ginger Molasses Cookie Bars with Frosting (DF)

Pumpkin Butter Sweet Rolls (V)

Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies with Coconut Oil (DF)

Ingredients

Cookie Cups

2 flax eggs* or 2 large eggs, room temp

6oz dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/3 cup solid coconut oil

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

3/4 coconut sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp peppermint extract

Toppings

5oz dairy-free semi-sweet or dark chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup coconut cream or full fat fat coconut milk

3-4 Tbsp dairy-free white chocolate chips

1-2 Tbsp crushed peppermint pieces

1-2 Tbsp sugar sprinkles

Instructions

Make the Cookie Cups

Make your flax eggs by combining the flaxseed meal and warm water in a small bowl; set aside to allow time to thicken. OR bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with about an inch of water and place over medium heat. Grab a heatproof bowl (one that will sit on your pot of water without touching the water), place it on your pot of water, and add the chopped chocolate and coconut oil. Stir frequently until everything is melted; set mixture aside.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt until flour and cocoa are combined; set aside.

Return to your chocolate mixture and stir in the coconut sugar. Add the flax eggs and peppermint extract and stir to combine. Finally, add the dry ingredients and stir until totally combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350°F and liberally spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray - I used olive oil spray. Remove dough from the refrigerator and scoop 1" balls (a little more than 1.5 Tbsp). Roll dough balls smooth and place in the prepared muffin wells.

Bake at 350°F for 7-8 minutes. Immediately press small, circular wells into the tops of each cookie cup, making them as shallow or deep as you'd like. I used the top of a sesame oil bottle with a 1" bottle cap - it worked perfectly! Allow cookie cups to cool in the muffin pan.

Once your cookie cups are cool, use a butter knife to very gently loosen the top edges of each cup. Turn your muffin pan over and hit the back until all muffin cups have released - this may take a bit of finagling, but all of your cups should come out clean.

Prepare the Toppings

Using the same double boiler method as above (heatproof bowl sitting on top of a pot of simmering water), melt the chopped chocolate and coconut cream, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, stirring here and there. Ganache should thicken quite a bit.

Use a ziploc bag or piping bag fitted with a small, circular tip to pipe the ganache into each cookie cup.

Melt the white chocolate chips by microwaving in 15 second intervals until smooth, careful not to over-heat them. Pour white chocolate into a ziploc bag, snip the corner, and drizzle the chocolate over the ganache.

Immediately (and quickly!) top the cookie cups with a mix of sugar sprinkles and crushed peppermint pieces.

Store cookie cup leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

*2 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 6 Tbsp warm water
Make sure you use peppermint extract, not mint extract (which tastes like toothpaste!).
The piped ganache and melted white chocolate will begin to set soon after piping, so make haste with sprinkling the crushed peppermint pieces and sprinkles onto the tops!
It's important to bring your eggs to room temperature because cold eggs could affect the coconut oil, solidifying the melted oil into little chunks

holiday baking

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies (DF)

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Orange Iced Ginger Molasses Cookies