Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies, Soft and Eggless

Name: Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies (Eggless!)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 375 min
Ingredients: 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour; ½ cup (75 g) brown sugar; ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking soda; 1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 ml) ground cinnamon; 3 teaspoons (15 ml) ground ginger; ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground cloves; ¾ cup (170 g) vegan butter (at room temperature, diced); ¼ cup (60 ml) plant-based milk; ¼ cup (60 ml) applesauce; 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) unsulphured molasses; ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar (for coating)

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These vegan gingerbread crinkle cookies are soft and chewy inside, with a sweet, crackly powdered sugar coating and all the warm spices of gingerbread. They’re made without eggs or dairy, and they always earn a spot on my holiday cookie tray next to my vegan chocolate crinkle cookies.

Vegan gingerbread crinkle cookies coated in powdered sugar on parchment paper.

Molasses, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and a pinch of cloves give these cookies classic gingerbread flavor. They taste like Christmas! If you love crinkle cookies as much as I do, try my lemon crinkle cookies too, and you’ll find the rest of my favorites in my vegan Christmas cookie roundup.

I have a few gingerbread cookies on the blog, and each one is a little different. My vegan gingerbread cookies are the classic rolled cutout version for decorating, and my gingerbread oatmeal cookies are thick, chewy drop cookies with oats in the dough. These crinkle cookies are simply rolled into balls and coated in powdered sugar, so there’s no rolling pin or cookie cutter needed.

Quick Glance

Recipe Name: Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Why You’ll Love It: Soft, chewy gingerbread cookies with a crackly powdered sugar coating, made without eggs or dairy.
Time and Difficulty: 20 minutes of prep, at least 5 hours of chilling, and 15 minutes of baking. Easy.
Main Ingredients: Flour, brown sugar, vegan butter, molasses, applesauce, plant-based milk, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and powdered sugar.
Method: Mix the dry ingredients, cut in the vegan butter, stir in the wet ingredients, chill, roll in powdered sugar, and bake.
Texture and Flavor: Soft and chewy inside, with a sweet, crackly coating and warm molasses spice.
Quick Tip: Chill the dough for at least 5 hours so the cookies hold their shape in the oven.

What Makes These Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies So Good
Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookie Ingredients
Flavor Variations and Add-Ins
How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Toni’s Recipe Tips
Storage Instructions
Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies FAQs
More Vegan Holiday Cookie Recipes
Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies (Eggless!) Recipe

What Makes These Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies So Good

Toni Okamoto smiling and holding a slice of watermelon.

Crinkle cookies and gingerbread cookies are both holiday favorites for parties, cookie trays, and gifting, and this recipe gives you the best of both in one easy cookie.

No eggs or dairy: Applesauce and plant-based milk do the job of eggs (more on that in my guide to vegan egg replacers for baking), and vegan butter keeps them rich.
Soft and chewy: The centers stay soft, with a slightly crisp powdered sugar crinkle on the outside.
Classic gingerbread flavor: Molasses, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
Simple steps: Just mix, chill, roll, coat, and bake.
Make-ahead friendly: The dough keeps in the fridge for 2 days, and the coated dough balls freeze beautifully.

Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookie Ingredients

You only need simple pantry ingredients for these eggless gingerbread cookies. You’ll find the full amounts in the recipe card below.

Ingredients for vegan gingerbread crinkle cookies, including flour, brown sugar, spices, vegan butter, applesauce, plant-based milk, molasses, and powdered sugar.

All-purpose flour: Gives the cookies their soft, chewy structure.
Brown sugar: Adds moisture and a rich, caramel-like sweetness.
Baking soda: Helps the cookies puff up and crack as they bake.
Spices: Ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground cloves for that warm gingerbread flavor.
Vegan butter: Use room temperature vegan butter, diced, so it cuts easily into the flour mixture.
Plant-based milk: Use your favorite plant-based milk.
Applesauce: Takes the place of eggs and keeps the cookies moist.
Molasses: This is the key to signature gingerbread flavor. Use unsulphured molasses. I use dark molasses, though light or mild molasses works in a pinch (Grandma’s Molasses is great!). Avoid blackstrap molasses, since it’s too bitter for these cookies.
Powdered sugar: For rolling the dough balls and creating those white crinkles.

Flavor Variations and Add-Ins

Flavor boosters: Try a pinch of cardamom, black pepper (to boost the spice), or espresso powder (to bring out the molasses flavor), the zest of 1 lemon or orange, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Mix-ins: Try chopped crystallized ginger, vegan chocolate chips or chunks, toasted nuts or seeds (walnuts, pecans, or pepitas), dried cranberries or raisins, or shredded coconut.
Glaze topping: Drizzle or dip the cookies in a simple vanilla or molasses glaze. My pumpkin spice glaze and 3-ingredient lemon glaze show you how to make your own.

How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Before you start, set out your vegan butter so it comes to room temperature, and plan ahead for the chilling time. You’ll find the full instructions in the recipe card below.

Flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and spices in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Vegan butter cut into the flour mixture until it looks like wet sand.

Step 2: Cut in the butter. Dice the vegan butter and use a pastry cutter or fork to cut it into the dry ingredients until it looks like wet sand.

PRO TIP: Fluff the flour in its bag, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level it with the back of a knife. Scooping straight from the bag packs in extra flour and makes the cookies dense.

Molasses, applesauce, and plant-based milk whisked together in a white bowl.

Step 3: Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the plant-based milk, applesauce, and molasses until the molasses dissolves.

Molasses mixture poured into the flour and butter mixture in a glass bowl.

Step 4: Make the dough and chill. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix into a thick dough. Shape it into a ball, cover the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 5 hours or overnight.

Hand holding a ball of gingerbread cookie dough next to a cookie scoop.

Step 5: Roll the dough. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Scoop 2 Tablespoon portions of dough and roll them into balls.

Gingerbread cookie dough ball rolled in powdered sugar in a small bowl.

Step 6: Coat in powdered sugar. Roll each ball in the powdered sugar until it’s heavily coated.

PRO TIP: Coat the dough balls generously and add more powdered sugar to the bowl as you go. A thick coating gives you those bold white crinkles.

Powdered sugar coated dough balls spaced out on a lined baking sheet.

Step 7: Space them out. Place the dough balls on the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.

Baked vegan gingerbread crinkle cookies with cracked tops on parchment paper.

Step 8: Bake and cool. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges set and the cookies puff up and crack. Cool them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.

Toni’s Recipe Tips

Use a cookie scoop: A 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop keeps every cookie the same size, so they all bake evenly.
Let them rest on the tray: The cookies are soft right out of the oven, so give them those 10 minutes on the baking sheet before you move them.

Vegan gingerbread crinkle cookie broken in half to show the soft, chewy center.

Storage Instructions

Store: Keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the fridge for 5 to 7 days, with layers of parchment paper between them.

Freeze: Flash freeze the cookies on a tray, not touching, until solid. Then move them to a freezer-safe bag or a Stasher bag for 2 to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. The powdered sugar soaks in a little after thawing, but they still taste great.

Vegan gingerbread crinkle cookies stored in a glass container with a label.

Looking for more cookies to fill your holiday tray? My eggless snickerdoodles, triple ginger vegan cookies, easy snowball cookies, easy muddy buddies, and soft and chewy banana bread cookies are all great picks. If you’d rather bake one pan for a crowd, my gingerbread cake recipe is full of the same warm spices.

Vegan Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies FAQs

Do I have to chill the dough?

Yes! Chilling the dough for at least 5 hours (or overnight) keeps the cookies from spreading in the oven, gives them their soft and chewy texture, and makes the dough much easier to roll.

Why did the powdered sugar melt into my cookies?

These cookies have a soft, moist dough, so the powdered sugar can soak in a little as they bake. To keep the coating white and crackly, roll each dough ball in sugar first, then in the powdered sugar.

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Yes. The dough keeps covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can also roll the dough into balls, coat them in powdered sugar, and freeze them for up to 2 months. Bake them straight from the freezer, adding 1 to 2 minutes to the baking time.

Can I use blackstrap molasses?

I don’t recommend it. Blackstrap molasses has a much stronger, more bitter flavor that takes over the warm spices. Stick with dark or light unsulphured molasses.

Can I make smaller cookies?

Yes! Scoop 1 Tablespoon portions instead of 2 and bake them for about 10 to 12 minutes. Larger cookies need a little longer, so take them out once the edges are set and the tops have cracked.