These flour-less Vegan Almond Horns (German Marzipan Cookies) are soft on the inside but crispy on the outside, and can be easily made from scratch using simple ingredients! It’s a delicious gluten-free homemade Christmas treat that tastes better than the pastry from a bakery!
Do you love the Christmas season with everything that goes with it as much as I do? If you can’t get enough of the smell and taste of all the delicious Christmas cookies, I have just the right recipe for you! These Vegan Almond Horns are called “Mandelhörnchen” here in Germany and it’s a popular Christmas treat that you can find at almost any bakery all over the country.
Back in the days as a child, I loved to bake cookies with my grandma and I couldn’t miss these almond horns! They are soft, moist, and gooey on the inside, coated with crunchy almonds and, on top of that, they are also dipped in chocolate. It couldn’t get any better than that!
The perfect Christmas cookies
To be honest, today I appreciate the sweet and nutty pastry even more than in my childhood. The sweetness is a perfect complement to a cup of freshly brewed coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. And while I can’t keep my hands off gingerbread cookies, Linzer cookies, and vanilla crescent cookies, these vegan almond horns are also a very special kind of cookies that are perfect for the Christmas season and the holidays!
A simple vegan recipe using few ingredients!
You can easily make these vegan almond marzipan horns without eggs and flour! While classic recipes often use egg white, we just use some plant milk and ground almonds instead. Believe me, they will be at least as tender and juicy! The rest of the ingredients aren’t unusual either and maybe you already have them at home! For this recipe you need the following:
Gluten-free almond cookie dough:
- Ground almonds: Make sure you use whole ground almonds and not almond flour as that is drier. Alternatively, you can grind almonds yourself in a food processor.
- Powdered sugar: You can also make your own powdered sugar by crushing regular sugar in a blender, coffee grinder, or food processor until it becomes a fine powder.
- Marzipan paste: For the perfect texture and best Christmas flavor!
- Almond milk: or another dairy-free milk of your choice.
For the topping:
- Slivered almonds: You could also use chopped almonds if you prefer.
- Vegan chocolate: I use dark chocolate here because it makes a nice contrast to the sweetness of the marzipan. However, you can use any type of chocolate you like.
- Coconut oil: To make the melted chocolate more smooth and creamy.
*Note: You can find the exact measurements of ingredients in the recipe card below.
Can I use other nuts?
Since marzipan is made from almonds and it’s a basic ingredient of classic almond horns, I think that ground, as well as slivered almonds, are the best choice for these vegan cookies! However, if you want to try something different, feel free to use other ground and sliced or chopped nuts such as hazelnuts or peanuts for the dough and topping.
How to make vegan almond horns
*Note: Feel free to watch the recipe video to see how easy it is!
Step 1: Prepare the dough.
First whisk together the ground almonds, powdered sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Then pluck the raw marzipan mixture into small pieces and add them to the dry ingredients. Alternatively, you could also use a kitchen grater to grate the marzipan. However, I recommend freezing the marzipan block for a few minutes beforehand so that it becomes firmer.
Once all the ingredients are in the bowl, knead them all together with your hands into a dough. Then form it into a flat ball and wrap it tightly in cling film. Put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to make it firmer and less sticky. If you want to form and bake the almond horns the next day, you could leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight.
Step 2: Form and bake the almond horns.
After the chill time, preheat your oven to 356°F (200°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap and form it into 8-10 crescents with wet hands. You can also form more or fewer crescents depending on your desired size. Just consider that the baking time may vary depending on the thickness and size of your pastry. Then roll your vegan cookies in slivered almonds and place them on the prepared baking tray.
Bake your vegan almond marzipan cookies for about 15-20 minutes. Keep in mind that smaller horns will be done sooner, while very large cookies may take a little longer. Then take them out of the oven and let them cool completely. They will still be very soft when you take them out, but they will harden as they cool.
Step 3: Dip them in chocolate and enjoy!
Once your pastry has completely cooled, slowly melt the chocolate with the coconut oil over a water bath. Then dip the ends of each almond horn into the melted chocolate and place them on a wire rack with parchment paper underneath so that it can drip off. Enjoy!
These homemade vegan almond horns are:
- Egg-less
- Gluten-free (flour-less)
- Dairy-free (lactose-free)
- Quick and easy to make
- Sweet
- Chocolaty
- Christmassy
- Soft & gooey
- Nutty
- Perfect for dessert, snack, or as a gift for your family and friends!
How can I store vegan almond horns?
Be sure to keep your almond horns in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out. You can store them for up to a week in a sealed cookie jar at a cool place. If you want to give them away as a present, put them in a plastic bag or better in a Maison-jar for a more environmentally friendly and creative packaging idea!
More vegan Christmas recipes to try:
Looking for more simple baking recipes for the holidays? Here are a few favorite recipes from my vegan Christmas bakery:
- Vanilla Crescent Cookies
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Mini Apple Pies
- Best Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Linzer Cookies (Spitzbuben)
- Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookie Butter Cake
- Cranberry Vanilla Cake
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Best Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Cranberry Crumb Cheesecake
- Crunchy Nut Corners
If you try this vegan almond horns recipe, please leave me a comment and star rating of how you liked it! And if you take a picture of your German Christmas marzipan cookies and share it on Instagram, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka, because I love to see your pictures. Have fun baking!
Vegan Almond Horns (German Marzipan Cookies)
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100 g) ground almonds
- 1 cup (100 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 7 oz (200 g) raw marzipan paste *make sure it contains at least 54% almonds!
- 3 tbsp almond milk or other dairy-free milk
Topping:
- 1 cup (100 g) slivered almonds
- 3.5 oz (100 g) vegan chocolate variety as you like
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
*Note: Feel free to watch the recipe video and check out step-by-step instructions at the top of the post!
- Whisk together ground almonds, powdered sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Pluck the raw marzipan mixture into small pieces (or grate with a kitchen grater) and add them to the bowl of dry ingredients. Then add almond milk and knead everything into a dough.
- Form the dough into a flat ball, wrap it tightly in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or overnight if you make the dough ahead).
- After the chill time, preheat the oven to 356°F (200°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper
- Unwrap the dough and form it into 8-10 crescents with wet hands (depending on your desired size). Then roll them in the slivered almonds and place them on the prepared baking tray.
- Bake the almond horns for about 15-20 minutes (smaller ones are done sooner). Then remove and let them cool completely (they will harden as they cool).
- Melt the chocolate with the coconut oil slowly over a water bath. Then dip the ends of each almond horn in it and place on a wire rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath to drip off.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Since there are different types of raw marzipan paste available, be sure to check the ingredient list - It should contain at least 54% almonds. Otherwise, your almond horns will melt during baking.
- You can also check out the marzipan recipe from my friend Ela if you want to make your own.
- Find storage instructions and more helpful tips regarding ingredients, etc. in the blog post above!
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Hi Bianka, I love your recipes amd all that you put into this beautiful website. Unfortunately this one didn’t work out for me- the trial batch came our flat as pancakes. I added some extra almond flour and this next round kept its shape. Given they are quite sweet, I would recommend that may help temper things there too. Thanks, and greetings from Ottawa Canada.
Glad it turned out well after adding more almond flour! Thank you very much for your feedback! 🙂
SO good! It’s vegan, gluten-free, so easy to make and quite the crowdpleaser! It’s sweet, so if you don’t like that you might want to use less powder sugar. I can highly recommend the recipe like it is!
I am very happy about that! 💖 Thank you so much for the feedback. Have a great weekend 🙂