4 of the best vegan biscuits

Who loves a biscuit? Vegans do! It is not always all about butter and eggs as far as biscuits are concerned. No longer a niche diet, veganism is becoming mainstream, and continues to grow in popularity. While the specifics of what vegans do or do not eat or use because of their vegan lifestyle can differ between definitions and interpretations, it is commonly understood that if you are a vegan looking for a biscuit, it needs to contain no dairy, eggs or honey. The humble biscuit goes way back. We think that the earliest food that we could call a biscuit was baked on stones in Neolithic times. That means that we have been eating biscuits for up to twelve thousand years!¹ While biscuits as we know them now take many, many forms, we are quite taken with the sweet sugary biscuit. Which is definitely nothing like a Neolithic biscuit would have been! If you or your guests are vegan, you might like to check out our range of vegan biscuits and cookies. Want to know which are our top picks? Grab yourself a cuppa, and get ready to find your perfect vegan biscuits to go alongside that cup of tea…

1. Vegan ginger biscuits

There is nothing quite like the snap of a great ginger biscuit. Do you dunk or not?! The Beginnings Coconut Ginger Cookies are deliciously crunchy, coconutty with a kick of ginger. Or if you fancy trying your hand at making your very own vegan gingerbread cookies, check out our Vegan Gingerbread Cookies recipe.

2. Vegan oat biscuits

Nairn’s vegan oat biscuits have 55% less sugar than the average biscuit, and are also full of the nutrition of oats. We reach for the mixed berries biscuits, which have a delicious fruity mix of cranberries and raspberries.

3. Vegan chocolate biscuits

“How can you be vegan? It means no more chocolate?!” So many exclaim. Fortunately for vegans, vegan chocolate has long been a thing. And where there is vegan chocolate, there are vegan chocolate biscuits! Our vegan biscuit range in store is no exception. You can get your choccy biscuit fix with Mr Organic Cocoa Biscuits, indulge in the decadent Angelic Double Chocolate Cookies or enjoy a pack of not-too-naughty Kallo Organic Dark Chocolate Rice Cakes Thins. Important to note – these are all delicious whether you are vegan or not!

4. Vegan shortbread

We love biscuit baking. If you are short on time and inspiration, or looking for something fun to do as a family without the baking bit, try the Lazy Day Foods Vegan Gingerbread Kit, complete with vegan chocolate buttons and marshmallows for decorating your gingerbread person! These are also gluten free vegan biscuits, which is a great solution for those who are gluten free too. Shortbread is another wonderful, classic biscuit. But traditionally, it is definitely not vegan. Normally crammed full with butter, it can be hard to adapt and get the same consistency. The key is using the right oil, and flour. And if you fancy making your own, in this recipe, we recommend using some cornflour to make the shortbread crumbly.

Vegan shortbread recipe

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 75g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
• ½ tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 160ml light olive oil

Method

1. Put the flour, cornflour, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a food processor to mix briefly. Add the vanilla and drizzle in the olive oil, pulsing the food processor until you get a soft, golden dough. Wrap the dough and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a 5mm thickness and use biscuit cutters or cut the shortbread to size. Transfer to the baking sheet. At this point, you can freeze the biscuits for up to three months.
3. Sprinkle the 1 tbsp sugar over the biscuits and bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up on the tray, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Add 2-4 mins to the cooking time if baking from frozen.²

If you are looking for other vegan biscuit recipes, the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from our Delicious Vegan Dessert Recipes are super easy and would go down a treat with friends and family - if they get a look in! Last updated: 20 January 2021 Sources 1 https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/the-history-of-the-biscuit. 2 https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/vegan-shortbreads