I have been wanting to share this vegan gingerbread cookie recipe with you for the longest time, but I didn't have pictures! Ever since I shared this vegan tahini cookie recipe on the blog (which has quickly become my most viewed and most baked recipe on the blog!), I wanted to experiment with something similar for Christmas.
This Vegan Gingerbread Tahini Cookie is pretty much based off the original cookie recipe with a touch of extra coconut sugar and an abundance of gingerbread spices. The secret though is the consistency of tahini. While the original recipe is chewy and uses runny tahini, I wanted to make this like a proper gingerbread cookie which to me is a slightly tough crispy cookie with a biscuit like consistency. This is perfect for all sorts of gingerbread projects - cookie gift tags, gingerbread buttons for stringing up everywhere and of course gingerbread houses. For this vegan gingerbread cookie, I used half runny tahini and half dense tahini. Read all about it in the notes below.
I am an amateur cake/cookie decorator. It is just not my forte. I can never figure out piping bags and piping nozzles. Nor do I have the patience for it or the throat (white sugar in any form closes up my throat and I fall really really sick!). So nine out of ten times, you will find my cakes and cookies unadorned and really simple. But Christmas cookies deserve that something extra. So I've made a bit of effort here. I love stamping round cookies with the base of crystal cut glasses to get that old world festive pattern on them which looks especially lovely after baking. And I have iced them with a vegan frosting I miraculously found at my local health store (even then, I left some cookies un-iced. These shall be the ones I eat!)
Its two days before Christmas and I still have a million things to do, so I shall take your leave and hope you make this fabulous cookie - it is healthy, wholesome and super delicious. Wish you and yours a very merry and bright Christmas. Don't forget to share your vegan gingerbread cookies with me on Instagram by tagging @cookrepublic. Enjoy! x
Recipe
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Ingredients
- 3/4 200g cup tahini (runny)
- 1/2 cup 130ml maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 2 cups 225g almond meal
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed sea salt flakes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla powder/extract
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 170C (convention)/150C (fan-forced/convection). Line a rimmed bakjng sheet with baking paper.
- Place tahini in a small heavy bottomed saucepan on medium heat. Add maple syrup and coconut sugar. Cook for a minute, stirring until smooth and warmed through. Remove from heat.
- Place almond meal, salt, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in a medium bowl. Mix gently. Add the tahini mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
- Using your hands, knead into a stiff dough. Divide in two portions.
- Cut two large squares of baking paper (30cm). Place a portion of the dough between the squares and gently roll to just less than a 1/4 inch thickness. Use a press and spread technique rather than rolling freely as the tahini dough is hard and requires a firm hand to roll.
- Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (about 1/2 inch apart). Repeat with the remaining dough portion.
- Bake cookies in the pre-heated oven for approximately 13-14 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Allow to cool completely on the trays. Ice with white icing or dust with icing sugar. Store in an air-tight container in a cool corner of your kitchen for up to two weeks.
This looks so good! What a fun way to still enjoy this holiday favorite while sticking to a vegan diet!
This is lovely cookies..
https://www.twohandsbar.com.au/
I can't wait to try this recipe. I love the way you stamp them with a glass -- that's how my mom has always made her sugar cookies (never cut out...always stamped) and it is how I make mine, too. Stamped gingerbread will be a lovely addition.
Thankyou! I don't think there is any tahini not from jars near where I live. Thanks for that. I was thinking to add oil of some kind but glad I didn't. 🙂
I love the idea of these but am confused about the different consistencies of tahini. How do you get runnier tahini? My tahini I buy is not runny at all.
Linda, I buy my tahini from a fresh grocer here in Westfield Hornsby. It is a brand called Al-Kanater (I think) from Lebanon. You can see pictures here https://www.cookrepublic.com/roasted-cauliflower-hummus-dip/ Basically tahini available at fresh grocers and delis and imported from Lebanon/that area in general will be nice and runny. It is great for sauces, cookies and cooking in general. Most brands at the supermarket are dense in consistency. It will be runnier when the bottle is freshly opened. Also swirl the bottle .. if the tahini bit also moves, you've got a slightly runnier version as opposed to only the oil part moving. Hope that makes sense. If all you can get is really thick dense tahini, use that and then maybe 1/4 cup soy milk/almond milk to soften the dough. Hope that helps!
Forgot to mention, that your regular tahini will work just fine too since the recipe calls for warming the tahini in the saucepan. This will loosen it slightly.