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!

Vegan Gingerbread - Soft, Moist, Delicious Holiday Recipe! (1)

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?

Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram

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

Can I use milk instead of water in gingerbread? ›

You can substitute water or milk, or even buttermilk for the egg white called for in the icing if you avoid raw egg. Make the Gingerbread Cookie Dough: In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

What makes gingerbread so strong? ›

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. Rolling the dough directly on parchment makes it easy to transfer to the pan.

Should gingerbread be soft when it comes out of the oven? ›

Don't overbake them.

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.

Why is gingerbread sticky? ›

Namely, sticky gingerbread starts with a fluid, molasses-heavy batter, which, if not over baked, creates a beautifully moist cake, which if wrapped and refrigerated for a day or two and then brought back to room temperature, has a dense, chewy, somewhat sticky texture.

How do you moisten gingerbread dough? ›

Add just enough flour to bring the dough together. Too much flour will make your cookies crumbly and dry. If your dough is too crumbly: mix in 1 tbsp of milk until the dough is soft and pliable again. Be sure to chill your dough for at least 3 hours.

Does milk instead of water make cake moist? ›

One common ingredient swap that is known to help make cakes remarkably moist is using milk instead of water. Try switching out any water in your recipe for full-fat milk or buttermilk for a moist, decadent texture. Another ingredient that can enhance the moisture of your cake is mayonnaise.

What is the best gingerbread in the world? ›

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop | The World's Best Gingerbread. Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name.

What is the most important ingredient in gingerbread? ›

Molasses. Molasses is an absolutely critical ingredient for true gingerbread flavor. This ingredient is often sold in several varieties, you will want to make sure that you grab a bottle that says “unsulphured” on the label. This has a milder (in a good way) flavor than sulphured molasses.

What is soft vs hard gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread biscuits can be hard or soft, so if you want to make decorations, you'll need a recipe that will set hard and be very dry. The drier the biscuit is, the longer the icing will keep its original colour and stay hard. If the biscuits are soft, the icing will start to suck up moisture and colour over time.

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.

Can I use golden syrup instead of molasses? ›

Golden Syrup

With its golden, amber color, it is lighter than molasses, though the two are similar in their thickness. Golden syrup also a liquid sweetener, so 1 cup of golden syrup can replace 1 cup of molasses. Golden syrup has a unique flavor, so it may alter the flavor of your recipe slightly.

Why is gingerbread too 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.”

What is the best thing to stick gingerbread together? ›

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

Why is gingerbread a Christmas thing? ›

In the late 17th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas. Russian bakers prepared gingerbread men and women, usually as replicas of those people attending parties. Gingerbread houses were introduced about 200 years later, when the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel.

What makes gingerbread taste like gingerbread? ›

Spices give any gingerbread its delicious aroma and memorable taste. Ginger is the spice you will find in every gingerbread recipe. It comes from the knobby rhizome of a tropical plant and has a peppery zing and spicy scent.

Can you use milk instead of water in cookie dough? ›

If your cookie dough turns out dry or crumbly though, you will just need to add milk to bring it back together.

What happens if you use milk instead of water in baking? ›

Yes, you may make cakes with milk instead of water. Because fat provides richness and solidity to the cake, milk can increase the cake's moisture content and flavor. 1) Use the same quantity of milk as water called for in the recipe.

What happens if you use milk instead of water in cake mix? ›

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

Can I substitute milk for water? ›

But milk can't replace water altogether. If you're going to replenish with milk instead of water, go for it after a big workout or long day of hiking. Otherwise, water can't be beat! Real Simple is committed to using high-quality, reputable sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts in our articles.

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