Vegan Cardamom Pecan Cookies are the perfect holiday cookie and are gluten-free, oil-free, dairy-free and full of rich cardamom spice, soft texture and buttery pecans.
Here’s a completely new vegan holiday cookie to add to your collection. We all love classic holiday Christmas cookies like sugar cookies, gingerbread men, snickerdoodles, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, etc. right? I love all of those too, immensely, but I don’t like to just recreate known flavors. One thing I love about running a blog and baking is creating new recipes and new ideas that can become classics. Classics for me, anyways, lol.
EASY VEGAN HOLIDAY COOKIES
These Vegan Cardamom Pecan Cookies right here just shout holiday to me! Spices and pecans pretty much define the holiday season, so that was the inspo here. I’m a cardamom-loving fiend. Ya’ll know I love my spices, especially Gingerbread Spice, but cardamom by itself is so freaking yummy to me. It is very strong and unique, so my dedication to this flavor in a cookie turned out so fragrant, rich and delicious.
As always, these are easy and require just 8 ingredients:
- oat flour
- coconut sugar
- baking soda
- ground cardamom
- maple syrup
- roasted creamy almond butter
- vanilla extract
- pecans
First, make the batter all in 1 bowl. Roll into balls. Bake. Super easy.
If you hate cardamom, then you will not like these cookies, haha. You could always just sub cinnamon if you like. But, if you love cardamom, I think you will love these! They are soft, gluten-free, oil-free, wonderfully spiced and made in 1 bowl and about 20 minutes!
Cardamom is a key ingredient in chai-spiced recipes, like these Chai Spiced Waffles and this amazing Masala Chai<<<which has been getting stellar reviews, by the way! If you want a true authentic tasting Masala Chai, richly spiced and not overly diluted with milk or powdered store-blends, then you must try it!
Also, these cookies are amazing served with the Masala Chai, just check out these reviews:
“This chai is so delicious. I have almost drank this entire batch in one sitting. Thank you so much! It has the perfect sweetness and the spice is so very tasty.”
“Made this with almond milk first. I wasn’t sure about the peppercorns but followed the recipe to the letter. It is heavenly with a rich exotic flavour. The balance of spices is perfect. Made it again with cashew milk. Divine. If you want to pamper family and friends this is the ticket.”
As you can see from the photos, I made these pecan cookies 2 ways. One version is with just a pecan placed on top, which is yummy and very pretty. But the 2nd version I chopped up tiny pieces of pecans and put them in the batter. That was my favorite version! Since these are oat flour based cookies, oat flour tends to dry out easily and quicker. So, these buttery pecan bits throughout give a wonderful flavor and texture, but both versions are delicious!
I hope you love these Vegan Cardamom Pecan Cookies!
Other Vegan Cookie Recipes to try:
- Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Coconut Coookies
- Thin Mints
- Old-fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Chewy Maple Pecan Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies
Vegan Cardamom Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (160g) superfine oat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (24g) coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom (see NOTE)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (160g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (160g) super creamy roasted almond butter (roasted is more oily and will produce a much more moist cookie)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (70g) tiny pieces chopped pecans OR 14 pecans for just the topping(see NOTE)
NOTE
- As always I recommend a scale for accuracy with baking. As you can see from the photos, I made them 2 different ways. One version is with just a pecan placed on top, which is pretty. But the 2nd version I chopped up tiny pieces of pecans and put them in the batter. That was my favorite version! Since these are oat flour based cookies, oat flour tends to dry out easily and quicker. So, these buttery pecan bits throughout give a wonderful flavor and texture. These have a strong cardamom flavor. If you do not like cardamom, you can try subbing cinnamon, I have not tested this personally.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the oat flour, baking soda, coconut sugar, cardamom and salt and whisk very well.
- To the same bowl, pour in the syrup, almond butter, vanilla and 1/2 cup pecans. Stir together all the ingredients until a thick, cohesive dough forms. This may take a minute or so before it all comes together and should be moist and the dough easy to work with and form into balls.
- Roll into balls about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth of dough. With the version for the 1/2 cup chopped pecans, you will get 18 cookies. For the version with just a pecan on top, you will get 14.
- Place the balls onto the pan spaced 2 inches apart, as they will spread. Bake 1 batch at a time.
- Press each ball down between 1/4-1/2 inch thick, molding the edges to keep them round. Be careful you don't press them too flat or they will overbake/dry out.
- Bake for just 7-8 minutes. They should have spread some, puffed up and have nice cracks throughout. This doesn't seem long, but trust me, since these are made with oat flour, they dry out much quicker, so over-baking them will result in dry cookies. Do NOT be tempted to bake them longer. See how the first batch goes before first.
- Cool on the pan just 10 minutes. They will flatten back out some as they cool. Use a spatula to transfer them (if you pull off with your hands, they may break) to cool another 5 minutes on a cooling rack, then devour. They will continue to finish cooking as they cool, so leave them to cool as instructed. Since ovens vary, you may need to test the first batch to see if they need another minute more, or less, baking time.
- As soon as they've fully cooled, store in a sealed container to keep them moist. These are best the first day, as they do start to dry out due to the oat flour.
I’m wondering if I could use pecan butter instead of almond butter. Grandson and son in law have issues with almonds.
Have you tried this substitution?
Hi Gail! I think pecan butter would be delicious. Only thing is that it’s much, much oilier than almond butter and runnier. So it would make the batter too wet/greasy. Since it’s so much earlier, I’d try just using 1/2 cup of pecan butter. This is a guess.
I made these this evening! They are sooo good! I made th for my husband because he loves cardamom and ended up loving them myself!! Thank you for all of the delicious recipes!! I can always find something to make from your blog!!
I have started making these every year for the holidays, but I need to remember them at other times because I could eat them year-round. So simple to make with ingredients I almost always have on hand. The cardamom is just divine! And the almond butter adds the perfect nutty undertone to pair with the pecans and bind the cookie together. I just pulled a batch out of the oven and ate three as soon as they were cool enough!
That is so wonderful to hear Katie, so happy you love these so much!
I made this recipe today and it was fantastic! Everyone gobbled them up. I’ll definitely be making them again and will add cinnamon and little but if ground ginger as well. Thanks for a great recipe!
So happy to hear that Michelle!
These sound delicious. I’m wondering if I can freeze the dough or the cookies as I’d love to make ahead for Christmas.
I don’t recommend freezing the dough, that tends to dry it out really badly. You can always do a test batch early but since they are oil-free, I feel it will make them dry.
Very, Very delicious! Thanks
So glad you enjoyed them!
WOW! These cookies are so amazing and will be a traditional holiday treat for my family from now on. I put pecans into and on top of the cookies. Thank you for creating such wonderful recipes and for turning me on to how much better it is to use a kitchen scale compared to using measuring cups! You deserve 5 stars, not just this recipe!
SO happy to hear this Debora!
Absolutely delicious and your home smells like heaven while they´re baking. When I make them, I time it so my husband comes in just after they´ve been baked and he always says how amazing it smells.
Seriously – they are beyond delicious….