Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies (Gingersnaps)

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good holiday with lots of yummy food. I definitely overindulged a little bit, especially with the sweets.

This year I did ALL the Christmas baking. Although heavily frosted sugar cookies will always remain my holiday favourite, these vegan gingersnaps are a close second. I love the spices from the ginger, cinnamon, and molasses – the holiday flavours taste amazing alongside a glass of vegan eggnog or a mug of warm hot chocolate.

This was also the year that I learned what molasses even was (yup, that’s right – I actually had no idea). I had always heard its name and figured it was some sort of dark, syrupy version of sugar that’s somewhat on the healthier side. Turns out that molasses is actually a by-product of sugar cane’s refining process, which mashes and boils sugar cane to create cane syrup. Boiling this syrup a second time creates molasses. The more you know!

There is also a healthier kind of molasses called Blackstrap Molasses, which is created when molasses is boiled a third time. The boiling process removes more of the sugar content which is why blackstrap molasses contains the lowest sugar content of any sugar cane product. Unlike refined sugar (which has zero nutritional value), blackstrap molasses is packed with vitamins and minerals, such as iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and selenium. So basically, these gingersnaps are essentially a superfood, as far as cookies go.

Unfortunately, blackstrap molasses is quite pungent, and more of an acquired taste in the world of sugar. My advice is to start with a small amount in your baking, and gradually work up to it when you begin to get used to the taste and flavour of blackstrap molasses. This recipe was adapted from ILoveVegan, and I decided that if you’re not a huge molasses fan, then just 1/4 cup is sufficient to get the flavour and colour in these cookies. Also, I prefer chewy cookies over the semi-hard and crumbly ones, so this recipe gives you about 23 perfectly soft and chewy gingersnaps that will stay that way for a few days when kept in a sealed container.

Happy (healthy) baking! 🙂

Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies (Gingersnaps)

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Serves: 10 Prep Time: 40 Cooking Time: 8 Minutes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup blackstrap or fancy molasses
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
small bowl of raw sugar (for rolling)

Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies (Gingersnaps) was last modified: December 27th, 2017 by themindfulstrawberry

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, molasses and vanilla.
4. Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and combine. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, allowing the dough to rise.
5. Pour raw sugar into a small bowl to roll cookies in.
6. Grab about a tablespoon of dough and roll into balls. Roll balls in raw sugar and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Gently press each dough ball to flatten slightly, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches between cookies.
8. Repeat this process until all dough is used up.
9. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until the cookies are cracked, puffy, and the edges appear cooked.
10. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes.
11. Once cool, you may store cookies in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies (Gingersnaps) was last modified: December 27th, 2017 by themindfulstrawberry