Vegan Gingerbread - Soft, Moist, Delicious Holiday Recipe! (2024)

How to make the best soft, moist, and delicious vegan gingerbread recipe for breakfast or dessert. People are always shocked when I tell them it’s dairy free, egg free, and vegan, because it seriously does not taste healthy at all!

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Try this homemade gingerbread recipe the next time you have company.

People go crazy for it every time, and leftovers freeze well too.

The comforting festive flavor and super soft texture will remind you of a pastry you’d get from a fancy bakery.

Yet it’s secretly good for you at the same time!

Also try this holiday Vegan Pumpkin Bread

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Oil Free vegan gingerbread loaf

In addition to having no eggs or butter, the gingerbread can also be gluten free, soy free, oil free, and refined sugar free.

This is actually the oil free version in the photos… you cannot tell at all.

And I say that as someone who doesn’t normally like oil free baked goods.

While desserts without oil can so often be gummy or dry, the molasses in this recipe keeps the loaf deliciously moist and decadent even if you decide to skip the oil.

Trending Now: No Bake Cheesecake

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Vegan gingerbread ingredients

You will need flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, salt, white or apple cider vinegar, sugar, plant based milk of choice, flax seeds, baking soda, and molasses.

If you are a raisin lover like I am, stir half a cup of raisins into the gingerbread batter along with the dry ingredients.

The recipe works with spelt flour, white flour, or gluten free all purpose flour. Oat flour works but yields a denser result.

I have not tried the recipe with whole wheat flour, coconut flour, or any other flour not listed and therefore cannot recommend any of these substitutions.

For a low carb loaf, try this Almond Flour Banana Bread

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What type of molasses?

Blackstrap molasses is my preference for its myriad health benefits, including being high in both calcium and iron.

(I also use this sweetener in my easy recipe for Bran Muffins.)

If you cannot find blackstrap molasses or prefer the sweeter taste of regular light or dark molasses, either of these is fine to use instead.

While substituting pure maple syrup, agave, or another liquid sweetener might yield a delightful spice cake, it will lose some of the classic gingerbread flavor.

So I do not recommend swapping out the molasses in this recipe.

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Frosting options

Serve the gingerbread unfrosted or topped with almond butter, coconut butter, powdered sugar and strawberries, vanilla frosting, or vegan cream cheese.

I frosted the vegan gingerbread loaf in the pictures with the dairy free cream cheese icing recipe from my post on Vegan Cinnamon Rolls.

Just one slice of this secretly healthy gingerbread supplies 10% of the RDA for iron and 9% for calcium, thanks to the addition of the blackstrap molasses, which also gives the recipe its familiar gingerbread taste.

Looking to bake cookies instead of a gingerbread loaf?

Try this recipe for soft and chewy homemade Vegan Gingerbread Cookies.

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How to make vegan gingerbread

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease an eight inch square baking pan or a nine by five inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk of choice, oil, vinegar, molasses, and flax meal. Let this mixture sit at least ten minutes (or even overnight in the fridge).

Whisk dry ingredients, either in a separate bowl or directly into the same bowl. Stir everything together until just evenly mixed. Spread into the prepared pan.

Bake on the oven center rack for twenty five minutes in a square pan or one hour in a loaf pan, or until cooked through.

Test to see if it’s done by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf. The toothpick should come out mostly clean.

Let cool, then slice and frost if desired.

The taste and texture are even better the next day, if you can wait that long!

The gingerbread recipe is also really great to serve with Vegan Hot Chocolate.

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Vegan Gingerbread

Try this soft and moist holiday vegan gingerbread recipe for breakfast or dessert.

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Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Yield 12 – 15 slices

5 from 57 votes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups spelt, white, or gf ap flour
  • 1 tbsp each cinnamon and ginger
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sugar, unrefined if desired
  • 1 3/4 cup milk of choice
  • 1/4 cup oil OR additional milk
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 2 tbsp white or cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup regular OR blackstrap molasses
  • optional 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8×8 pan (or a 9×5 loaf pan). In a large bowl, combine all liquid ingredients and flax, and let sit at least 10 minutes. Whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then stir all ingredients together until just evenly mixed. Spread into the pan. Bake 25 minutes (or 1 hour in a loaf pan) or until cooked through. Let cool. Taste and texture are even better the next day, so I highly recommend waiting if you can!

    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

The recipe was adapted from my Healthy Banana Bread and this Sweet Potato Bread.

Have you made this recipe?

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More Holiday Favorite Recipes

Sweet Potato Brownies

Applesauce Muffins

Healthy Pumpkin Pie or Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Vegan Pecan Pie

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Apple Bread

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Gingerbread - Soft, Moist, Delicious Holiday Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What makes gingerbread hard or soft? ›

A 1:4 ratio of butter to flour makes the gingerbread strong. Corn syrup keeps freshly baked gingerbread pliable and soft, so it's easy to cut while warm.

How do you make gingerbread less dry? ›

If your dough is remarkably dry (this can happen depending on how you measure your flour), add 1 teaspoon of milk at a time until it comes together but is not wet/sticky.

Does gingerbread go soft? ›

“It shouldn't look flat or dry,” he said. “There are some gingerbread recipes that are hard right after baking and need to sit for a few days to soften. Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.”

What are the three types of gingerbread? ›

The three distinct types of gingerbread are brown gingerbread, wafer-based gingerbread and honey gingerbread.
  • BROWN GINGERBREAD.
  • WAFER GINGERBREAD.
  • HONEY GINGERBREAD.

Should gingerbread be soft or crunchy? ›

Gingerbread cookies should be soft. They should be supple. They should bend to your teeth before the cookie skin breaks and the crumbs fall all over you. They should retain a bit of elasticity, and maybe you can even leave your fingerprints on the cookie if you hold them too hard because you're just that excited.

Why is my gingerbread so hard? ›

Extra sugar made this cookie way too hard.

The batter for this batch wasn't too sticky, but there was some lag when I lifted each gingerbread person out of the rolled dough and onto my baking sheet.

How do you make gingerbread soft after baking? ›

If you've already baked your gingerbread though and it's harder than you'd like, you CAN make it a little softer for eating. I wrap mine in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave for a few seconds.

How do you moisten gingerbread cookie dough? ›

Milk, egg yolks or egg whites, vanilla extract or even a teaspoon of water can help moisten the dough to give you less crumbly cookies. A little bit of a liquid like milk can also help your cookies spread in the oven to give you a more crispy cookie.

Should gingerbread be soft when cooked? ›

The cookies should still be slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. Most regular-sized gingerbread cookies will take 9-10 minutes, but you might need a little more or less time depending on whether your cookie cutters are small or extra large.

How long does soft gingerbread last? ›

The general rule of thumb is a couple of weeks. It depends how its prepared and if you used a lot of icing. Also, gingerbread like any other bread turns stale quite fast. Eating it after 1–2 week with tea shouldn't be a problem.

Why is my gingerbread dense? ›

Under-baking can cause a sunken cake and over-baking can cause a dry one, so making sure your gingerbread is properly baked is critical! Gingerbread is inherently slightly dense and heavy in texture, but each bite is perfectly flavored and moist and just melts in your mouth.

What is the best gingerbread in the world? ›

Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name. A unique, spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and cake, its reputation quickly spread and it is now enjoyed by food lovers all over the world.

What is Victorian gingerbread? ›

gingerbread, in architecture and design, elaborately detailed embellishment, either lavish or superfluous. Although the term is occasionally applied to highly detailed and decorative styles, it is more often applied specifically to the work of American designers of the late 1860s and '70s.

What is Christmas gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as a ginger snap. Gingerbread. Main ingredients. Ginger root, honey or ...

Are gingerbread men supposed to be hard or soft? ›

Bake for 12 minutes for light golden and mostly soft (though slightly crisp on edges), or 14 minutes for deeper golden and crisp. The gingerbread men will be soft out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.

How hard should gingerbread be? ›

Gingerbread is supposed to have crisp edges and a soft centre, overworking the dough will make them tough – and nobody wants that! Chill your dough in the fridge before you roll it out, this relaxes the gluten in the dough and makes it easier to handle.

Do gingerbread cookies harden when they cool? ›

Gingerbread Cookies are done when they are set and begin to brown slightly at the edges. They will harden further as they cool, so avoid overbaking so you don't end up with hard, crunchy gingerbread!

Why are gingerbread houses hard? ›

“Icing serves as the glue that holds the entire structure together. The mixture should be just pliable enough to hold the gingerbread pieces together before drying into a hard, unmovable substance.

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