Do you absolutely need butter, eggs and milk for baking? That's not the case! In recent years, many people's perceptions have changed and the number of vegans and vegetarians in Germany continues to rise steadily. We'll show you how you can easily do without animal products and bake delicious vegan cookies . Even after switching to a vegan diet, your cookie cutters don't have to stay in the drawer .

Baking vegan cookies has several advantages

Vegan baking offers several benefits from both a health and ethical perspective.

• Avoid animal suffering: The desire to avoid animal suffering is one of the main reasons for many people to bake vegan. By avoiding animal products such as eggs, butter and milk, they help to reduce the demand for these.
• Suitable for allergy sufferers: Vegan baked goods are ideal for people who are allergic or intolerant to certain animal products.
• Health benefits: Baking vegan cookies can also have health benefits. For example, they often use less saturated fats and instead use healthy fats from vegetable oils or nuts.
• Lower environmental impact: Compared to a diet that includes animal products, a vegan diet is proven to be more environmentally friendly. The production of plant-based ingredients requires less water and land. In addition, significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions are generated.

Basics of Vegan Baking

If you want to bake vegan cookies, there are a few basic tips to keep in mind when using ingredients containing animal products.

• Adjust baking temperatures & times: When making vegan baked goods, adjusting the temperature and time in regular recipes is necessary. Plant-based ingredients react differently than their animal counterparts.
• Don't stir for too long: If you stir the dough with vegan ingredients for too long, it can become tough. The dough can also become very sticky and difficult to remove from the cookie cutters. It is therefore advisable to stir the dry and liquid ingredients separately. Mix everything together to form a dough just before the actual baking process. A silicone spatula or whisk is usually sufficient for this.
• Use high-quality ingredients: We will go into detail about the specific substitute products in the next section. However, it is important to pay attention to high quality. High-quality plant-based ingredients will make an essential contribution to improving the taste, texture and overall result of the cookies.
• Sugar-free baking: In order to bake healthy vegan cookies, it is essential to avoid sugar. There are a number of ways to do this. Birch sugar, for example, has a similar sweetening power to conventional sugar. Other natural sweeteners that can be used are maple syrup, agave syrup or apple puree. Coconut blossom sugar is also suitable and offers a very special taste experience with its light caramel note.

Important ingredients for vegan cookies

In order to bake vegan cookies , you need to have the right ingredients on hand. For every animal product, there is a suitable plant-based substitute.

• Vegan substitute for eggs

Plant-based egg substitute powder is suitable for binding and loosening. It is available in every organic market and is usually made from sweet lupin flour or corn starch. To loosen the dough, you can use apple sauce. A tablespoon of this is enough to replace one egg. You can also replace an egg with half a mashed banana. Another tried and tested vegan substitute for eggs is almond butter.

• Vegan substitute for milk

A well-stocked shelf with vegan milk substitutes can now be found in almost every supermarket in Germany. However, it should be noted that not all vegan milks are equally suitable for baking cookies. Almond milk, hazelnut milk, oat milk or soy milk are recommended. To ensure that the end result meets your expectations, you should do a taste test beforehand, as these types of milk all have their own taste.

• Vegan substitute for butter

Butter is another ingredient that needs to be replaced in many recipes. The well-known margarine has been a tried and tested alternative for years. However, it is not the only substitute for butter; fruit puree, coconut fat or oil can also be used. You can even use zucchini, as it has the moisturizing and binding properties that butter has. This also works quite well because zucchini has almost no taste of its own.

• Vegan substitute for honey

Honey is also not vegan, as it is a vital source of food for bees. When baking vegan cookies, you can therefore use three types of syrup. Dandelion syrup, sugar beet syrup or maple syrup are good substitutes for honey.

• Vegan substitute for gelatin

One of the best gelatin substitutes is agar-agar. This is a vegetable gelling agent made from the cell walls of various types of algae. Be sure to read the package insert, as agar-agar cannot be used in recipes in the same quantities as gelatin.

Our best recipe for vegan cookies

Vegan food is trendy, and that doesn't exclude delicious cookies. You can't go wrong with this simple recipe for delicious vegan cookies.

Ingredients:

• 200 g vegan margarine
• 150 g brown sugar
• 100 g cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 240 g flour (preferably wholemeal flour for a healthier option)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 150 g vegan chocolate pieces or nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Margarine and sugar : In a large bowl, mix together the vegan margarine, brown sugar and cane sugar until creamy.

2. Add vanilla extract : Add the vanilla extract and stir well.

3. Combine dry ingredients : In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

4. Assemble the dough : Add the dry ingredients little by little to the margarine-sugar mixture and mix well. Add chocolate pieces or nuts if necessary.

5. Chill the dough : Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

6. Baking : Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Form small balls from the dough, place them on a baking tray and press them flat. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown.

7. Let cool : Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These vegan cookies are not only easy to make, but they're also a delight for all taste buds. Try this recipe and discover how easy it can be to enjoy delicious cookies without any animal products. Share this recipe with friends and family to spread the vegan goodness!

Conclusion

Baking vegan cookies is no longer a problem with all the substitute products on the market and the taste won't be much different from your recipes with animal products . Why not veganize your classic Easter or Christmas cookie recipes? In our shop you can find suitablecookie cutters for Easter as well as cookie cutters for Christmas . You will also find a lot of other cookie cutter themes there that make great gift ideas. All of our cookie cutters are made from sustainable and biodegradable PLA .

FAQ

Is baking vegan cookies complicated?

Baking vegan cookies is easier than it seems at first glance. You can convert many baking recipes into a vegan alternative using substitute products and veganize them, so to speak. In many cases, simply replacing eggs and butter with a plant-based product is enough. But there are now a variety of delicious recipes that have been developed specifically for vegan cookies.

Is vegan baking generally healthier?

It cannot be said across the board that vegan baking is healthier. This is because vegan baking ingredients can also contain sugar and fat. However, vegan baking is certainly the healthier alternative if you use high-quality ingredients and avoid sugar completely. The latter is particularly important.

Is vegan baking sustainable?

Vegan cookies may be free of animal products, but they are not always sustainable. Some products have long transport routes to Germany or were contaminated with pesticides during cultivation. That is why it is also important to find out about the origin of the respective products and to give preference to regional companies. Our cookie cutters are also all sustainable.