Vegan Lebkuchen Gingerbread Cookies

Name: Vegan Lebkuchen Gingerbread Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 100 g brown sugar; 100 g agave or maple syrup (I used agave, but maple is fine too); 200 g plain flour; 85 g vegan butter (I like naturali block, but use your favourite); 100 g ground almonds; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp mixed spice; 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (freshly grated is nicest); 1 lemon, juice and zest; 100 g icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar); 2 tbsp warm water; 100 g Dark vegan chocolate (totally optional!)

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I just adore Christmas baking, and these Vegan Lebkuchen (German Gingerbread Cookies) are not only one of my favourites to make, but to eat too! They make the house smell glorious when they're being baked, which is always a bonus, and can be decorated in a variety of ways too!

A tray of decorated vegan lebkuchen with both glazed and chocolate covered ones on it.

Lebkuchen are traditionally made in Germany as part of the festive season. Often households will make a variety of different cookies, including lebkuchen (between 7 and 12 types!) to share with guests or to take as a gift when visiting friends and relatives. It can get quite competitive, in the nicest possible way. Fortunately, the cookies tend to store quite well, so you can make them well ahead of time. The lebkuchen are also easily made vegan, so everyone can enjoy them.

If you want to compete in your own vegan version of the German Cookie baking, why not try these easy Mince Pie Baklava for a Christmas twist on the classic baklava. Or try these simple but delicious Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

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🍪Key Ingredients
👩‍🍳How-To
🥄Troubleshooting
❓ FAQ
🥨Similar Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

🍪Key Ingredients

These yummy Christmas spiced cookies use simple ingredients but are very effective.

Spices: Ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Mixed Spice and Nutmeg all combine to create the classic Lebkuchen 'Gingerbread' style spice mix. The smell when baking is just heavenly.
Brown Sugar and Agave Syrup: Traditional lebkuchen is made with honey. I substitute a mix of these two sweeteners for the stickyness and depth of flavour.
Flour: You can use all purpose flour or even spelt flour.
Ground Almonds: these provide a pleasing texture and slight nuttiness.
Vegan Butter: I like to use Naturali butter, but you can choose your favourite vegan butter block.
1 Lemon: juice and zest. For a lovely fragrance that really 'lifts' the cookie taste!
Icing Sugar/Powdered Sugar: Mixed with a little water, this becomes the classic glaze that the lebkuchen are dipped into.
Optional: Chocolate for dipping or decorating. Chocolate goes really well with the lebkuchen spices, but you don't have to use it, it's a personal preference.

Close up of A tray of decorated vegan lebkuchen with both glazed and chocolate covered ones on it.

👩‍🍳How-To

For the full recipe and ingredients for these Vegan Lebkuchen, head to the recipe card below!

A bowl of melted butter, sugar and syrup to make the lebkuchen cookies.

The flours poured into a bowl ready to mix.

First melt your butter, sugar and agave syrup. Mix until the sugar is properly melted

2. In a large bowl, sift in the flour and spices. Then mix the butter/sugar mix into the flour.

Image showing adding lemon juice to the mixture.

3. Add the bicarb soda, the lemon zest and slowly add the lemon juice until you have a sticky dough.

4. You will end up with a sticky dough, so to help with rolling out, Chill the dough in the fridge for half an hour- or even overnight.

Lebkuchen dough rolled out to 5mm thick with shapes cut into it.

5. On a non-stick mat or board, roll the dough out to about 5mm thick.
Now you can cut out pretty shapes. Make sure to use quite simple shapes as the dough is quite fragile.

6. Lay the shapes on a lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until just turning golden. Leave to cool completely on a rack.

Showing dipping a lebkuchen cookie into the icing sugar glaze.

Showing dipping a lebkuchen cookie into melted chocolate.

7. To glaze, mix the icing powder with water and dip the cookies in.

8. Then if you choose to add chocolate, you can now dip or drizzle the chocolate over the lebkuchen cookies! Be sure to cool the chocolate covered ones on a non-stick baking sheet or they will stick to the tray (I know this from silly experience!)

🥄Troubleshooting

Rolling out the dough- The dough is quite sticky, so make sure the dough is chilled before rolling it out! If it's too wet, add a tiny amount of flour to help it out.

Making the dough- When adding the lemon juice, do it bit by bit. Not all lemons are the same size so you might end up with more juice than you need! You'll know the dough is ready when it comes together in a sticky mass, that can still be smooshed together into a smooth ball.

Cutting out the cookie shapes- the lebkuchen dough is quite fragile so I suggest using a simple cookie cutter shape (a plain star for example, rather than a fancy pants one). A good non-stick surface to roll out on is also essential. I like this silicon mat for pastry work.

Simply decorated vegan lebkuchen with a thin glaze only.

❓ FAQ

How long do the lebkuchen store for?

Up to a month in an airtight container, or probably longer. They're designed to stay soft and slightly chewy.

What are those stars you have on the lebkuchen cookies?

These are fun little vegan sprinkles that we found on Amazon.

Do you have to glaze the lebkuchen?

No, you do you! Eat them plain and unglazed. Or just dipped into chocolate.

My glaze is so much thicker than yours!

Add a little more water for a thin coating, or it's also just as nice to make a thicker coating.

I've made my dough too wet. What should I do?

Add a little more plain flour and mix well, bit by bit until the dough is able to easily be moulded into a smooth ball. Refrigerate for a bit to make it easier to roll out.

🥨Similar Recipes

Why not make lots of cookies or treats for Christmas, alongside these vegan lebkuchen to hand around to your friends just like they do in Germany! Who knows, you might start your own friend's tradition!

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Love & Vegan Yummies,

Louise xx (P.S. Follow me on Insta and Tik Tok!)