These Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies are soft and fluffy, sweet and tangy, and a little nutty. They're covered in a rich, creamy lemon frosting too! Perfect for Christmas!
Why you'll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies:
- they're undetectably vegan and gluten-free
- they're soft and chewy
- they're a little fluffy
- they're nutty from the poppy seeds
- they're sweet and tangy
- they're easy to make
- they're covered in a rich lemon frosting
- the dough doesn't require chilling
- they're refined sugar free!
How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together the ingredients for the cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: If the dough looks too wet: place it in the fridge for an hour to help it firm up. If it looks too dry: add a splash of any type of plant-based milk.
- Use your hands to shape the cookie dough into patties - you should be able to make 7 large cookies.
Tip: To make super fluffy cookies, I like to make sure the centre part of the cookie is slightly thicker than the rest, like in a dome shape. And don't worry, unlike traditional cookies, these ones won't spread as they bake.
- Transfer the cookies onto a rectangular baking tray.
Tip: Line the baking tray with greased baking paper to make sure the cookies don't stick.
- Bake in oven for around 10-12 minutes, until very lightly browned - be careful not to over-bake!
- They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven - leave to cool completely to let them harden before applying the frosting.
- Don't worry about the cracks on top - I found it was impossible to make these vegan and gluten-free lemon cookies without the cracks forming on top. The cracks don't affect the taste or the texture at all, and the yummy lemon frosting will completely cover them up!
How to make the frosting
- Place the ingredients for the frosting in a food processor or blender.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
- Taste and add extra lemon juice and/or maple syrup if necessary.
- Use a knife to spread a bit of frosting over each of the cookies.
- Decorate with extra lemon zest and poppy seeds, if desired.
How long do these Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies keep for?
These Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- you can replace the coconut oil with coconut butter
- you can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
- you can replace the gluten-free flour with rice flour
- if you don't need the cookies to be gluten-free, you can replace the gluten-free flour with plain flour
- the ground almonds can be replaced with ground walnuts
- for a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and omit the frosting or make a different frosting
- you can omit the poppy seeds!
Tips for baking with lemons
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- For the cookies, I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the frosting, I would recommend tasting it as you're making it and adding extra lemon juice if necessary.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
More gluten-free vegan cookie recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Chocolate Cookies
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Millionaire Shortbread
- Orange Cookies
- Lemon Blueberry Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
These Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies are soft and fluffy, sweet and tangy, and a little nutty. They're covered in a rich, creamy lemon frosting too!
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Servings: 7 large cookies
Calories: 424kcal
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil (or sub coconut butter)
- 10 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
- 7 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (make sure lemons are unwaxed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
For the frosting:
- 75 g (½ cup) cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave
- Add the maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla, and mix well
- Measure out the dry ingredients (ground almonds, poppy seeds, gluten-free flour and baking powder) and mix well
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until you get a soft dough but one that’s firm enough to mould
- If the dough looks too wet, placing it in the fridge for an hour will help it firm up. If it looks too dry, add a splash of any type of plant-based milk
- Use your hands to shape the cookie dough into patties – you should be able to make 7 large cookies. To make super fluffy cookies, I like to make sure the centre part of the cookie is slightly thicker than the rest. And don't worry, unlike traditional cookies, these ones won't spread as they bake
- Transfer the cookies onto a baking tray/baking sheet lined with greased baking paper
- Bake in oven for around 10-12 minutes, until very lightly browned – be careful not to over-bake!
- They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven – leave to cool completely to let them harden before applying the frosting
For the frosting:
- Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary
- Taste and add extra lemon juice and/or maple syrup if necessary
- Use a knife to spread a bit of frosting over each of the cookies
- Decorate with extra poppy seeds and lemon zest, if desired
- Taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
*You can alternatively use almond flour
Don’t worry about the cracks on top – I found it was impossible to make these vegan and gluten-free lemon cookies without cracks forming on top. The cracks don’t affect the taste or the texture at all, and the yummy lemon frosting will completely cover them up!
Tips for baking with lemons
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- For the cookies, I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the frosting, I would recommend tasting it as you're making it and adding extra lemon juice if necessary.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 424
Calories from Fat 198
% Daily Value*
Fat 22g34%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Sodium 7mg0%
Potassium 275mg8%
Carbohydrates 54g18%
Fiber 6g24%
Sugar 29g32%
Protein 9g18%
Vitamin C 11mg13%
Calcium 191mg19%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Jean Scaraglino
How "large" are these cookies and can you make them smaller???
Rhian Williams
Pretty big!! You can make them smaller by making 14 cookies instead and making them half the size. Baking time will have to be adjusted slightly - maybe bake around 8 minutes!
Susan
I love this recipe!
To eliminate the cracks, use 1 tsp baking soda, instead of baking powder. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much for sharing!
Michael
It doesn’t seem like my frosting is hardening, did I do something wrong? Hope they harden when I put in the fridge.
Rhian Williams
Did you blend the frosting for long enough? Putting it in the fridge will help it firm up, as long as you have blended it up for long enough.
Tasch
Hi Rhian, I stumbled across your wonderful website through a recipe of yours on yummly!
I am going to make some of your truffles and this lemon poppy seed cookie tomorrow, THANK YOU!!! I was wondering if they could be frozen rather than refrigerated and thawed out when we want to eat them.
You're so amazing, look at this fabulous website you've created. Well done!!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that! I'm not sure about freezing these cookies as the frosting may not freeze and defrost well, sorry! You can freeze the cookies and then frost after defrosting though. Hope that helps!