Last year I’ve already made a vegan and gluten-free version of German style gingerbread. This year I wanted to try a raw version. And the result was pretty good!
I have tried a dark ‘chocolate’ icing and a light coconut-cashew icing. For the chocolate icing I used coconut sugar for sweetening. The only disadvantage is the grainy texture. If I ever get my hands on coconut nectar, I will try it! Raw cane sugar could also be an option. Both icings are great, but it also works without it 😉
In this recipe I’ve used hazelnuts. I find they make a very good base. You can also use different kind of nuts.
For approx. 12 gingerbread you’ll need:
2 cups hazelnuts (soaked in filtered water for at least 8 hours, then drained)
2 cups dates, pitted and diced
10 dried figs
2 tablespoon gingerbread spice (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, cardamon)
1 pinch salt
1-2 tablespoon water (optional)
For the chocolate icing (for 12 lebkuchen):
55g cacao butter
1 cup (100g) FAIR-TRADE cacao powder
1 cup (140g) coconut sugar
For the coconut icing (for 12 lebkuchen):
40g coconut cream/butter (made from 100% coconut)
10g coconut oil
2 tablespoon cashew butter
Preparation:
Pulse the hazelnuts to fine grumbles and pour into a medium sized bowl.
Pulse the dates to fine crumbles and add to the bowl.
Chop the figs to small cubes and add to the bowl.
Sprinkle with gingerbread spice and mix well.
The dough should be moist enough so that you can form the lebkuchen with your (clean) hands. Add 1-2 tablespoon of water if needed.
Form the lebkuchen with your (clean) hands. Dehydrate them for a few hours. If you don’t want to store them for a long time you don’t have to dehydrate them for too long. This way they will be quite moist on the inside.
For the chocolate icing, melt the cacao butter in a small bowl that sits in a hot water bath.
Then add cacao and coconut sugar and stir well to combine.
Brush onto the lebkuchen once they have cooled down. Let the chocolate icing set before storing them away in the fridge in an air-tight container.
For the coconut-cashew icing, melt the coconut oil, coconut butter in a small bowl that sits in a hot water bath.
Then add cashew butter and stir well to combine. Wait until the mixture has cooled down enough so that it isn’t too runny. But not too solid either. I know, a little tricky, but you can do it 😉
Brush onto the lebkuchen once they have cooled down. Let the coconut cashew icing set before storing them away in the fridge in an air-tight container.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays! 🙂
