By: Julia Sikorski Roehsne
With the month of December comes the many winter holidays, and with the holidays comes baking—cakes, pies, breads, and cookies. Especially cookies.
Some of the most commonly consumed are sugar cookies, gingerbread, peanut butter blossoms, and jam thumbprint cookies. These are all well and good, but sometimes there might be a desire to try something new.
Therefore, I present a vegan, gluten-free twist on the classics: gingerbread snickerdoodle sandwich cookies. This recipe yields 24 cookies, or 12 sandwiches.
Gingerdoodle ingredients
- – 3⁄4 cup (1 1⁄2 sticks) vegan butter
- – 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
- – 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
- – 1 tsp vanilla extract
- – 1⁄4 cup molasses
- – 1⁄4 cup applesauce
- – 2 1⁄4 cups almond flour
- – 1 tsp baking soda
- – 2 tsp baking powder
- – 2 tsp ground ginger
- – 1 1⁄2 tsp cream of tartar
- – 1 tsp cinnamon
- – 1⁄2 tsp ground cloves
- – 1⁄2 tsp salt
Gingerdoodle sugar coating ingredients
- – 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
- – 1 tsp cinnamon
Buttercream frosting ingredients
- – 1⁄2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter
- – 2 cups powdered sugar
- – 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
- – 2 tbsp almond milk
- – 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon
Start by making the dough for the gingerdoodle cookies. To begin, mix the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until the ingredients are fully combined. The butter should be soft, either at room temperature or partially melted. You can use an electric mixer or stir the ingredients by hand.
Next, add the vanilla extract, molasses, and applesauce to the same mixing bowl. These should also be electrically or manually stirred until fully combined.
In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients—almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground ginger, cream of tartar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt.
Stir the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients until fully combined. This is your gingerdoodle dough.
Cover the mixing bowl containing the dough tightly with plastic wrap or some other form of secure covering and place it in the refrigerator. The dough will need to chill for at least 30 minutes, so in the meantime, prepare the sugar coating for the cookies.
Mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Stir the two until they’re combined. Depending on exactly how much dough you have, or how many cookies you plan to bake, the amounts of sugar and cinnamon can be adjusted.
As you prepare the sugar coating, preheat the oven to 350°F. As well, line a large baking sheet (or sheets) with parchment paper, making sure that there isn’t excess paper hanging over the edges.
After the 30 minutes have passed, remove the dough from the fridge. Shape it into balls of 1 to 2 tbsp, or however large you would like the cookies to be; be aware that they can spread a great deal when baked.
Roll each dough ball thoroughly in the sugar coating mixture before placing them on the baking sheet a minimum of 2 inches apart.
When the oven is preheated, place the baking sheet with dough balls in. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until the cookies are fully cooked. I would advise checking on them several minutes before you think they will be done.
While the cookies bake, or when you have a spare moment, prepare the buttercream frosting. Soften the butter without melting it completely and add it to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, slowly beat the butter on low until it’s fluffy.
Add in roughly half of the powdered sugar and continue mixing on low until combined. Add in the vanilla extract, almond milk, and cinnamon, followed by the remaining half of the powdered sugar. Continue mixing on low until all the ingredients are combined. You can add additional small amounts of almond milk or powdered sugar until the frosting reaches your preferred consistency.
Remove the cookies from the oven when they have finished baking. You’ll want to allow them to cool completely on the sheet before handling to avoid breaking them.
Once the cookies have cooled, spread the buttercream frosting on half of them at your desired level of thickness. Place the remaining unfrosted cookies on top of the frosted ones to form sandwiches. An example image is shown to the side.
Though best enjoyed fresh, these gingerdoodle sandwiches can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks. If there is leftover dough or frosting, both can be stored in the freezer for about 3 months.
Happy baking! Recipe adapted from:
