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Vegan Gingerbread Cookies are pretty amazing on their own, but how about topped with this Vegan Royal Icing? Yes, it is entirely possible to make a vegan royal icing that not only dries hard, but glossy! ¬†Insert ‘ooooh’s and aahhhs’ here ūüėČ ¬†And last but not least, later in the post I’ll also talk a little bit about vegan food coloring. ¬†So this is sort of a 3-in-1 post because quite frankly, I would love to say that I am all prepared for Christmas, shopping done, presents wrapped and waiting under the tree, but alas…this normally overly organized¬†person is just not that prepared¬†this year. ¬†Life happens, and it’s ok. ¬†It will all work out in the end.
I absolutely love this recipe for gingerbread because these cookies do not spread. ¬†They puff up, but retain their shape which is important for a cut out cookie! ¬† So let’s begin there…
You will need vegan margarine, brown sugar, molasses, all purpose flour, salt and baking powder. ¬†We’ll spice them up with cinnamon, ginger, cloves.
I do like to chill the dough (wrapped in plastic wrap) for several hours or over night, as it is much easier to work with that way.
I choose a variety of small Christmas themed cutters. ¬†Snowflakes, snowmen, mittens, trees, stockings, bows and ice skates. ¬†Got it off of Amazon as well. ¬†Are you surprised? ūüėČ ¬†I know, I know…I am slightly addicted to the convenience of Amazon, but I love that I can provide you all with a resource where you can obtain these things as well.
They bake for just about 5-6 minutes and are transferred to a rack to cool completely.
Now onto the icing. ¬†Just 3 simple ingredients include: ¬†confectioner’s (powdered) sugar, light corn syrup (I like this one because it is certified vegan, but most syrups are technically vegan) and almond milk. ¬†That’s it!
This is a ‘flood consistency’ icing meaning it is able to be piped and retain its shape, but will ‘heal’ or settle back into itself creating the smooth surface you see here.
I picked up a simple piping bag, round tip and coupler for a few dollars.  Everything is washable and reusable, but you can also find disposable bags.
Another option, and a question I get quite often, is about food coloring.  Vegan food coloring to be more precise. Although there are companies producing natural vegan colors, they are not true colors and appear very pastel and dull.  Most of my readers have been less than impressed with those.
I use these professional colors by AmeriColor. ¬†This junior¬†starter set is around $20 on Amazon and is perfect for the beginning decorator. ¬†AmeriColor produces dozens and dozens of colors (it’s easy to get carried away), but if you have a craft store, Walmart, cake decorating shop, etc. near you…you can just buy individual bottles. ¬†They are about $2 a bottle and worth the investment! ¬†I use ‘Red Red’ and ‘Leaf Green’ at Christmas time and they produce very vibrant iced cookies. ¬†They are also completely VEGAN. ¬†I recently contacted the manufacturer a few weeks ago and this is their response… “Dear Aimee,¬†Thank you for your interest in AmeriColor! Yes, our food color is vegan friendly. … On the seldom occasion that we produce Meringue Powder, as it has been discontinued, it is made in a segregated area and the equipment we use for food color is not used. I have attached our Allergen Statement for your reference as well. Please let me know if you need further assistance. Best wishes!”
If you are able to find it, there is one called ‘Xmas Red’ that I absolutely love for the holidays.
I chose to do most of mine in white, but can you see how shiny they are?  You could also use edible food color markers once they have hardened.  Sprinkles, nonpareils, the possibilities are endless.  Have fun.  Get creative.
One little helpful hint, keep a paper towel with warm water nearby to wipe the piping tip occasionally as this icing dries quickly. ¬†You’ll want to keep the tip clean and the icing flowing freely. ¬†Allow to dry completely.
Another tip, keep a toothpick to help pop any little air bubbles that may occur.  Do this before the icing starts to set.
I’ll be bringing you a lovely buttercream¬†style frosting in a few weeks, so stay tuned for that!
4.5 from 2 votes
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing
Author Veg Life Staff
FOR THE GINGERBREAD COOKIES:
1 C plus 1-1/2 Tbl Vegan Margarine such as Earth Balance
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1-1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer plus 2 Tbl Water you can experiment with other egg replacing methods, just use the equivalent of 1 egg regardless of the method you choose
3-1/4 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
FOR THE 'Flood Consistency' ICING:
2-1/4 C Confectioners Sugar
2 Tbl Light Corn Syrup
1-2 Tbl Almond Milk add more as neede 1/2 tsp at a time
Vegan Food Coloring optional
Combine the vegan margarine and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamed.
Add the remaining ingredients and beat until well incorporated.
Split the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten into rounds. This will help them chill more quickly and evenly.
Chill for several hours or over night.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4" thick and cut out your shapes.
On a parchment or Silpat lined sheet pan, place the shapes and bake for approximately 5-6 minutes. This will depend on how large your cutouts are.
Cool on a wire rack completely.
In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar, corn syrup and almond milk with a fork until smooth. If it is too thick, add more almond milk 1/2 tsp at a time. If it is too thin, add more confectioners sugar 1 tsp at a time.
The icing should maintain its shape when drizzled but eventually 'heal' or settle back into itself. Test a cookie or two and wait a few minutes to see if it's too runny before proceeding.
I use a small round tip to outline and then fill in the cookies.
Tint the icing to make a variety of colors. The gel food coloring does not affect the consistency of the icing at all.
Allow to air dry until hardened. At this point, you can choose to use edible food color markers if desired.
Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Christmas, cookies, egg free, Food Color, gingerbread, Glaze, holiday, Royal Icing, vegan, vegetarian
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January 3, 2016 at 12:53 pm
January 3, 2016 at 1:01 pm
Sorry about that. Just fixed the recipe. It bakes at 350 degrees ūüôā
December 9, 2016 at 6:31 am
Any chance you could come up with a sugar cookie version of this? We love to roll, cut and decorate sugar cookies for Christmas. I would love the gingerbread version, but the rest of my family prefers classic sugar cookies ūüôā Thank you so much!
Amanda R Kinnett says
December 19, 2016 at 4:10 pm
I think it’s funny it says to preheat and then chill for several hours or overnight. That’s a long time to warm the oven!
December 19, 2016 at 4:32 pm
One can only hope readers would realize the instructions got entered out of order and not preheat the oven overnight! It has since been edited. Thanks for letting me know.
December 2, 2017 at 10:34 am
Hi, thank you for a wonderful recipe. May I ask you how long does the icing dries on the cookies? Thank you! Kamila
December 2, 2017 at 1:57 pm
I left mine to dry overnight. They will be firm but you can still make an impression/dent if you press with a finger. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend stacking them for this reason. I have another gingerbread recipe coming up this week on my sister site, Living Vegan where you could use the royal icing to attach decorations. Stay tuned! ūüôā
October 17, 2018 at 4:36 am
I was just wondering if i can substitute glucose for corn syrup for the icing. It will be a great help if you can let me know. Thanks
October 17, 2018 at 1:02 pm
Hi Ekta, I am honestly not sure about this. I have never used glucose in that form but it seems like it would work? You could experiment with a small batch. I would love to know how it turns out! ūüôā
July 11, 2019 at 7:06 pm
Great recipe to create royal icing without milk and eggs whites. Can you please tell me for how long the cookies will last with this icing, outside refrigerator? In other words, since it has almond milk, will the icing go bad after it has been put on the cookies and the cookies are left at room temperature or when cookies are mailed to friends and family in warm weather. Thanks.
July 12, 2019 at 9:07 am
Hi Seema, unfortunately I have been unable to replicate a “stable” vegan royal icing. While it does “harden”, it is never truly hard like traditional egg white-based Royal Icing. So I wouldn’t plan to keep them long before eating, nor do I think they could be shipped. I’m still working on it though and will update the post as I can ūüôā
Vegan Sugar Cookies - TheVegLife says:
November 25, 2017 at 7:28 pm
[…] as they are. ¬†We always leave some undecorated and the rest, we’ll be decorating with this vegan royal icing later this evening ? ¬† If you are interested in the vegan food colors I mentioned in that post, […]