Vegan gingerbread cream cheese thumbprint cookies have a soft and chewy gingerbread cookie base, and a swirl of sweet, tangy cream cheese frosting in the center. They’re made with 9 healthy ingredients and naturally sweet, they’re a must for your Christmas baking.
Hope you guys all had an amazing, relaxing, satisfying thanksgiving! Ours looked a little different this year since we aren’t doing any holiday travel or hosting any family because I’m pregnant + covid, but honestly, it was so, so wonderful. I’m really savoring quality time with Joe, just the two of us, now more than ever knowing that things are about to change in some exciting, but huge ways.
But anyway, now that thanksgiving is over…IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!
Truly, the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s no secret that I love Christmas with every fiber of my being and I’ve had Christmas music going (and my house decorated) since November 1st. So obviously, I’m SO excited to start sharing some fun Christmas sweets with you guys, starting with these vegan gingerbread cream cheese thumbprint cookies!
Gingerbread is my favorite Christmas flavor, so we’re re-inventing the classic jam thumbprint with a rich, spiced cookie, and sweet, tangy cream cheese frosting in the center. SO GOOD, and the best way to start all the Christmas cookie goodness.
Ingredients for vegan gingerbread cream cheese thumbprint cookies
- Almond flour: almond flour keeps the cookies really soft and gives a great chewy texture.
- Date sugar: date sugar is simply dried dates that have been ground up, and it gives the cookies natural sweetness all from fruit.
- Pumpkin pie spice + ground ginger: this mix of warm spices really brings out the gingerbread flavor.
- Molasses: molasses gives the cookies rich, gingerbread flavor.
- Applesauce: unsweetened applesauce helps the cookies maintain a soft, moist texture.
- Raw cashews: you’ll soak the cashews in water for a few hours (or overnight), which helps them blend to an ultra lush and creamy texture in the frosting center.
- Nondairy milk: a bit of milk helps the frosting blend together.
- Apple cider vinegar: vinegar sounds strange, but gives the cream cheese frosting that little bit of tang that’s so perfect with all the other spice and sweetness going on.
- Date sugar: date sugar gives the frosting a bit of sweetness, totally from fruit. You could also use stevia or coconut sugar, though I have only made this recipe with date sugar.
Tips for making vegan gingerbread cream cheese thumbprint cookies
- Mix the dry ingredients first. Depending on the almond flour and date sugar you use, there may be lumps to work out with a fork before mixing in the other ingredients to make sure everything in the cookie dough is incorporated.
- Make an indentation in the center before baking. After rolling the dough and pressing it out on the sheet, you’ll use your thumb to carefully make a little indentation in the center. This is where you’ll put the cream cheese frosting when the cookies are done baking.
- Let the cookies cool completely. Make sure to let the cookies cool completely before adding the cream cheese frosting center, so that it doesn’t melt right into the cookies.
These vegan gingerbread cream cheese thumbprint cookies are perfectly sweet + spiced, and that cream cheese center is such a great pair with the chewy cookie. It’s just a plus that they’re so simple to make with a few wholesome ingredients!
Xo,
Sara
Vegan Gingerbread Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
Gingerbread cookies
- 2 cups almond flour
- 3/4 cup date sugar
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Cream cheese frosting
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours or overnight
- 1/3 cup nondairy milk – I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp date sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, date sugar, pumpkin pie spice and ground ginger. Use a fork to break up any lumps in the almond flour or date sugar before measuring.
- Add the molasses and applesauce and stir to combine into a thick dough.
- Measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per cookie, roll it into a ball and set it on the sheet. Repeat for all 12 cookies. There may be a bit of extra dough leftover, which you can just spread evenly between the cookies on the sheet, then press them down into a cookie shape on the baking sheet. Repeat for all 12 cookies.
- Once all the cookies are on the baking sheet, use your thumb to gently make an indentation in the center of each cookie – this is where the cream cheese frosting will go when they're done baking.
- Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, then let them cool on the sheet for at least 30 minutes before adding the frosting.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, add the soaked cashews, nondairy milk, vinegar, and date sugar to the food processor and blend until smooth. You'll need to stop it once to scrape down the sides and make sure everything gets incorporated.
- Once the cookies have cooled, use a piping bag to swirl some frosting into the center of each cookie. If you don't have a piping bag, a spoon works just fine too!
- Store in a tupperware in the refrigerator. Due to the moisture and natural oil in the cookies, they will soften a bit when stored.
