The name sounds a bit like a vegan tribute band, but these vegan spice nuts are actually an alternative to ginger nuts.
Ginger nuts are a no-brainer for vegan baking because they turn out so brilliantly with coconut oil. Like their more famous cousins, these spice nuts have a really hard crunch and are perfect for dunking. They are just as spicy but have an entirely different flavour deriving from allspice and cinnamon with a pinch of cloves – more akin to Dutch speculoos biscuits.
Maple syrup and light muscovado sugar add flavour as well as sweetness, and contribute to the rich golden brown colour of the biscuits.
Allspice was so named because it was found to be reminiscent of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, but it has a unique warm pepperiness that distinguishes it from those other spices. It creates the most wonderful, comforting aroma when used in baking, and also happens, along with the other spices, to be very good for you.
You can, of course, use any spice mixture that looks interesting – or just make ginger nuts!
These are very quick and easy to make and will last well in an airtight tin. The recipe will make around twenty-four medium sized biscuits.
Vegan spice nuts…
Ingredients
- 100 g coconut oil
- 240 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 100 g light muscovado sugar
- 80 ml maple syrup
Method
- Set the oven to 190°C/375°F and line a baking sheet (or sheets) with baking parchment.
- Soften the coconut oil unless it is already at warm room temperature. It should be easily spoonable but not yet turning to liquid.
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices. Using a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers, rub the mixture as you would pastry until it is sandy and no visible lumps of coconut oil remain.
- Add the sugar, and rub the mixture further until it is really well combined.
- Pour the maple syrup into the centre and mix with a fork. Continue mixing until it feels as if the maple syrup is distributed evenly throughout the flour mixture.
- The mixture will still be quite sandy but will now be mouldable (kind of like children’s modelling sand!). Using your hands, form balls around 2.5cm across and place these on the baking sheet, leaving room for them to spread to 6 or 7cm in diameter.
- Press each one gently with the back of a spoon to flatten it a bit and begin to create cracking around the edge. Avoid big cracks as these will grow and create very irregular shaped biscuits.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until they are just beginning to look a little browner at the edges, like the pictured biscuits.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
If you would like to receive e-mail alerts when new recipes are published, please see my contact page.
