Hold up! Did I just say vegan pumpkin spice rusks? Yup, That’s exactly what I just said.
Pumpkin spice everywhere
With Halloween upon us and pumpkins and pumpkin everything surrounding me where ever I go, I didn’t want to feel like I was missing out on anything. I’ve come to realize that every holiday and celebration in the USA gets done BIG. Halloween is no exception.
I asked a friend if people actually eat the pumpkins and surprisingly apparently most don’t. Besides pumpkin pie, pumpkin isn’t a common food to be consumed. Unless you’re into healthier home cooked meals and make your own soups and meals of course.
Vegan pumpkin spice rusks
I haven’t made rusks in a while as I’ve been baking for my new business BULK. However, with autumn (fall) upon us and my curiosity to know what the big deal is about pumpkin spice, I decided it’s time to make something using it. The vegan pumpkin spice rusk idea was born as my mom arrives this week and I want her to have something yum to nibble on with a tea or coffee.
What are rusks?
If you’ve never heard of a rusk before, it’s a hard biscuit similar to biscotti. You can read all about them here where I posted my original rusk recipe.
Are rusks easy to make?
The answer is yes. Rusks are super easy to make however they are time-consuming in the sense that they take a while to dry out in the oven. Effort wise, this recipe requires minimal as you don’t need to be checking on them frequently.
DIY Pumpkin spice
In America, it’s easy to find pumpkin spice in the spice section but I know around the world this isn’t the case. It’s really easy to make your own blend. All you need is:
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
This makes quite a bit so
Vegan rusks without eggs
If you’ve tried my vegan rusks before, you will know that I used egg replacer in them. I was out this time and had no luck finding it at my grocery store…. West Virginia is a total hit or miss. So instead I tried using aquafaba and it worked.
What is aquafaba?
Aquafaba is the liquid that gets drained off canned chickpeas. For years this went down the drain until some genius decided to experiment with it. Now there are so many recipes out there using aquafaba. So keep a few cans of chickpeas handy.
Beating the aquafaba
I use an electric handheld beater to beat the aquafaba until it resembles egg whites. If you don’t have a beater, I’m not sure how well a hand whisk would work. If you’re looking for something even easier, rather stick with egg replacer. One teaspoon mixed with 1 Tbsp water will be enough.
These vegan pumpkin spice are:
- A bite of heaven – according to husband dearest
- Perfect for tea and coffee dipping
- Crunchy
- Flavorful
- Buttery
- 10 ingredients – chia seeds are optional
How to make vegan pumpkin spice rusks
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Add the pecans and pumpkin spice. Mix the milk and apple cider vinegar together. Add the milk mix to the flour then add the oil and
The trick is to bake these for 20 minutes and then cut them. Put them back into a lowered temperate oven for another 20 minutes. Separate them and then leave them for 3-4 hours until they have dried out.
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Rusks
Equipment
- Electric hand beater (unless using egg replacer)
- Oven
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour Can use Bob's all purpose GF Flour link in notes
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 cup coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
- 1 tbsp chia seeds optional
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp pumpkin spice
- 60 g pecan nuts
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk (250ml)
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup melted coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp aquafaba or see above post for egg replacer
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 350F or 180C
- In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together.
- Add the pecans and pumpkn spice.
- Mix the apple cider viengar into the almond milk.
- Add the almond milk mix and coconut oil to the dry ingredients. Then add the aquafaba (or egg replacer) and whisk together.
- Place parchment paper in the bottom of your baking dish and spray the dish with oil.
- Pat the rusk micture evernly into the dish and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cut into 24 pieces or less if you want bigger rusks.
- Reduce oven heat to 200F or 95C
- Retun to the oven for another 20 minutes.
- Remove and flip onto a baking sheet. Seperating the rusks.
- Return to oven and keep baking for 3-4 hours until dried out. It will take 3 hours if your rusks are smaller and 4 hours if your rusks are bigger.
- Remove from oven and let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
- Will keep for a few weeks provided the container is airtight.
Notes
This is my favorite
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Let me know if you give these a try by rating them below and sharing on Instagram. Tag me @the_hungry_herbivore
Until next time, happy cooking 🙂
Xoxo Amy
