Frosted, festive, and Christmas delicious without the cookie cutters, these EASY vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookie bars will be a new holiday tradition!
I love a good roll em’ out, cookie cutters galore, bake into holiday shapes, and pipe with a gajillion different colors of frosting cookie moment. But that’s a whole day’s affair that usually calls for a nap and a whole cleaning crew after, and we don’t always have the time or mental space for that in the middle of the December rush. Enter: the cookie BAR! No cookie cutters, no baking in multiple batches, no flour covering the counters, no piping bags needed. But we do still get the holiday FLAVOR and heaps of sweet FROSTING and as many festive SPRINKLES as your heart desires on top. So if that’s not a Christmas win I don’t know what is.
Baking The Best Vegan Gluten-Free Christmas Cookie Bars
Of course I wanted these bars to be delicious, but I also wanted them to be vegan and gluten-free and healthyish for the holidays (but no one needs to know about those last 3!) I brought the leftovers to a party over the weekend, and not a single person guessed they were vegan/healthy so mission accomplished. The ingredients we are using are:
Coconut sugar. Or brown sugar will be fine.
Coconut oil. Or melted dairy-free butter if you prefer.
Almond butter. I think the flavor pairs really well with Gingerbread, but tahini or SunButter would also be delicious. Or any nut/seed butter you like.
Molasses. An absolute essential in any recipe titled “gingerbread”
Flax egg. Or a real egg if you prefer.
Vanilla extract.
Almond flour. The perfect super moist flour for creating a chewy rich cookie texture.
Coconut flour. Just a little bit compliments the almond flour and makes for a better crumb and not overly moist texture.
The spices. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice.
Salt and baking powder.
The Fluffy Dairy-Free “Butter Cream” Frosting
This is one of those tastes-like-butter-cream-but-actually-no-butter-or-cream type of frostings, and it is so fluffy and rich and a delicious creamy compliment to the gingerbread bars underneath. The base is a combination of raw cashews and coconut cream, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and flavor with a touch of vanilla. It’s dreamy, it’s easy to make, but it does need to chill in order to thicken and set so I recommend making it the day before if possible.
Frosted, festive, and Christmas delicious without the cookie cutters, these EASY vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookie bars will be a new holiday tradition!
Gingerbread Cookie Bars
1/3 cup (50g) coconut sugar
1/4 cup (50g) coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup (125g) almond butter (or nut/seed butter of choice)
1/4 cup (80g) molasses
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp warm water)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups (140g) almond flour
1/4 cup (30g) coconut flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each allspice, nutmeg, and cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Frosting
1 1/2 cup (180g) raw cashews, soaked overnight
1 cup (240g) coconut cream (refrigerated overnight so you can scoop out just the solid cream)
1/4 cup (80g) maple syrup or agave
2 tbsp (25g) coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkles for topping
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8 x 8″ square pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the coconut sugar, coconut oil, almond butter, molasses, prepared flax egg, and vanilla.
Add in the flours, spices, baking powder, and salt. Mix to form a thick cookie dough.
Press into the prepared pan, and bake for 22-24 minutes until just browned around the edges.
Cool completely before frosting.
Drain and rinse the soaked cashews.
Blend all the frosting ingredients until very smooth and creamy.
Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to thicken.
Frost the cooled cookie bars, and top with sprinkles. If the frosting has softened too much, chill again for 1 hour before slicing. Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.
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