Vegan Gingerbread Brownie Cookies (Gluten Free)
Dec 16, 2020 • Updated Jun 20, 2023
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Gingerbread Brownie Cookies!
This year, I received a bunch of requests for a gingerbread cookie recipe but I wanted to spice things up so I made Gingerbread Brownie Cookies instead! In all seriousness, I did already have an almond butter gingerbread cookie recipe up, so consider this my next level gingerbread contribution of the year 😉 This recipe was inspired by The Boy Who Bakes, who shared a non-vegan version of this recipe and I wanted to re-create it but vegan and gluten free. I also took some inspiration from my friend at The Little Blog of Vegan, who used applesauce in place of eggs!
The end result is a chewy, fudge-y, brownie-like cookie with gingerbread notes and crisp edges. Oh and chocolate chips to top because you can never go wrong with extra chocolate chips. It’s like an elevated gingerbread cookie for chocolate lovers, and it’s absolutely a crowd pleaser. You need only 10 ingredients to make these cookies, and it’s a 3 step process: melt chocolate, whisk applesauce and sugar and mix with your dry ingredients. Bake and voilà! It’s a bit more of an involved process than most of my cookie recipes, but I think the result is well worth the effort.
These Gingerbread Brownie Cookies are vegan, gluten free and nut free.
So what’s in these Gingerbread Brownie Cookies?
- Dark chocolate → Any dairy free, dark chocolate will work here.
- Vegan butter → Yes! This recipe calls for unsalted vegan butter. I unfortunately cannot recommend substitutions for this, but just be sure to use an unsalted vegan butter.
- Sugar → We’re using a combo of organic cane sugar and coconut sugar. Please use both, as when I tested with only one it didn’t turn out right. The original recipe calls for a mix of both white and brown sugar, so this similar combination is key!
- Applesauce → The applesauce stands in for eggs in the original recipe. Please do not use another vegan egg alternative, as I personally have not had success with tests using ground flax seeds and vegan egg liquid.
- Oat flour → You only need one flour to make these cookies, and we’re using gluten free oat flour. Feel free to use all purpose flour if gluten isn’t an issue for you.
- Cacao powder → Or cocoa powder will work!
- Gingerbread spice → Feel free to use your own spice mix, or a pre blended gingerbread spice mix. You can also leave this out if you prefer just a simple chocolate flavour.
Plus salt, baking powder and extra chocolate chips as desired!
Secrets to success
The recipe calls for a hand or stand mixer, but if you don’t have either, you can whisk by hand too. Just be sure to mix well and use go (vegan) ham on the mixing!!! Thank me later for the arm workout.
If making this recipe, I would highly advise against making substitutions. It took me 3 tries in total to nail this recipe, and substitutions will mean varied results. Most significantly, your cookies may spread and become one giant sheet pan cookie, with burnt edges. Trust me, speaking from experience here! The vegan butter is essential, so if you’d prefer an oil/butter free cookie recipe, just check out the cookie category. I have over 30 oil and butter free cookie recipes you can choose from instead.
If you like this recipe, try…
- Almond Butter Gingerbread People
- Healthy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Caramel Sandwich Cookies
- Flourless Avocado Fudge Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
If you try this recipe out, tag me on Instagram @veggiekins so I can see your delicious re-creations and feature them! As always, I love when you share your reviews in the comments below, and if you make any fun substitutions, let me know how it worked out below too.
Gingerbread Brownie Cookies (vegan, gluten free)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted vegan butter room temp
- 5 oz dark dairy free chocolate
- 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup + 3 tbsp oat flour
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2-3 tsp gingerbread spice more to taste
- 1/4 tsp salt
- dairy free chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F while you prepare the batter, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Using the bain marie method, melt and whisk together vegan butter and dairy free chocolate until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl, cream the cane sugar, coconut sugar and applesauce using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Mix for about 1-2 minutes until frothy and evenly incorporated. Add the melted butter and chocolate mixture into the bowl and mix for another 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- Finally, in a third bowl, sift flour, cacao powder, baking powder, gingerbread spice and salt. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and using a spatula, mix until smooth, being careful not to over mix.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough onto the baking tray, leaving ample space between each dough ball (roughly 3"). Cookies will spread once in the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the tray around and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- If desired, gently press chocolate chips into the cookie tops while still warm.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
