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Filled Lebkuchen Hearts
Updated: Jul 25
Gingerbread hearts, filled with an orange marmalade and dipped in a dark chocolate or lemon glaze.
This is my copycat and vegan take on the jam filled German Gingerbread hearts one can buy almost everywhere during the festive season. You know which ones I mean!
Soft, heart-shaped gingerbread cookies, with a jammy centre, coated in dark chocolate or a lemony icing...these make the perfect Christmas treat.
They also make a great homemade Christmas presents - place them in a beautiful bag, wrap with festive ribbons or make a Christmas biscuit box! No excuse to show up empty handed.
IF THEY AREN'T VEGAN...
I loved the store-bought jam filled Lebkuchen hearts before going vegan. Ever since going vegan I have found myself every Christmas reading the ingredients list on the back of the packaging, hoping they have since the previous Christmas decided to make them vegan friendly.
Sadly, I still had no luck, so I decided to simply make my own. Which I am now very thankful for.
HOW TO MAKE THESE
Make the dough as per recipe below.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.
Using a cookie cutter, press out the heart shapes.
Brush the edges of a heart with almond milk.
Add a small dollop of jam of choice in the centre
Place a second heart on top and press the edges together to seal the jam filling.
Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes
Let them cool
Decorate to your liking
Enjoy!
DECORATING
Some of the cookies I dipped in dark chocolate and the rest I coated with a simple lemon icing glazing.
Some of the chocolate covered ones I finished with a dusting of cinnamon, or with a light drizzle of melted chocolate - for the pattern.
But be creative and decorate them however you wish.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
Use any cookie cutter shape of your choice, they don't need to be a heart shape.
Use any jam you like. I used a bitter orange marmalade, but Apricot, Raspberry or Strawberry jam are delicious too!
Substitute the jam for marzipan
Decorate the cookies to your liking - finish with sprinkles or edible glitter if you wish.
Substitute the almond milk with milk of your choice
Replace the coconut sugar with more brown sugar
Dip the cookies in vegan "milk" chocolate or vegan white chocolate, instead of dark chocolate
I used a small cookie cutter, but you can use any size you wish.
TO MAKE THESE YOU WILL NEED
plain flour
coconut sugar
brown sugar
baking powder
ground cinnamon
ground ginger
ground nutmeg
ground allspice
cacao powder, unsweetened
maple syrup or honey
vegetable oil
almond milk
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE
Dark chocolate - melted over a steaming pot
FOR THE ICING GLAZE
Icing sugar
Lemon juice
OTHER FESTIVE RECIPES TO TRY
FILLED LEBKUCHEN HEART
Soft heart-shaped gingerbread, with a jammy centre, coated in dark chocolate or a lemony icing, these make the perfect Christmas treat.
Prep time: 20 minutes (will depend on the amount of biscuits/size you make)
Cooking time: 8 - 10 minutes
Quantity: about 25 - 3o small cookies, but will depend on the size of the cookies
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE GINGERBREAD
250g plain flour
80 g coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
60g brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp cacao powder, unsweetened
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
4 tbsp vegetable oil
60ml almond milk, or milk of choice
FOR THE FILLING
orange marmalade or jam of your choice
FOR THE ICING GLAZE
(Quantity will depend on how many you want to coat in the icing glaze)
60g icing sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE
(Quantity will depend on how many you want to coat in the icing glaze)
75g dark chocolate
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE GINGERBREAD HEARTS
In a mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated.
In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated. The oil will sit on top, but that is fine.
Pour the wet into the dry and mix thoroughly. It will feel like the mixture doesn't have enough liquid but keep mixing as it will all get together. If it really is too dry, add 1 tbsp extra almond milk. Don't be tempted to add too much more liquid as the dough should not be too wet or too sticky.
Preheat the oven to 180C /160C fan.
Prepare a baking tray.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll about 3 - 5mm thick.
Using a cookie cut, cut out as many hearts as possible. The amount will depend on the size of the cookie cutter you chose to use.
Take one heart and brush the edges of the heart with a bit of almond milk or water (this will help the two hearts stick together easier)
Add a small dollop of jam of choice in the centre of the heart.
Place another heart on top and light press the edges together all around - if there are any gaps the jam will most likely run out during the baking process.
Place the filled cookie on the baking tray.
Repeat with the rest.
Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the tray for 5 - 10 minutes before transferring until a cooling rack. Depending on the size, you will probably have to bake the cookies in batches.
Once the cookies have cooled you can start the decorating.
FOR THE ICING
Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice until a runny glaze.
Dip one side of the cookie in the glaze, decorate however you wish and place back on the cooling rack until the glaze has set.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE
Melt half the chocolate in a bowl over a steaming pot - make sure NO water gets into the melted chocolate as this will make the chocolate lumpy.
Once melted, remove from the heat and add the rest of the chocolate.
Stir until everything is melted.
Dip one side of the cookie into the chocolate and place it back on the cooling rack until the chocolate has set.
STORING THE COOKIES
Once the icing or chocolate glaze has set store in an airtight container.
HAVE YOU MADE THIS?
If you have, I would love to see your creations on Instagram.
Make sure to leave a review below and give it a rating.
Follow me on Instagram for more vegan recipe inspiration!
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