Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used this brand)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup almond butter
- 1/2 cup organic brown sugar (or sub coconut sugar)
- 1/2 cup organic unsulphured molasses
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp of ground flax seed plus 6 tbsp of water; allow to sit for at least 5 minutes to gel)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp vegan butter, room temperature
- organic cane sugar, to coat
Chocolate-Orange Ganache
- 8 oz vegan dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 3 tsp brown rice syrup
- 4 tsp non-dairy creamer
- 2 tbsp orange zest, plus more to top
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking power, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and sea salt). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, almond butter, flax eggs, molasses, vanilla and brown sugar together. (Use the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.)
- Add the dry ingredients and gently mixed until well combined and dough begins to form.
- Fill a small bowl with organic cane sugar. Scoop out about 1 tbsp of dough (you may wish to use a cookie scoop or melon baller to aid with this) and roll it gently in your hands until the dough is a round ball. Lightly roll the dough ball around in the sugar to coat. Add the sugar-coated, cookie dough ball to your baking sheet.
- Continuing scooping and rolling the dough, dusting with sugar and adding the cookie dough balls to your baking sheet; spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart. (You will likely need more than one baking sheet for this.)
- Using your thumb, the back of a teaspoon, the end of a wood spoon or the tip of the cap from your vanilla extract bottle, indent the cookies half-way down to create a “thumbprint.”
- Place the thumbprint cookie lined baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes before baking (this step helps the cookies maintain their shape).
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until the edges are set and the cookies are puffy.
- Remove the gingerbread thumbprints from the oven and re-indent the cookies in the center. (Do not burn your thumb! I recommend using the back of a tsp, etc., for this step.) Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wiring cooling rack.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the chocolate-orange ganache.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate, butter and brown rice syrup together stirring frequently. Once the chocolate is melted (this should take just a few minutes), swirl in the orange zest and non-dairy creamer.
- Let the ganache cool for 5 minutes and spoon or pipe (using a piping bag) the ganache into the thumbprints.
- Garnish each thumbprint with a sprinkle of orange zest and let the cookies set for a bit before serving.
- Store the cookies (if there are any left!) in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
The ganache will thicken as it cools. If the ganache ever becomes too thick to pipe, gently warm it back up in a saucepan or a microwave. If you’d prefer to pipe the ganache but don’t have a piping bag handy, you may wish to use a large zip-top bag; snipping a small hole in one corner.
Last, here’s a helpful list of vegan sugar options in case you were wondering!
Caitlin
Gorgeous! I’m sure these pretty cookies were gobbled up in seconds!
Shannon
Thank you oh-so-much, Caitlin! I’ve been joking that it’s cookie-palooza at my house because we’ve been feasting on these treats non-stop!
Jen | My Healthy Homemade Life
These look so beautiful! Can’t wait to give these a try. I love the Bob’s 1 to 1 flour for baking too! It’s a game changer!
Shannon
Thank you, Jen!! I completely agree. Bob’s 1 to 1 flour is the BEST! Enjoy cookie time in the kitchen!