These chewy vegan ginger cookies are made with almond flour making them suitable for anyone with coeliac disease or following a gluten free diet, GAPS or SCD diet. They are also sweetened with maple syrup or rice syrup for a refined sugar free treat.
Cookies are a much needed part of my life but on a grain, starch, refined sugar and dairy free diet you might think biscuits would be a no no.
Thankfully my creative side always kicks in when facing dietary restrictions meaning that nobody has to miss out.
These babies are based on my ever popular ginger biscuit recipe. That one uses coconut flour but this time I wanted to make something with almond flour.
Just four ingredients (plus the sesame seeds) are needed for this recipe and it takes a matter of minutes to put together.
The quantities are purposefully small…to prevent me eating too many in one go but also because they are a soft cookie and will get softer in storage.
I haven’t yet tried it, but I believe that if you are vegan and replace the honey with maple syrup or rice syrup (for lower fructose) you will end up with a crisper cookie. The honey is hygroscopic meaning it attracts moisture from the air making the cookies soft.
I use a whole tablespoon of ground ginger when I make these. If you are not partial to a spicy ginger biscuit then cut that amount down to around a teaspoon. However, ginger has medicinal properties and has been used as a natural anti-inflammatory, travel sickness and tummy soother throughout the ages. When I was pregnant with Roo I ate a lot of ginger in the hopes of calming my morning sickness!
The almonds provide a source of protein, fibre, magnesium and vitamin E; the sesame seeds provide a source of calcium, copper and manganese to name a few their beneficial properties and coconut oil is now thought to have numerous health benefits including reducing ‘bad’ cholesterol, helping with the affects of Alzheimer’s and reducing inflammation.
All in all you couldn’t get a more ‘worthy’ biscuit.
They are low in sugar but there is a tablespoonful of honey per 6 biscuits so I wouldn’t suggest you scoff more than a couple at a time (although I confess to eating all six when I first created them). Honey may not be refined sugar but it is still sugar none-the-less!
Do let me know what you think if you make them.
Pin the recipe for vegan ginger cookies so you don’t lose it.
Chewy Vegan Ginger Cookies (Grain-Free, Refined Sugar-Free)
Ingredients
- 40 g ground almonds
- 20 g coconut oil - I use Coconut Merchant – you can double this for a thinner, larger biscuit (like a ginger snap but without the snap)
- 1 tbsp ground ginger - less if you want them less ‘fiery’
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds - optional
- 15 g Maple syrup - (or rice syrup or runny honey – if not vegan)
- A few drops of almond extract - optional
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and squash the coconut oil and liquid sweetener into the dry ingredients until you have a dough
- Divide the dough into 6, roll each piece into a ball and place on a lined baking tray
- Flatten the dough to make a circle around 3cm in diameter
- Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees/160 degree fan/gas mark 4 for 8 – 10 minutes until golden
- Cool on the tray
Nutrition (Approx)
I’ve shared this recipe with:
Karen says
These are delicious! Love them! So easy to make and smell divine when baking.
Vicki Montague says
Hi Karen, I’m so pleased you like the recipe. They are rather irresistible aren’t they?
Linda Browne says
Could these be made with erythritol as I don’t use normal sugar?
Vicki Montague says
Hi Linda, you could certainly try. Do let me know how you get on!
Michele says
Absolutely delicious….and healthy…..and took me minutes to make. Thanks for sharing!!!
Vicki Montague says
I’m so glad you liked them! I like how quick they are to make…I like it less that I can’t resist eating the whole lot in one go!
Kate - glutenfreealchemist says
These look so delicious and perfectly golden Vicki. They sound amazing and I LOVE the photos!
Vicki Montague says
Thanks so much Kate x
Amy Barron says
Made these to go with some baked plums and ice cream for pudding … utterly scrummy, the ginger bite sized cookies were the perfect thing to add a bit of crispiness to the cooked fruit dessert. Another delicious recipe – and a thumbs up from all – thanks Vicki!
Vicki Montague says
Hi Amy! Lovely to hear from you and I’m glad the recipe didn’t disappoint. I can’t get enough of these at the moment. I bet they were great with baked plums and ice cream. What a fab combo!
Mel says
These cookies look yummy (sorry if I sound surprised, ha ha!). I would definitely not add the almond extract. Although I love the taste of ground almonds, I’m never sure about almond extract. Honey, yummy! Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
Vicki Montague says
I think even you would approve of these ;)! Make them, make them! The kids will love them!
Chloe says
Hi, I love ginger biscuits but these are much healthier option that I shall be trying. Thanks for sharing, Chloe #FreeFromFridays
Vicki Montague says
I know you’ll love them…and no need to feel guilty about eating them!
Rebecca (Glutarama) says
Honestly, it’s like a really interesting science lesson reading your posts sometimes! Your so knowledgeable I’m in awe! Honey is not my favourite flavour so I’ll try this with maple and report back…I’ve plenty of your flour in stock so going to getting on with a fee of your bakes this coming week…no excuses!
Vicki Montague says
Hi Rebecca, I look forward to hearing how you get on on all fronts! I have to say you can’t taste the honey…it is such a small amount and the ginger predominates…but maple syrup will be awesome too…in fact one of my readers has already made them that way to make them low FODMAP!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Well I’m always a fan of sesame and ginger!
Vicki Montague says
So good!