Healthy Gingersnap Cookies (Vegan, GF, Refined Sugar Free, Nut-Free Option)

Fall flavors are trending on The Dimpled Date right now, and this next recipe is no exception. This is a recipe for my Healthy Gingersnap Cookies, which are spicy, sweet, a little snappy, a little soft, a little chewy, packed with flavor, and oh-so addictive. Dare I say this is the best cookie recipe I've made so far? Yes, yes I would. Plus these cookies are quick + easy, no food processor or specialty equipment required. These cookies have all the fall vibes, and are sure to satisfy your autumn baking cravings. And they're 100% vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free. There is also an option for nut-free gingersnaps too. So let the fall baking continue!

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Maple sugar, spice, and everything nice! These Healthy Gingersnap Cookies are truly incredible. Date syrup lends a rich molasses-like flavor to these cookies (w/o the refined sugar) while ginger root juice gives a particularly spicy zing. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cardamom round out the warm fall spices. And a unique flour blend of brown rice flour, tigernut flour, oat flour, and tapioca starch makes for fluffy & chewy yet snappy cookies. Then, finally the dough balls are rolled in maple sugar to give a nice burst of crunchy maple sweetness on the exterior.

Yet there is no dairy, gluten, or refined sugar in these cookies. The only fat in these cookies comes from a little coconut oil and almond butter (or sunflower seed butter). No egg substitutes are needed in these cookies and they are sweetened just with a modest amount of maple syrup, date syrup, and coconut sugar/maple sugar. They're as clean as they are tasty. And you won't want to eat just one.

There are 2 size options for these cookies, which is visible in the two pictures above. You can make small cookies (1 Tbsp dough) or large cookies (1 1/2 Tbsp dough). The larger cookies are softer, chewier, and more moist while the smaller ones are snappier and more crisp. So you can make either size (or both). Baker's choice!

These gingersnaps are also great for dipping in tea or coffee. If you're a ginger connoisseur, these cookies are a must-try. Even if you're not, these cookies are worth a try (and you can always reduce the ginger for less zing/spiciness). But in my opinion, even though these cookies are very gingery and spicy, the spice is not off-putting (especially considering that gingersnaps are supposed to have a bit of a bite to them).

I have it on my radar to make a date-sweetened version of these cookies, so for my fruit-sweetened friends, I'm crafting a fruity version rn!

What fall recipes do you all want to see next on The Dimpled Date? Drop your suggestions in the comments! And if you liked these gingersnaps, feel free to leave your feedback in the comments and give this recipe a <3

Substitutions in these Healthy Gingersnap Cookies

Maple syrup

maple syrup is ideal for these cookies as it lends a rich, caramel-y, fall-forward sweetness, but instead you can use agave, coconut nectar, yacón syrup, OR even honey (if you're not strictly vegan). Alternatively, you can use additional date syrup in place of the maple, but note that the cookies will be richer and darker (which would still be nice, since these cookies are on the paler side for gingersnaps)

Date syrup

instead of date syrup, the best substitute is molasses if you can have refined sweeteners. But you can also substitute coconut nectar OR yacón syrup for a similar molasses-y/fruity flavor. I recommend choosing dark sticky sweeteners because they will be the most similar in flavor and consistency to molasses. If a molasses flavor isn`t essential, you can use additional maple syrup or substitute agave

Almond butter

instead of almond butter, you can use cashew butter OR sunflower seed butter. I don't recommend using peanut butter, tahini, hazelnut butter, pistachio butter, hempseed butter, or pumpkin seed (pepita) butter as these will impart bold flavors/a green color. Speaking of green colors, keep in mind that using sunflower seed butter in these cookies might result in a green interior. This is a well-known chemical reaction in baking caused by a compound in sunflower seeds reacting with the baking soda and heat during the baking process. It's perfectly normal and is simply a color change, it's not mold and doesn't mean the cookies have gone bad! They're still edible just green! A simple fix (in case you don't want strangely green nut-free gingersnaps) is to add a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (I would recommend 1-2 tsp)

Coconut oil

instead of coconut oil (and for nut-free/coconut-free), try olive oil or avocado oil. I'm sure if you really wanted to try it, melted vegan butter could work too

Orange zest

try lemon zest, lime zest, or grapefruit zest instead. Or you can omit the zest

Brown rice flour

use white rice flour, sorghum flour, gluten-free oat flour, OR an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend instead

Gluten-free oat flour

use brown rice flour, white rice flour, sorghum flour, OR an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend instead. If you're not gluten-free, you can use oat flour that's not certified gluten-free. The only difference between regular oat flour and certified gluten-free oat flour is that regular oat flour might be cross-contaminated with wheat and other gluten crops during the growing/processing process. Oats are naturally gluten-free, so it's just a cross-contamination thing

Arrowroot starch

replace it with tapioca starch, cornstarch, OR potato starch

Tigernut flour

use almond flour, cashew flour, sunflower seed flour, OR pumpkin seed flour instead

Coconut sugar

use maple sugar instead. Or if refined sugar is ok, you can use Sucanat, demerara, or turbinado sugar instead. Technically, brown sugar would work here too.

Baking soda

use baking powder instead

Ground ginger

just use the ginger root juice instead. There really is no other substitute for the ginger juice or ground ginger to impart a strong enough ginger flavor. If you wanted to, you can try strong brewed ginger tea or ginger beer that's unsweetened/naturally sweetened, but again these will add liquid to the recipe and will likely be too weak to add a potent enough burst of ginger flavor (not to mention: I HAVE NOT tried this recipe with ginger tea or ginger beer and cannot guarantee good results).

Vanilla extract

try scraped vanilla bean, ground vanilla beans (black powder/vanilla seeds), sugar-free vanilla powder (white powder), sugar-free vanilla paste (sugar scrub-like paste), OR sugar-free vanilla syrup. Instead of vanilla, you can try almond extract, coconut extract, maple extract, 1/8 tsp orange extract, OR walnut extract. If you must, you may omit the vanilla

Ginger root juice

instead of ginger root juice, add an additional 1 tsp ground ginger per single batch of these cookies

Cinnamon

Cassia or Ceylon (true) cinnamon is fine. Instead, use additional nutmeg, cloves, or allspice. Or you could even try ground dried spicebush berries for a unique burst of fall flavor. Or- if you must- you can omit the cinnamon

Ground nutmeg

use additional cloves, allspice, or cardamom. Or omit it

Ground cloves

use additional nutmeg, allspice, or cardamom. Or omit it

Allspice

use additional nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, anise, ground star anise, OR dried + ground spicebush berries instead. Ground mace might work well here too. Or omit it

Cardamom

green, black, or white cardamom works. Or, substitute nutmeg, anise, ground star anise, OR dried + ground spicebush berries instead. Ground mace might work well here too. Or omit it

Sea salt

any variety of sea salt works, such pink Himalayan sea salt, fine Celtic sea salt, iodized sea salt, or even fine-grind alaea sea salt (Hawaiian red sea salt). Instead of sea salt, try table salt, iodized or regular. If you must, you may omit the salt

Maple sugar

the maple sugar is used for rolling the final cookies for baking and is perfectly optional. Instead, you can use coconut sugar. If you can have refined sugar, you may roll the cookies in turbinado, demerara, sucanat, panela, or muscovado, instead. Or if highly refined sugar is ok, you may roll these cookies in cane sugar or brown sugar (ideally mix the brown sugar with a little white sugar or cinnamon so it doesn't clump and to reduce the risk of it melting during baking)

I'm back at the markets + more recipes coming soon + stay tuned for my newsletter!

I'm back at the local farmers markets again! For the folks who stopped by my stand at Hopewell Farmers Market yesterday, thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you again this weekend! Locals, you can preorder your favorites for this next market weekend on the SHOP page of the website and you can also order cakes for local delivery! For the menus for the markets this upcoming weekend, see the MENU page of the website.

More recipes are coming soon, as always, and keep your eyes peeled for The Fruity Newsletter!

Enjoy,

-K. 🍁