Vegan Grain-Free Gingerbread Cakes (Oil-free)

Nourishing gingerbread, made with ease in a muffin tin! These moist and satisfying vegan grain-free gingerbread cakes are also oil-free, gluten-free (made with chickpea flour).

It’s been a tumultuous week, full of highs and lows, victories and defeats. But one thing is clear: to move forward, we must unite.

My modest proposal: make (and share) some gingerbread.

I am 100% serious. I have yet to meet someone who is averse to gingerbread, so what better way to make nice, as well as make civilized conversation, than with a batch (or two) of moist, tender gingerbread cakes. Don’t forget to brew a pot of strong tea, for good measure.

Recipe Benefits

These particular cakes can be savored by almost everyone on your list. Specifically, they are:

• Grain-free
• Gluten-free
• Vegan (no eggs, no dairy)
• Oil-free
• Fast & straightforward to make

Ingredients for Grain-Free Vegan Gingerbread

The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post.Toggle betweenUS Customary(volume) andMetric(weights) for preferred measurement option.

• Chickpea flour (it can also be labeled as garbanzo bean flour, besan, or gram flour)
• Flaxseed meal (finely ground flax seeds)
• Coconut Sugar
• Baking soda
• Ground spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)
• Molasses (you can sub maple syrup)
• Vinegar (apple cider vinegar, or any other light colored vinegar; or lemon juice)
• Non-dairy milk
• Water

The combination of chickpea flour and flaxseed meal produces min cakes that are tender and moist with a delicate crumb. The flaxseed provides natural, nourishing fats, without adding oil, keeping the gingerbread moist and tender.

Additionally, I’ve kept the sweetener–coconut sugar and molasses– to a minimum, just enough to taste indulgent while keeping these in the dual categories of snack and dessert.

Be Generous with the Spices

A timidly-spiced gingerbread is a teatime tragedy, so I’ve erred on the side of robust flavor for these cakes (warning: you may swoon as these bake). Talk about healing powers, too: while the cakes work by soothing strained relationships and conversations, the spices have notable palliative properties for whatever else is ailing you this November. For example:

Ginger: Contains the powerful antioxidantgingerol, which, among many functions, eases nausea (umm, yes please, need that…), boosts immunity, and reduces inflammation.

Cinnamon: Contains powerful antioxidants that improve dental health, boost brain function, and may alsoprotect against cancer, diabetes and inflammation

Cloves: Cloves can aid in digestion, boost immune system and liver functions, and may protect the body against cancer, diabetes, headaches and oral diseases.

Nutmeg: another antioxidant powerhouse, nutmeg can help to soothe indigestion, releive pain, strengthen cognitive function, detoxify the body, boost skin health, reduce insomnia, and much more.

Here’s to good health and harmony, in ways big and small.

• Straightforward Vegan Oat Gingerbread {oil-free, gluten-free, flourless}
• Gingerbread Chickpea Flour Muffins {Grain-free & Vegan}
• Vegan Gingerbread Chickpea Blondies {oil-free, flourless, grain-free}
• Coconut Flour Gingerbread Blondies {Vegan, Grain-Free}
• Almond Flour Gingerbread Cookies {Vegan, Oil-Free & Grain-Free}