Soft melt-in-the-mouth, tangy, delicious, pretty and fun biscuits!  I’m not vegan but love to play around with lighter plant-based and healthier ingredients.  And love these cute cookies, as my friends did.  Just their delighted ‘Oh wow!’ reactions were great when they saw then tasted them at our Sunday teatime spread – well a Spanish kind of teatime merienda snack at 9pm 🙂   They’re delicious and perfect if you prefer your biscuits lemony and not too sweet.  They’re glutenfree but you can use plain all purpose flour.  The cookie dough can be made with standard sugar – mine are sweetened with pure maple syrup and unrefined golden caster sugar with cocoa butter lending a special creamy flavour and lemon zest adding tang.  The vegan lemon curd is made with lots of lemon juice, zest, powdered arrowroot and sweetened with only maple syrup.  A little ground turmeric gives a vibrant colour.  These amazing healthier vegan lemon curd Easter biscuits will bring a smile to your face and spring to your step.  Nom nom. 🙂

Vegan maple syrup lemon curd Easter biscuits

THE RECIPE

These are adapted from my vegan macadamia cookies but with the nuts left out and lemon zest added.

Vegan maple syrup lemon curd Easter biscuits

Timings

• Day 1:  make the lemon curd at least 12 to 16 hours before filling the biscuits.  It’s very tangy so balances out the sweetness of the cookie.  If you use shop-bought lemon curd (I tried this) it could be too sweet.
• Day 2:  make, bake and fill the cookies.  Refrigerate to set the centres.
• Day 3:  eat the cookies. 🙂

Vegan lemon curd

Keeps well up to 5 days or so in the fridge.  Can also be frozen.  The quantity below is more than that needed but it’s a rather gloopy curd that works well in layer cakes, to fill Danish or swirl in yoghurt, etc – lots of things you can use it for.  Adapt the quantities of maple syrup or lemon to your taste to make sweeter or tangier.  You can probably replace the ground arrowroot with cornflour but the curd will be whiter and more opaque.

• 1/2 tbsp (3g) finely-grated lemon zest
• 92g/1/3 cup coconut cream (this can be scooped off the top of a can of coconut milk chilled in the fridge a minimum of 48 hours)
• 148g/ml freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tbsp cold water (35 – 40g)
• 2 tbsp arrowroot powder (12g)
• 120g/6 tbsp pure maple syrup (or sugar/honey), to taste
• scant 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, optional for colour

Here’s the printable recipe.

Vegan lemon cookie dough

Make the quantity below and you can use half to make around 18 – 22 biscuits (2 large trays – 30 x 40cm).  Then freeze the other half wrapped in plastic film to make cookies another day – they come out great!  Or make them all!

• 114g/4oz 100% food-grade cocoa butter (or mycryo cocoa butter)
• 60g/1/4 cup vegan butter or margarine (I used one with olive oil in it)
• 130g/1/2 cup plus 3 and 2/3 tsp caster (superfine) sugar (I used unrefined golden caster sugar) or granulated sugar
• 70g/2 and 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 426g/3 and 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I used Doves Farm self-raising gluten free) or plain all-purpose flour (3 and scant 1/2 cups) – you could try with less flour like in the original recipe then add more at the end if needed.
• 1 tsp (5g) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp (2g) fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp (2g) baking soda
• 80g/1/4 cup aquafaba – I used the liquid directly from a jar of chickpeas (relatively low-sodium with 0,1g salt per 100g)
• 1 tsp (4 – 5g) pure vanilla extract, to taste
• 1 – 2 tsp finely-grated lemon zest, to taste
• 132g/1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Follow the illustrated printable recipe below but reduce the vanilla, add lemon zest and leave out the macadamia nuts (see the changes in bold above).

Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper to about 3mm to 5mm thick.  If it’s tricky roll a little pastry at a time. Use cutters to cut out the shapes.  Press hard in the centre to cut central holes for the top biscuit halves.  For the bottom halves press lightly so you don’t cut through the middle.

Filling the cookies

Allow baked cookies to cool completely.  Sieve icing (powdered) sugar on the top holey halves only.  Spread layer of curd on bottom halves and cover carefully with top.  Done!!! 🙂

Storing and eating

Place in airtight tupperware in the fridge overnight for the curd to set.  Eat the next day.  They’ll keep up to 5 days in the fridge, maybe more.  They’re deliciously soft lemony biscuits that hold their shape, arriving at work, a painting afternoon or a picnic in perfect condition.  Yum!  Teatime…

Vegan maple syrup lemon curd Easter biscuits (cookies)

Welcoming Spring and Easter time with some really lovely vegan lemon biscuits.

Vegan maple syrup lemon curd Easter biscuits (cookies)

Though we seem to be having some Spring showers here in Barcelona.  Never mind, there are cookies.

Bye for now sweet reader and hope you have a lovely bright and cheery week!  Happy baking and eating! 🙂 Lili x