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    Recipes » Recipes » Baking & Desserts

    Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Bars

    Last updated - July 29, 2021; Published - December 23, 2019 By Rhian Williams 6 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Three gingerbread cookie bars with frosting and dried cranberries with a bite taken out of one

    These Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Bars are soft and chewy, fragrantly spiced and covered in a rich "cream cheese" frosting! They're easy to make, come together in one bowl, the dough doesn't require chilling, and are refined sugar free too. They're perfect for Christmas and make an excellent (and easier) alternative to Gingerbread Cookies.

    Three gluten-free vegan gingerbread cookie bars with frosting and dried cranberries with a bite taken out of one

    How to make the cookie bars

    Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

    • Mix together the ingredients for the cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.
    Raw gluten-free vegan gingerbread cookie bars dough in a bowl
    • Transfer the cookie dough into a one-pound loaf tin.

    Tip: Make sure to line the loaf tin with greased baking paper - this will make removing the cookie bars from the tin so much easier!

    • Use your fingers to push the mixture all the way to the edges, then use a spatula to press down on it until the surface is completely even.
    Raw gluten-free vegan gingerbread cookie bars dough in a loaf tin lined with baking paper
    • Bake in the oven for 10 minutes - don’t worry if it’s quite soft when you take it out as it will firm up as it cools.
    • Leave to cool completely before applying the frosting.
    Baked gluten-free vegan gingerbread cookie bars in a loaf tin lined with baking paper

    How to make the frosting

    • Place the ingredients for the frosting in a food processor or blender.
    Cashews, lemon juice and maple syrup in a food processor
    • Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
    • Taste and add extra lemon juice and/or maple syrup if necessary.
    Vegan cream cheese frosting in a food processor
    • Use a knife (or palette knife for frosting) to spread the frosting over the top of the cookie bars.
    Vegan cream cheese frosting spread over gluten-free vegan gingerbread cookie bars in a loaf tin

    How to decorate

    I like to decorate these Cookie Bars with chopped dried cranberries, which add festive colour as well as a nice tart-sweet flavour, but you can use anything you want! Chopped pistachios work well too!

    How long do these keep for?

    They do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

    Substitutions you can make

    • You can replace the date syrup with any other liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup or brown rice syrup.
    • You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground walnuts or ground sunflower seeds.
    • You can replace the gluten-free flour with rice flour.
    • You can use plain flour if you don't need them to be gluten-free.

    More vegan Christmas recipes

    • Strawberry Trifle
    • Gingerbread Cake
    • Wellington
    • Yule Log
    • Christmas Pudding
    • Gingerbread Loaf Cake
    • Sugar Cookies
    • Gingerbread Cookies
    • Christmas Burger
    • Peppermint Brownies

    If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

    Three gluten-free vegan gingerbread cookie bars with frosting and dried cranberries with a bite taken out of one

    Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Bars

    These Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Bars are soft and chewy, fragrantly spiced and covered in a rich "cream cheese" frosting! They're perfect for Christmas and make an excellent (and easier) alternative to Gingerbread Cookies.
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: gingerbread cookie bars, gluten-free gingerbread cookies, vegan gingerbread cookies
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 40 minutes
    Servings: 8 cookie bars
    Calories: 275kcal
    Author: Rhian Williams

    Ingredients

    • 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil  (or sub coconut butter)
    • 7 tablespoons date syrup  (or sub maple syrup or any other similar sweetener)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 75 g (⅔ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
    • 75 g (⅔ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain flour if not gluten-free)
    • 1.5 teaspoons ground ginger **
    • 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or a mixture of ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon)

    For the frosting:

    • 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
    • 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
    • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

    To decorate (optional):

    • Dried cranberries , roughly chopped

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
    • Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
    • Add the date syrup and vanilla and mix well.
    • Measure out the dry ingredients (ground almonds, gluten-free flour, ginger, mixed spice) and mix well.
    • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well - add a splash of any type of plant-based milk if it's too dry to combine at this stage.
    • Transfer the mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper – I used a one-pound loaf tin.
    • Use your fingers to push the mixture all the way to the edges, then use a spatula to press down on it until the surface is completely even.
    • Bake in oven for around 10 minutes until lightly browned at the edges - don’t worry if it’s quite soft when you take it out as it will firm up as it cools.
    • Leave to cool completely before applying the frosting.

    For the frosting:

    • Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice.
    • Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.

    To frost and decorate:

    • Use a knife (or palette knife) to spread frosting over the top of the cookie bars.
    • Decorate with chopped dried cranberries, if desired.
    • Cut into squares.
    • Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

    Notes

    *You can alternatively use almond flour.
    **These gingerbread cookie bars do end up being quite gingery, so if making this for children or for people who don't like ginger, you might want to use a little less than the amount listed in the recipe.
    Nutrition Facts
    Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Bars
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 275 Calories from Fat 126
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 14g22%
    Saturated Fat 5g25%
    Sodium 5mg0%
    Potassium 166mg5%
    Carbohydrates 35g12%
    Fiber 2g8%
    Sugar 21g23%
    Protein 5g10%
    Vitamin C 2mg2%
    Calcium 67mg7%
    Iron 2mg11%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

    Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

    More Baking & Dessert Recipes

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    • 35 Vegan Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes (Gluten-Free)
    • Vegan Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake (Gluten-Free)
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    Comments

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Kifaya

      December 25, 2019 at 2:26 am

      Hi dear ..i realy enjoy your recipes
      Thanks a lots
      My regards
      Kifaya

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        December 25, 2019 at 12:28 pm

        Thank you so much!

    2. Floranet

      December 26, 2019 at 10:14 am

      5 stars
      Brilliant Concept!! Keep up the Good Work!!

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        December 26, 2019 at 10:20 am

        Thank you so much!

    3. June

      January 20, 2022 at 12:54 am

      5 stars
      Rjian, I made these today and they are delicious! Love the date syrup!

      Thank you for sharing such a simple, but delicious recipe.

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        January 20, 2022 at 9:49 am

        Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!

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    Photo of Rhian Williams from Rhian's Recipes

    Hi, I'm Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

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