Use a combination of freshly grated, ground, and candied ginger to make perfectly spiced triple ginger and molasses vegan ginger cookies with crisp edges and a soft and chewy middle (aka gingersnaps!) - perfect for the holidays and ready in just 30 minutes!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or lightly oil it). Whisk the flour, crystallized ginger, baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl.
Using an electric mixer, beat the vegan butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until creamy and light. Add applesauce, molasses, fresh ginger, ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Add the flour mixture in two additions, beating on low speed just to blend between additions. If the dough is feeling too dry, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of applesauce.
Place ¼ cup of sugar in a small bowl. Measure about two tablespoons of dough. Roll into a ball between palms of hands, then roll in sugar in a bowl to coat; place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, spacing cookies 1 ½ inches apart.
Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes (check them at the 12 minutes mark). Let cool and enjoy!
Notes
For smaller cookies: Use just one tablespoon of dough per cookie and bake for 10-13 minutes.
Tweak the consistency: The thinner you flatten them and the longer you bake them, the more crisp/crunchy the interior will be. For barely flattened cookies, 12 minutes is usually great for softer and chewy whereas 15 is for more crunchy.
Measure the flour correctly: Fluff it up in the flour bag, then spoon it into the measuring cup, using the back of a knife to level it.
Adjust the cookie height: These vegan ginger snaps won’t spread a lot while baking, so flatten the cookie dough to your desired shape and thickness.