Now that thanksgiving is over, the holiday season is officially upon us and with the holiday season comes the time for stuffing your face with amazing Christmas cookies. But worry not my friends, vegans certainly do not have to miss out on all the fun. In fact, I would like to point out here that you do not have to eat super healthy on a vegan diet and you could literally be eating Oreos and chips all day and still be a vegan. It's a common misconception that vegans only eat extremely healthy stuff where in fact, it is all up to you and there are more vegan things in the grocery store than you probably thought. The most well known are probably Oreos but did you know that for example when you eat Swedish Fish or Skittles, you are having a vegan snack? I know right, vegan food is so gross. Ew. Who likes Skittles anyways...
Look around your local grocery store and be surprised by how many cookies they sell are actually vegan! Look for ingredients listed in bold (allergens) and avoid milk, butter, and eggs. Icing is usually always vegan so you can just buy it from the store for deocrating, if you want!
However, if you want to feel like baking some cookies and decorating them, here are some recipes for you. I will show you just how easy it is.
1. One Bowl Vegan Sugar Cookies
The holiday classic. No one can go without sugar cookies this December, so why not make the vegan version to save the environment and animals while maintaining the taste we all love. These literally have 6 ingredients, all of which you likely have at home anyways (apart from vegan butter/ margarine but that's easy to get). Yummy.
2. Ginger Bread Cookies!
Again, we have a recipe here with only 6 ingredients, all of which you should have at home. This recipe uses honey, which depending on who you ask is not considered vegan so you can switch that with some agave syrup if you would like.
3. Spekulatius Cookies (My Favorite)
If you've read past articles then you probably already know that I'm German. So I simply could not refrain from adding a German recipe. These are very popular around christmas and so, so, sooo yummy. You probably already know the taste if you have ever tried Trader Joe's Cookie Butter. Again, a super easy recipe and it even has different versions for you to choose from!
4. Coconut, Almond, and Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
As all the recipes before, this one does not require any special 'vegan' ingredients but instead uses things that most people already have in their pantries anyways. I don't know what it is about coconut used in Christmas cookies but somehow it's a thing and I'm not mad about it.
5. Peppermint Mocha Cookies
No list of Christmas cookies is complete without some kind of peppermint cookie. Who doesn't like the taste of coffee and who doesn't like the taste of peppermint? Combining the two sounds delicious and you can even sprinkle tiny little trees on them like in this picture. Happy baking everyone!
