Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (2024)

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By Alisa Fleming on Dairy Free Desserts, Dairy-Free Recipes

The other day I noticed that we didn’t have a basic dairy-free gingerbread men cookies recipe here on Go Dairy Free. We have a recipe for , but not all of you need gluten-free treats. And you simply can’t head into Christmas without a staple gingerbread cookies recipe!

Fortunately, I have a well-loved “just” dairy-free recipe to share with you today (with vegan options). It has the perfect amount of flavor and spice for go-to, roll-and-cut, dairy-free gingerbread men cookies.

Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (1)

Recipe Tips for Perfect Dairy-FreeGingerbread Men Cookies

Picking the Best Dairy-Free Buttery Sticks

Formerly known as margarine, the new “buttery sticks” are usually non-hydrogenated. And there are actually several brands to choose from. Some vegan “buttery sticks” or dairy-free margarine brands for baking include Melt, select varieties of Blue Bonnet, and select varieties of Fleischmann’s.

Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (2)Or you can use my Bakeable Butter Recipe if you have the 2nd Edition of my flagship book,Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook– it works great in cookies!

As a heads up, there have been some baking issues with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks this season. They’ve sworn that their formula hasn’t changed, but many people are experiencing very flat, greasy cookies with their product. I think it’s a bad batch where the oils haven’t been properly emulsified.

A couple of the brands mentioned above do have unsalted versions. If you use an unsalted variety of buttery sticks or margarine, increase the salt in the recipe by an 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.

Which Type of Molasses

Look for an unsulphured “cooking” molasses for the best results, like Grandma’s Molasses or Brer Rabbit. For a less intense molasses flavor, you can use a mild molasses. Blackstrap molasses will work, but it produces a darker color and might be too intense for some taste buds.

How to Color the Icing

Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (3)Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (4)Royal icing is a classic, dairy-free, egg-based icing that spreads and sets into a perfect sweet shell. The easy recipe included with these Gingerbread Men Cookies makes a pure white icing. To color it,place 1/2 cup of the icing in a bowl and stir in food coloring (start with 3 drops) until it reaches your desired color.

Alternative Icing Recipes

The icing recipe below using powdered egg whites. If you don’t have any on hand, this Decorator Icing Recipe uses egg whites. If you need an egg-free and vegan icing, then use this Perfect Icing Recipe.

Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (5)This gingerbread men cookies recipe with photo was shared with us by McCormick.

Special Diet Notes: Gingerbread Men Cookies

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, and vegetarian.

For egg-free and vegan gingerbread men cookies, see my Egg Substitutes Guide.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies

Prep time

Cook time

Total time

This very popular recipe was shared with us by McCormick, and has been adapted just a bit. See the post above for more Recipe Tips and options. Please note that the Prep time is hands-on time only. Allow 4 hours or overnight for the dough to chill.

Author: McCormick

Serves: 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup dairy-free buttery sticks, softened (see Recipe Tips above)
  • ¾ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup molasses (see Recipe Tips above)
  • 1 egg (can use an egg sub, if needed)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Royal icing (recipe below), for decorating (optional)

Instructions

  1. In large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
  2. Add the buttery sticks and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium speed until light and slightly fluffy. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla and beat until well combined.
  3. With the mixer on low, gradually beat in the flour mixture until thick dough forms. You might need to stir it if the dough is too thick for your mixer.
  4. Shape the dough into a thick disk, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼-inch thickness. If it's cracking, let the dough rest and warm slightly for a few minutes.
  7. Cut into gingerbread men shapes using a 5-inch cookie cutter. Carefully transfer the cut outs to your prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
  8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set and just begin to brown.
  9. Let the gingerbread men cookies cool on the baking sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Once completely cool, you can decorate!

Notes

Royal Icing: Sift 1 pound powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add 6 tablespoons warm water, 3 tablespoons powdered egg whites (see Recipe Tips above for egg-free option), and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat with an electric mixer on high for 5 to 7 minutes, or until stiff peaks form and the icing is fluffy and glossy. Spoon or pipe the icing onto cookies to decorate.

More Dairy-Free Gingerbread Cookie Indulgences

Gingerbread Cookie Butter

Spiced Gingerbread French Toast

Gingerbread Cookie Mix in a Jar

For More Sweet Dairy-Free Recipes, Get Go Dairy Free!

Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (10)

Classic Dairy-Free Gingerbread Men Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Does gingerbread have dairy in it? ›

GINGERBREAD COOKIES: Enriched Flour (Bleached Flour, Barley Malt, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Roboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Dextrose, Dairy Whey, Molasses, Salt, Dry Whole Eggs, Leavening Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Dry Egg Whites, Ginger, and Nutmeg.

Why are my gingerbread men so hard? ›

“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.”

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? ›

Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? Soft gingerbread biscuits are ideal. They ought to be flexible. However, they should still be somewhat elastic, and if you hold them too firmly because you're so excited to eat them, you might even be able to leave your fingerprints on the cookie!

Why do my gingerbread cookies fall apart? ›

From doubling up on molasses to using too much flour, there is a lot that can go wrong. Forgetting the molasses resulted in a crumbly cookie that was light in color. Combining all ingredients at once created lumps in the finished product.

Is there any dairy in cookie dough? ›

Commercially available edible cookie doughs are free from raw egg, but not all of them are inherently vegan. Many contain dairy in the form of milkfat, butter, whey, and/or milk solids.

Do all cookies have dairy? ›

Most traditional cookie and dessert recipes contain large amounts of butter, milk, or other dairy, which puts them out of reach for people who have allergies or chose a dairy-free diet for another reason.

What happens if you don't chill gingerbread dough? ›

Forgetting to chill the dough.

It's tempting to want to roll out the dough as soon as it comes together, but let it have a little time to rest. Chilling it for at least two hours or overnight gives the ingredients a chance to absorb one another, making it a whole lot easier to roll out the dough without it cracking.

What happens if a gingerbread man gets wet? ›

Haugh's Kindergarten students worked like scientists to predict what would happen if the Gingerbread Man did get wet, then conducted an experiment and reached conclusions based on their results. They learned that cookies get soggy in water and fall apart!

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.

How do you know when gingerbread is done for men? ›

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! Underbake slightly to achieve soft, slightly chewy gingerbread cookies.

What kind of molasses to use for gingerbread cookies? ›

Choose unsulfured molasses when possible, since sulfur dioxide can leave an unpleasant, chemical-like aftertaste, according to Smith. “Unsulfured molasses is derived from processed mature sugar cane,” she said. “It's rich in flavor with a smoky depth. The most natural.

What does molasses do in baking? ›

Molasses adds moisture and color to baked goods like pecan pie, and it thickens up barbecue sauce for meat like pulled pork. Some other ways to use molasses in cooking include: 1. Syrup: Light molasses can be a substitute for maple syrup, drizzled over pancakes or to sweeten a bowl of oatmeal.

Why are my gingerbread men spreading? ›

If there isn't enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

What happens if you add too much butter to gingerbread cookies? ›

An excessive amount of butter makes it where the flour is unable to absorb the combined fat, which causes the cookie to spread too widely and the sugar to carbonize more easily because it's surrounded by too buttery a dough.

How long should you chill gingerbread dough? ›

Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.) To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated.

What gingerbread contains? ›

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.

What allergens are in gingerbread? ›

Ginger is not the sole ingredient in gingerbread besides flour. There is cinnamon (more than the ginger), allspice, cloves, unsulphured molasses, and egg. Any one of these might be causing the scratchy throat.

What is gingerbread dough made of? ›

For making the gingerbread house dough, you will need the following ingredients: flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, unsalted butter, light brown sugar, molasses, an egg and vanilla extract.

What is gingerbread cake made of? ›

In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter until smooth and light. Add the egg and molasses then mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir to combine.

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