Vegan Kruidnoten Recipe (Dutch Spice Cookies!)
A traditional Dutch and Belgian holiday cookie--Kruidnoten! Made vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and oil-free. Made with simple ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes, these perfectly spiced cookies will be on your holiday baking list for years to come!
Servings: 100 -120 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup gluten free oat flour
- 1/2 cup creamy roasted cashew butter should be nice and runny
- 1/3 cup maple syrup* or molasses traditionally, dutch stroop is used which has a flavour more similar to molasses, but use what you can find
- 1 tsp speculaaskruiden or homemade spice mix**
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- *If using maple syrup add 2 tbsp coconut sugar for more of a molasses, caramel-like flavour.
- **You can also use a gingerbread spice mix for a similar flavour or to make your own spice mix, combine 4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground clove, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp ground coriander seeds, 1 tsp ground anise seed, 1 tsp ginger powder, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom and a teeny pinch of white pepper. Take 1 tsp of the final mixture to use in the recipe.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees and set aside a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
- To prepare your batter, whisk together all ingredients except for the oat flour until smooth. Sift in oat flour and then stir to combine with a spatula until a dough forms. It should stick together easily and be workable by hand. If your dough is too dry, you can add a tablespoon of plant milk to adjust the texture.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop batter and roll tightly between your palms to form a small ball. Space out on the baking tray leaving at least 1/2” between each cookie.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes until lightly golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool. The cookies will firm up considerably and continue to bake while cooling so don’t worry if they don’t feel firm right away. You can always return to the oven, but you don’t want to burn these little ones!
Notes
Secrets to Success
- For perfect bite-sized and uniform cookies, I used a teaspoon to scoop the batter to roll. These cookies won’t spread too much, and I was able to fit roughly 40 on a baking sheet.
- Because we’re baking such small cookies, they will bake much faster and don’t require much time in the oven. I don’t recommend making them too large, because you won’t be able to achieve the same texture.
- As always, I recommend using a piece of parchment paper or a nonstick silicon baking mat for the best results. You should be able to just roll the cookies off after baking since they’re so petite! It also makes for minimal cleanup, and no cooking spray or greasing of the pan is required.
Storage Tips
- Store leftover kruidnoten in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.