Oh my, this vegan German gingerbread/Lebkuchen recipe is a must-try. Though there are a few steps to get through, there is payoff: you’ll get 40–45 fragrant cookies to give away as stunning gifts – that is, if they make it that far.
Ingredients | Method | Makes 40–45 small round cookies
Ingredients
- 360 gm almond meal
- 360 gm hazelnut meal
- 200 gm mixed dried peel
- 4 flax eggs (or 4 vegan eggs, following the packet instructions, approx. half a cup of liquid)
- grated lemon rind
- grated orange rind
- 150 gm brown sugar
- 3 tblsp Lebkuchen spice
- 80 ml molasses
- 35 ml lemon juice
- 35 ml orange juce
- 35 ml cognac
- 50 Back Oblaten wafers (to place under the cookies) – 50 mm rounds
- 200 gm pure icing sugar and lemon juice, enough to make a smooth icing, that’s not too runny
- Shaved almonds to decorate
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees celsius.
- Put almond meal/hazelnut meal in a large bowl.
- Place dried mixed peel in a food processor with 4 tablespoons of the nut meal mix from the large bowl, then blitz until the candied fruit is a finer dice.
4. Put blitzed peel into the large bowl with the remainnig almond/hazelnut meal.
5. Grate the lemon and orange rind into the mix.
6. Add brown sugar and lebkuchen spice to the nut meal mix. Stir to combine.
7. Add lemon juice, orange juice, cognac and molasses. Stir to combine. The mixture should be quite stiff.
8. Place Back Oblaten wafers on a few trays.
9. Scoop a heaped tablespoon of mixture and shape it into a mound that fits within the Oblaten shape. Try to keep your shapes consistent. Put on some music. This bit takes time.
10. Bake at 150 degrees celsius for 25–30 minutes.
11. Make icing while the baking’s going on. Get 200 gm icing sugar and sift it so it’s not clumpy. Add lemon juice, a little at a time. The consistency should be something like pouring cream.
12. Take your Lebkuchen out of the oven when they are slightly golden and put them on a cooling rack. You want to decorate them while they’re hot. This makes the icing dry quickly and gives you a lovely shine.
13. Using a pastry brush, cover the tops of the lebkuchen with icing, and immediately put three shaved almonds on top.
Package up to gift, or simply enjoy. The flavour intensifies after a day.
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