McGonagall's Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies

Minerva McGonagall is known for a great many things: her Transfiguration prowess, her no-nonsense attitude, and her always chic tartan ensembles, just to name a few. 

The Scottish Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts is also famous for giving literally zero Snitches when Dolores Umbridge paraded around the castle, attempting to squash her, her students, and the other professors into submission. 

Case in point? 

When Harry is kicked out of Umbridge’s classroom after a heated is-You-Know-Who-back-or-isn’t-he debate with the wicked woman herself, McGonagall asks him: “Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge? Called her a liar? Told her He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back?”

Upon Harry’s confirmation, she replied with the now iconic, “Have a biscuit Potter,” and offered him a ginger newt biscuit from a tartan tin on her desk. 

​We could hardly think of a better wizarding world treat to veganize for the holiday season!
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Warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger are staples in the winter (as are sweet snacks like cookies!). These cookies combine the best of what the season has to offer. 

Bake up a batch to savor by your common room fire or a double batch for gifting to all of your friends and loved ones. With this simple, pantry-friendly recipe, you don’t need to have Molly Weasley or Helga Hufflepuff’s cooking magic to make these sharable sweets. 

If you want to be as book accurate as possible, see if you can find any newt or lizard-shaped cookie cutters. Or you could tap into your inner Ravenclaw and take a more creative approach! 

In honor of McGonagall’s Animagus form, we used cat-shaped cookie cutters to make ginger cat cookies! And while these biscuits are most associated with McGonagall, you could also use other characters as inspiration. 

We’re thinking of some unicorn and star shapes (inspired by Luna Lovegood’s signature skirt pattern), lightning bolts, owls, or dragons!

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A Note on Decorations:

While convenient, there are some ethical and safety concerns with premade decorating gels and icings. They can contain insect-derived ingredients and chemicals that have been tested on animals like dogs, mice, and rats. For that reason, we’re using a simple turbinado sugar (or raw sugar, sold in the US under the name Sugar in the Raw) and a cinnamon mixture to bring some sparkle to the cookies. You could also use dairy-free chocolate chips, vegan sprinkles, or handmade icing made from powdered sugar and non-dairy milk (or lemon juice).  

Alright, let’s get to it! (And keep an eye out for tips from the Half-Plant Prince!)

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Cookie Ingredients

Dry 

• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour (or 1-to-1 gluten-free flour)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or ground cloves)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of sea salt 

Wet 

• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax with 2 ½ tablespoons water, set aside to “gel” together for 5 - 10 minutes) 
• ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar 
• 12 tablespoons of vegan buttery sticks (like Earth Balance), cubed at room temperature
• ⅓ cup light molasses (not blackstrap)
• ⅓ cup Lyle’s golden syrup (or light treacle)
• ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract 

Separate Topping

• 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar with a pinch of cinnamon​

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Baking Instructions 

1. Cut the 12 tablespoons (¾ cup) of vegan buttery sticks into small cubes and put them on a small plate or in a little bowl, set aside.

• (Notes from the HPP: This will help your butter quickly get to room temperature as you measure out your ingredients. Do not use “tub” vegan butter; it’ll make your cookies greasy and flat.) 

2. Measure out flour into a large bowl. Using a fork or a whisk, mix in the ground spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice (or cloves), baking soda, and salt. 

• (Notes from the HPP: Adjust spices according to your taste preferences. If you’re after a hot, spicy cookie, you can use as much as a full tablespoon of ground ginger.) 

3. In a small cup, mix ground flaxseed and water. Set aside to “gel” for 5 to 10 minutes.

4. In a second large bowl, add brown sugar and room temperature cubed butter. Using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer, beat together until creamy and fluffed. 

5. Using a rubber spatula, scrape around the bowl, making sure the beaten butter and sugar are thoroughly combined. 

6. Add flax egg, golden syrup, molasses, and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mix, and using a handheld or stand mixer, beat together at medium speed until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to make sure it’s all combined. 

7. Gradually add flour-spices mixture into the sugar-butter mix at low speed. Make sure to pause often to scrape the mix, making sure no large flour patches remain. 

8. Once the dough appears thick and sandy, divide it into two portions using your hands. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour. 

9. After an hour, remove from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. 

10. Preheat the oven to 350 (or 340 if using high heat gas-cooking ovens). Line baking trays with oven-safe parchment paper. 

11. Spread flour on a clean surface and lightly flour a rolling pin. 

12. Roll out the dough onto the floured surface until it’s about 1/4 inch thick, cut with cookie shapes of choice, and gently move them onto a parchment paper-lined baking tray. For tips, check out this guide. 

• (Notes from the HPP: Try to cut as many shapes out from the dough as possible before rerolling the scraps. Every time you re-roll the dough, it gets more floury and more prone to breaking.) 

13. Sprinkle cookies with the turbinado sugar-cinnamon mixture (or vegan sprinkles or non-dairy chocolate chips) before putting them in the oven.

14. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes; check cookies at 8 minutes to ensure they don’t burn. The cookies will be soft and puffy on the tray with some “bounce” when you gently poke them. You can also use a knife to gently lift the bottom edge to see if they’re firm. 

15. Let cookies cool on the tray for 5 minutes. You’ll notice they firm up quickly. Gently shift them to a cooling rack to let them cool fully. 

16. If decorating the cookies with handmade icing, wait until they’re completely cooled. 

17. Store cookies in a tight container or tin for up to five days (if they last that long!)

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​If you bake up a batch of these McGonagall-approved gingerbread cut-out cookies, be sure to tag us on social! We’d LOVE to see your yummy creations.




Written by Victoria Tomis.

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