These vegan gingersnaps are made using only healthy ingredients including quinoa flour, flaxseed meal, coconut sugar, and coconut oil.
Remember those vegan chocolate chip cookies from last winter? Well, after a bit of experimenting, I've realized the base of these cookies has tons of possibilities. I've made a few different variations, but my favorite so far has got to be these vegan gingersnaps.
They've got the crispy outside and soft chewy inside, and have that perfect balance of sweet and spice. They're pretty much the ultimate holiday cookie and I'm planning to give them to all my friends as gifts. Because really, who doesn't love getting healthy cookies?
Gingersnaps have always been one of my favorite cookies, especially during the holidays. I think it's mostly because they've got that warm blend of spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger + cloves – that always makes me happy, but it's also because they're really easy to make and don't require a ton of sugar.
Sometimes I feel like cookies are just too sweet – sweet almost to the point where it's hard to eat them – but because gingersnaps use molasses as a portion of the sweetener they don't have that. Plus, in this recipe we're using coconut sugar which is even less sweet than regular cane sugar, so you don't have to worry about the cloyingly sweet factor.
As you know from my chocolate chip cookies, these are not your traditional baked goods. There's no refined sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no eggs, and only healthy fats.
The base is a blend of quinoa flour and brown rice flour. I love using quinoa flour in my cookies because it adds some nutty flavors while still adding nutrition and protein. Sometimes in baking, you might have noticed that we toast our quinoa flour, but I chose not to here because the strong flavors from the molasses and spices, hide any bitterness you might get from the flour.
The fat in these cookies is coconut oil which I use almost exclusively in my baking. The coconut oil not only helps the cookies stay nice and moist on the inside, but it also brings an ever-so-faint flavor of coconut to the cookies. Mmmhmm!
In place of eggs, I used a flax egg which is just a simple blend of flaxseed meal and water. When mixed together, it becomes gelatinous and helps hold things together just as eggs would. Plus you get the benefits of flax – omega 3s, healthy fats, fiber, and a bit of protein.
All in all, while these are still cookies and should be enjoyed in moderation, they're made up of a great foundation of healthy ingredients. They're much less of an indulgence that your traditional gingersnaps!
So if you're looking for an allergy-friendly, healthy cookie recipe to bake this holiday season, I'm thinking these vegan gingersnaps are right up your alley. Bring them to a cookie swap, wrap them up as gifts OR just enjoy them all yourself because after all it is the holidays and you deserve a little treat from time to time 🙂
More Healthy Holiday Cookie Recipes:
- Healthy Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Healthy Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Orange Cardamom Sugar Cookies
- Gingerbread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies
- Gluten-Free + Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Vegan Gingersnaps with Quinoa Flour
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch I haven't tried these with tapioca or potato
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/3 cup coconut oil softened
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 flax egg 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon molasses
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside.
- Beat together softened coconut oil and coconut sugar until creamy. Add flax egg and molasses and beat until smooth.
- Add flour mixture into wet ingredients in three additions, mixing fully between each. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 1 - 2 hours.
- With 30 minutes left in the chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from fridge and let sit for 5 minutes. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough and shape into balls. Place on parchment and repeat until no dough remains. For a thicker cookie, leave balls as is, but for a thinner cookie, gently flatten them between your palms.
- Bake cookies for 11- 13 minutes until edges are brown and crispy.
- Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely (resist the urge to dig right in...they need to cool in order to set)
Nutrition
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