Vegan Lebkuchen Gingerbread Cookies

Name: Vegan Lebkuchen Gingerbread Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 60 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!)

I just adore Christmas baking, and these Vegan Lebkuchen (German Gingerbread Cookies) are not only one of my favorite's 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!

Lebkuchen are traditionally made in Germany as part of the festive season. You can find them sold in Christmas Markets or people will also make their own. 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.

Jump to:

🍪Key Ingredients
👩‍🍳How-To
🥄Troubleshooting
🍊Substitutions and Variations
🔪Equipment
❓ FAQ
🥨Similar Recipes
📖 Recipe
🍊Substitutions and Variations
🔪Equipment
💬 Comments

🍪Key Ingredients

For the full ingredients list for these vegan gingerbread cookies, along with quantities, please head down to the recipe card.

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. You can also use maple syrup or golden syrup.
Plain Flour: You can use all purpose flour or even spelt flour.
Ground Almonds: (almond flour) 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: Dark 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.

👩‍🍳How-To

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

Melting the butter, sugar and syrup on the stove.

The flours poured into a bowl ready to mix, with lemon zest and spices.

1 & 2 First melt your butter, sugar and agave syrup. Mix until the sugar is properly melted.

3. In a large bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder and spices. Then mix the melted butter and sugar into the dry ingredients.

Add the lemon juice bit by bit to the dough.

4. Slowly add lemon juice and keep mixing until you have a sticky dough.

5. You will end up with a sticky dough. For best results and ease of rolling, cover the dough with cling film then chill the dough in the fridge for half an hour- or even overnight.

Lebkuchen dough being rolled out ready to cut shapes.

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

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

7 & 8. Lay the shapes on a parchment paper 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.

To glaze, mix the icing powder with water and dip the cookies in. The thicker the mixture, the thicker the glaze.

Then if you choose to add chocolate, you can now dip or drizzle melted 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!)

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

🥄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, Heart or Christmas trees 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.

🍊Substitutions and Variations

There are a few ways you can substitute items in this recipe should you want or need to:

Coconut Oil: Melt the same quantity of coconut oil to replace the butter.
Orange zest and juice: replace the lemon with orange for a slightly different but equally delicious flavour.
Gluten Free: Replace the wheat flour with your favourite gluten free flour blend. Gluten free flour sometimes needs extra liquid, so just add more lemon juice as needed.
Chocolate Glaze: Add a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the icing powder for a chocolatey glaze. Alterntively microwave or melt chocolate chips over a water bath and use melted chocolate to decorate.
Gingerbread Spice: Feel free to play with the balance of gingerbread spices. If you can't find mixed spice, substitute all-spice or pumpkin spice mix.

🔪Equipment

You'll need a saucepan, a large mixing bowl and at least two baking trays or cookie sheets to make these Christmas cookies.
If you want to go for fancy piped icing, you will also need icing bags and nozzles.

❓ 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!

If you love this recipe, please share this post with your friends on Pinterest or Facebook, or tag me on Insta with your creation! Don't forget to also please comment & star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐this recipe too! (P.S. Follow me on Tik Tok!) xx Louise-Claire