Christmas & Cookies seem inseparable as it should be as far as I am concerned!
It was such fun to bake these healthy vegan Christmas cookies with my youngest kid! It is always a challenge to make something tasty but healthy at the same time so we can enjoy it without too much guilt over the holidays. This time I have 3 different cookies recipes for you to try to, one spelt based, one made of gluten free oats and one classic but raw Linzer cookie, my favorite!
Ingredients for the classic Christmas Cookies,
- 1 and 1/2 cup of spelt flour, this recipe will also work with a gluten free flour blend for baking
- 1/4 cup auqafaba, or the cooking water which we usually throw away when opening a jar of cooked chickpeas. This liquid works incredible well and can replace eggs i some recipes. Just turn the jar upside down in a sieve and let it drip in a bowl. 1 pot is usually about 1/2 cup of liquid of which the taste totally disappears after baking.
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup or liquid sweetener of your choice
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp. vanilla powder
I beat the aquafaba or chickpea water and the cream of tartar with a hand mixer until fluffy. 3 Tbsp. of unbeaten chickpea liquid equals 1 egg. Strange right?! This is what is looks like after a few minutes.
Add the rice or maple syrup to the fluffy foam, beat it a bit longer and add in the melted coconut oil. It will be less airy but that is okay. Mix the flour, vanilla and baking powder and shake it through a sieve to make it lump free and lighter.
A kneed-able dough should be formed which can be rolled out between two layers of grease proof paper. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes in the fridge to make it easier to handle before rolling out. Cut out the shapes, roll the remaining dough out once again, cut and repeat until all of the dough is used up. Bake in a preheated oven on 400F until golden, about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookies.
I decorated the half with a layer of white chocolate made of 2 Tbsp. melted cacao butter, 1 tsp. rice syrup and a drop of stevia. I sprinkled the cookies with chopped nuts, coconut, poppy seeds, cacao nibs etc….
Pink chocolate … berry powder
Green chocolate … spirulina powder, just a tiny bit is enough to add color
Linzer Cokies with Apricot Jam
These wonderful cookies are unbaked but you could finish them in the oven if you prefer. I placed mine in the dehydrator to make them crunchy.
Ingredients,
- 1 and 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour plus extra for dusting
- 1/4 cup finely chopped almonds ( food processor )
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup or maple syrup
- 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- pinch of salt
- spoon of water if needed
Apricot Jam, homemade or bought, sugar free
- 1/2 cup dried, un-sulfured sugar free organic apricots, soaked in warm water
- 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla powder
- Add all the ingredients for the cookies to a food processor and pulse it until it starts to form a dough like consistency.
- Roll out between two grease proof layers and cut out the ( linzer ) cookie shapes, one whole and one with a whole.
- Place it in the dehydrator on 110F for about 10 to 12 hours until crunchy.
- These also would work in a regular oven, I have not tried it yet but looking at the ingredients I think it would go well. Let the cookies cool before adding the jam. You can lightly dust the top cookies with powdered sugar before assembling it.
The “jam” is made of soaked and blended dried apricots and a tbsp of water. It should be thick but spreadable. After the 10 hours the jam can be spread between the two layers and it can be placed back in the dehydrator for about an hour or two to make the layers stick together.
and number three,
Thumbprint Oatmeal Cookies,
one more classic updated, gluten and sugar free, plant based.
- 3/4 cup of gluten free oatmeal flour ( or blended oatmeal )
- 1/2 cup fine oatmeal, gluten free
- 1/4 cup of brown rice or maple syrup
- 1 tsp cream of tartar or an aluminium free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 3 to 4 Tbsp. almond milk
- 4 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla powder
- pinch of salt
- a few drops of stevia for a sweeter cookie
The raspberry jam made of 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed and blended with 1 Tbsp. chia seeds, 1 Tbsp. brown rice or maple syrup and let it thicken for 30 minutes. You can also use a sugar free jam of your choice.
Mix the dry ingredients and add the mixed wet ingredients to it, mix until a dough starts to form. Roll 1 inch balls and make a thumbprint with a wet thumb in the middle of each ball. Put the cookies on a baking sheet and add a spoonful of jam in the whole.
The cookies can be baked in a preheated oven on 400F for about 15 to 18 minutes until golden.
Have fun baking and let me know how it turned out!
If after all the sweets you are in for some salty flavors check out the recipes to make my Plant Based Nut Cheese Platter, delicious party food.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday filled with love, fun and good food.
Tina x
ps. If you want to save these recipes you can pin the picture below to your Pinterest board,
