Gingerbread Cookies (Eggless Christmas Cookie Recipe)

Gingerbread Cookies made using flax egg and liquid jaggery. In this blog, you will also learn how to ice those cookies perfectly and make your cookie cutter, along with a cookie recipe. This gingerbread cookie recipe will fill your home with that Christmas Cookie smell and leave you craving more.

The earliest mention of Gingerbread can be found in the ancient Greek and Roman mythologies, where it was used for ceremonial purposes. In the 11th century, the Crusaders brought many spices from the Middle East to Europe, including ginger, and these were highly prized and used in the kitchens of kings and noblemen. In early available recipes, the Gingerbread consisted only of breadcrumbs, almonds, honey, and ginger. The resultant paste was pressed onto wooden molds before baked in stone- ovens. Later on, the breadcrumbs were replaced with flour and butter, and sweeteners were added. [Source: Article written by the Executive chef of my former workplace. Read More.]

Gingerbread houses originated in Germany during the 16th century. The elaborate cookie-walled houses, decorated with foil in addition to gold leaf, became associated with Christmas tradition. Their popularity rose when the Brothers Grimm wrote the story of Hansel and Gretel, in which the main characters stumble upon a house made entirely of treats deep in the forest. It is unclear whether gingerbread houses resulted from the popular fairy tale or vice versa.

Recently, the record for the world’s largest gingerbread house was broken. The previous record was set by the Mall of America in 2006. The new winning gingerbread house, spanning nearly 40,000 cubic feet, was erected at Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas. The house required a building permit and was built much like a traditional house. 4,000 gingerbread bricks were used during its construction. To put that in perspective, a recipe for a house this size would include 1,800 pounds of butter and 1,080 ounces of ground ginger. Sounds more like a gingerbread resort!

My version of Gingerbread Cookies.

Gingerbread cookies are usually shaped like a gingerbread man, but you can unleash your creativity and go crazy with the shapes. It’s your batch of gingerbread cookies, after all. If you want a cloud-shaped cookie, you make those for yourself. So, I baked three batches of typical Christmas cookies; the rest were square and round. I made my DIY(do it yourself, duh!) cookie shape, I would say. Just outline an old bookmark, cut it, and trace an outline on the cookie dough using your knife.

Using flax eggs is a new concept, and after failing in cakes, I tried it on cookies, and it turned out great.

Flax egg is a blessing for vegans and vegetarians. My flax egg or eggless gingerbread cookie recipe will create cookies delicious enough to leave you satiated this Christmas. I baked four batches with this recipe. The flax egg can also be replaced with an egg if you do not wish to use it.

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What equipment do I need to make red velvet crinkle cookies without cake mix?

Big Bowl

Spatula

Weighing Scale

Baking Tray

Big Bowl

Whisk

Set of teaspoons and tablespoons

What ingredients do I need to make Gingerbread Cookies?

Flax egg

I used flax egg for my dough. You can add an egg instead if you like. Flax seeds are good sources of protein and fiber. It has 1.3 grams of protein and 1.9 grams of fiber. Flax seeds can be ground to make a flax meal. This flax meal will be used in our recipe to make a flax egg. Flax eggs cannot be added as an egg substitute to anything and everything. Making soufflés and omelets won’t work with flax eggs. Flax eggs don’t have any distinct flavor in the baked goods and can be prepared in ten to fifteen minutes.

Unsalted butter

I have used unsalted butter for this cookie dough. It is easily available in the local market, especially during winter months. You can buy it here.

[Disclaimer: I have personally used locally available white butter. The above is a suggestion from my side. Please proceed with buying it if you are convinced of the product itself]

Molasses

Molasses is another difficult ingredient to get in but is essential for gingerbread cookie dough. It imparts flavor and a rich color to the dough. Being a Bengali, getting my hands on some nolen gur or liquid date jaggery was pretty easy. The dough turned out to be pretty close to the original cookie dough. Nolen gur is the new jaggery extracted from date palm trees in the winter months.

Brown sugar is integral for this recipe. It gives the cookie a rich, dark brown color. It also gives moistness to the cookies. The liquid date jaggery I have used is a substitute for molasses, as molasses is not easily available in smaller quantities. You can skip it and use the actual ingredient, which is molasses. If you use molasses, remove 100 grams of nolen gur and add 70 grams. Molasses is more intense in flavor and texture. It is a very sticky and similar quantity as the Nolen Gur would make a sticky dough. Therefore, we add a lesser quantity. The spice powder we need for this recipe is ginger powder and cinnamon powder.

How to make gingerbread cookies?

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius/ 356 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix 1 tbsp ground flax seed in 3 tbsp water. Let it gel up in the refrigerator for 10- 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar together.
• Add the flax egg mix to it.
• Add the molasses or Nolen Gur and continue mixing.
• Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder, ginger powder, and cinnamon powder.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
• Knead to make a sticky dough.
• Wrap it up using cling film or aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Roll the dough on a floured surface or between two parchment paper to prevent sticking.
• Now, either use your cutters or cut out shapes using a stencil or just use your knife.
• Place these shapes onto a baking tray at 180 degrees Celcius/ 356 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
• Your home will smell lovely, but control yourself and let the cookies cool down.

For the royal icing:

• Sieve the icing sugar twice to get rid of lumps.
• Start beating the egg whites in a clean bowl with no traces of water.
• Once the egg whites become frothy, add 1/3 of the icing sugar.
• Keep beating, and then slowly add the remaining. Keep whisking till it forms a thick, shiny icing.
• Use or cover and store for up to a week.

Decorating the cookies:

• Add edible colors to color your icing.
• Fill it up in piping bags and use a small tip nozzle.
• Get creative and decorate your cookies. This is the fun part; you can get kids involved too.
• Click here to get some icing ideas.

Other Christmas recipes:

Red Velvet Cookies that remind you of Santa! This recipe is eggless, too.

Christmas special fruit cake recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions about gingerbread cookies:

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yes, I recommend wrapping the gingerbread cookie dough in a cling wrap and storing it in the freezer.

Is this gingerbread cookie recipe vegan?

No, this recipe is not vegan, as it uses butter. I have not tried this recipe using any vegan substitute for butter. If you try it out, drop a comment below to help other vegans.

How to make shapes in cookies?

Buy a set of cookie cutters. For basic shapes, use tiny bowls or bottle caps to cut out cookies.

How to store gingerbread cookies after baking?

Store cookies in an air-tight container and a cool, dry place.

Pro Tips to nail this recipe:

• Do not knead the dough more than required.
• Preferably bake the cookies for a considerable time before icing so that the cookie cools down entirely before icing.
• Make sure you are using good-quality edible colors.
• The flax egg will not disappear and will still be seen. If you want smooth cookies, I recommend using eggs.

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I hope you found my post “Gingerbread Cookies” helpful. If you have any queries, feel free to post them in the comments.

Thank You