Vegan Ladyfingers 

Ladyfingers are also known as Italian savoirardi. They are slender sweets that are sort of a cross between sponge-like cakes, cookies, and biscuits.

Their soft, fluffy, and slightly sweetened characteristics make them great for enjoying with your coffee, during tea-time, or as finger food at parties and showers. 

I developed this recipe for the ladyfinger portion of my Tiramisu recipe. It was difficult for me to find ladyfingers at my local grocery stores. And the few that I have found have not been vegan. Hence, I decided fresh and homemade was better anyway!

Traditional ladyfinger recipes typically involve a lot of eggs and many vegan recipes use aquafaba as an egg replacement. Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. My recipe is egg-free, has no aquafaba, and is quick and easy!

You can enjoy these vegan ladyfingers as cookies with your coffee. Or, make them ahead of time and let them dry out before using them in trifles or tiramisu. 

Reasons To Love These Ladyfingers

• No eggs or dairy are needed here!
• There’s no aquafaba to whip up or dough to chill.
• They are quick and easy to make with simple ingredients.
• Dip these heavenly treats in your coffee or layer them into tiramisu!

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Ingredients and Substitutions

• Plant Milk – Soy or a different full-fat plant-based milk can be used. However, soy tends to work the best in my experience. 
• Apple Cider Vinegar – ACV is added to the plant milk to create a buttermilk replacement. Either lemon juice or white vinegar can be used as replacements, if needed.
• Vegan butter – Use vegan butter sticks if you can because they tend to hold up better. My preference here is Earth Balance. If it isn’t salted, add ⅛ teaspoon of salt to the batter. Refrigerate it until just before you’re ready to use it. 
• Cane Sugar – Vegan cane sugar adds a perfect level of sweetness. 
• Vanilla – Just a little bit of vanilla extract adds a nice warmth to the ladyfingers. 
• Flour – All-purpose flour is a great, light flour to use here. A gluten-free, 1-to-1 substitute can work as well.
• Baking Powder – Baking powder helps the vegan ladyfingers rise up. Do not use baking soda as a replacement because it will cause them to spread and flatten more than we want. Interestingly, baking powder doesn’t have a long shelf life and will not work properly if it’s expired. I like the one made by Bob’s Red Mill because it’s aluminum-free.
• Salt – Just a pinch to enhance the other flavors. 
• Powdered Sugar (vegan) – This optional ingredient is dusted on top of the ladyfinger biscuits before eating them. You can leave it off if you plan to use them in tiramisu.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are some quick visual steps. Find the full recipe with exact measurements on the recipe card below.

Make the vegan buttermilk by combining the plant milk and apple cider vinegar. Set it aside as it curdles.

Preheat the oven and line baking sheets with silicone mats (or parchment paper). Lining them helps keep the ladyfingers from cooking too quickly on the hot trays and silicone keeps them from spreading as much.

Beat the vegan butter and sugar together until it forms a grainy texture. Using a hand or stand mixer makes things easier, but not required. Next, mix the buttermilk and vanilla in until everything is fully combined. 

Try to work quickly once the plant milk and vegan butter are out of the refrigerator. Cold dough rises better in the oven because of the steam pockets that are created with the heat.

Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl. Sifting helps reduce the amount of clumps that need to be broken up later, which can cause over-mixing. Beat this just until they’re fully combined.

Spoon the batter into a piping bag. If you don’t have one, use a gallon bag. No need to chill the dough as that will cause the ladyfingers to become dense and chewy.

Then, clip a corner off and pipe the batter in strips about an inch apart. Bake them for 10-12 minutes. Start checking them around 10 minutes and remove them as soon as you see a light golden color forming on the bottom/edges. 

Let them cool on a baking sheet. Transfer them to a cooling rack for a few more minutes. Dust your vegan ladyfingers with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Tips For Success

• I have had the best curdling results by using soy milk but another full-fat plant-based milk can be used. 
• Keep the butter and plant milk in the refrigerator until just before you need them and work quickly once they are out for a light and airy biscuit.
• Try to use butter sticks such as Earth Balance because they hold up better.
• Check to make sure your baking powder isn’t expired to ensure a full rise.
• Try not to over-mix the dough once you’ve added the flour as that can toughen up the vegan ladyfingers.
• Using a sifter for the dry ingredients helps break up any clumps. This reduces the need to over mix the batter. 
• If you don’t have a piping bag, simply spoon the batter into a gallon bag. Then, push out the excess air, seal it, and clip a corner about ½ inch wide. 
• Be sure to line your baking sheets with a silicone mat (preferred) or parchment paper. This keeps the ladyfingers from cooking too fast and flattening on the hot trays.

Storage

If you want to keep them moist and soft, store them tightly sealed in the refrigerator for 5 days. If you want them to dry out so that they absorb more coffee when making tiramisu, store them loosely covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can also freeze them for 3 months.

I hope you loved this recipe! If you try it, please let me know what you think with a rating and comment below. Your feedback really supports my blog and is helpful to other readers! 🙂 You can stay updated on my latest recipes by following me on Pinterest and joining my Email List.