Vegan Gingerbread Biscotti Has Invaded My Cookie Jar!
It took a year for me to do it, but I finally tried the fourth gingerbread biscotti recipe on my short-list. It's the recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats 
" I don't post comments often but when I do feel compelled it's for good reason- the BEST gingerbread biscotti recipe in existence is from the Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar book. They are spicy like gingerbread and you can control the hardness of the cookie based on the fat you use (I simply reduce the oil when I want tooth-chipping hardness) and the baking time/temperature. But as a foundational recipe they are fantastic unmodified- firm but not rock hard, with chunks of crystallized ginger and the best flavor ever that seems to work amazingly well in biscotti. Check it out.
The biscotti lived up to Jen's review. It's crispy, perfect for dunking, and very flavorful even without the candied ginger, which I would have like to have added but didn't. For this batch, I just used pecans and cranberries.
For those of you who want to make the full-vegan, candied ginger version, the actual recipe is on-line at Suite 101.
Vegan Gingerbread Biscotti
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (7.8 oz/220 grams)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup mild molasses
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons milk or a non-dairy milk like soy milk or almond milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup pecans, chopped and ½ cup dried cranberries or 4 oz candied ginger
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
Whisk oil, molasses, sugar, ground flax seeds, milk, and vanilla together in a mixing bowl.
Stir the flour mixture into the liquid mixture and form a smooth dough. Gently knead in the pecans and cranberries (or ginger, if using).
On a parchment lined baking sheet, form a log about 11 inches long by 4 inches wide. Flatten the end sides of the log and bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until puffed and golden. It will spread a little, and some cracking is okay. Allow log to cool for about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Very carefully, slide the log off the baking sheet and onto a cutting board. With a chef's knife, cut log into ½-inch-thick slices, using one quick and firm motion, pressing down into the log. Very gently move slices to the baking sheet, standing them of their bottom edge if possible. Rebake the slices for 22 to 24 minutes. The slices should appear dry and slightly toasted, but do not allow them to get too browned. Allow the biscotti to cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully move them to the wire racks to complete cooling (warm biscotti may be fragile). Store in a loosely covered container. Makes about 2 dozen.
More Gingerbread Biscotti Recipes
Here's a re-cap of the other 3 biscotti recipes I tried last year. One was very basic, the other had add-ins but no fat, and the third was a butter-based gingerbread biscotti.
The basic, no-nut, no-fruit version was a gingerbread biscotti from allrecipes. It was very good and kind of "middle of the road". It wasn’t very hard, but rather crisp and tight crumbed -- almost like eating a very thick, ginger flavored melba toast. It stayed fresh for a few weeks.
The Gingerbread Biscotti from Fine Cooking Magazine was crunchy, packed with robust holiday flavors and stayed fresh for at least 3 weeks. I loved it.
Susan at Cookie Scoop has a good recipe too. Hers calls for butter, which adds a nice flavor and makes the cookies easier to eat without dunking. The butter version may not stay fresh quite as long as the oil or fat free versions.
Sue says
I made these awhile back and think they're excellent! I finally put a photo of them up on my blog. Thanks for posting these. We like them a lot!
joan says
Hi Anna, Thanks for another awesome recipe. I made these this afternoon, & thought they were wonderful. I used macadamia nuts and crystallized ginger instead of pecans & cranberries. I have been searching for a recipe similar to the biscotti that Trader Joe's used to carry. They were ginger with macadamias, and had a white chocolate glaze. This recipe is about as close as I have come. I'm going to try the glaze on these babies, but they are excellent just as they are.
Anna says
Sheri, I'm ordering the book. Can't wait to try the Citrus Glitters.
Jen, thanks again for the recipe!
Betty, I agree. Too bad they're not wheat free, too ;).
KAnn, I think maybe a couple of tablespoons of the candied ginger along with the cranberries and pecans would be good, but I don't think I'd use the full 4 oz either.
Blissful Baker, all of your holiday treats look great. This one would fit right in.
Louise, I just made them yesterday so I don't know. My guess would be 2-3 weeks seeing that they don't have any butter or eggs. Maybe longer.
Louise says
What's the shelf life of the vegan version? I'm thinking of including these or the Fine Cooking ones in my Christmas cookies. I always have almond milk in the frig as I use it in breakfast smoothies.
the blissful baker says
this vegan version of gingerbread biscotti looks sooo good! i've recently been baking more vegan recipes - you don't always need butter and eggs to make really great desserts!
KAnn says
I have Vegan Cookies Invade but I haven't tried anything yet. These look very good! I would use something other than the candied ginger as I am not fond of strong ginger.
Betty @ scrambled hen fruit says
Perfect for my vegan friends. 🙂 All of these sound good to me, though. Thanks!
Jen B says
Anna- when I saw the title to the blog post, I wondered if you had in fact tried the recipe I recommended last year... I certainly didn't expect to see reference to my comment itself right there too.. haha. Glad you liked them; and I'm glad your other readers will consider them now too! I almost forgot this recipe existed (my brain is still transitioning out of Thanksgiving mode...) so I'm doubly glad you decided to post this...!
Sheri says
Great timing! I love, love, love that book and have been wanting to make these. The citrus glitters are one of my all-time favorite cookies. I've made some of the other biscotti from there and all have been really good. Actually, just about everything I've made from Vegan Cookies has been good.
I usually have almond milk on hand (I'm not vegan but have tendencies towards a vegan diet), but last time I ran out I bought hemp milk instead. I read that it's great for baking but haven't tried it yet. I will say that it makes a really nice hot chocolate and I like it on my oatmeal.