These vegan ladyfingers are light, airy, and so tasty! This quick and easy recipe uses just a few ingredients and has no aquafaba. Such perfect treats for tiramisu, or to enjoy with your tea or coffee!
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 sponge fingers as moist cookies. Or, make them ahead of time and let them dry out before using them in trifles or tiramisu.
Reasons To Love This Recipe
- No aquafaba
- Quick and easy
- Eggless, dairy-free
- Just a few ingredients
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Soy 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 your favorite vegan butter. If it isn’t salted, add ⅛ teaspoon of salt to the batter. Refrigerate it until 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 flavors 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 ladyfingers rise up. Do not use baking soda as a replacement because it will cause them to spread and flatten more than we want.
- 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.
How to Make Vegan Ladyfingers
Here are some quick visual steps. The full recipe with exact measurements can be found on the recipe card below.
Make the vegan buttermilk by stirring the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Set it aside for a few minutes as it curdles. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Lining them helps keep the ladyfingers from cooking too quickly on the hot pans.
Beat the vegan butter and cane sugar together until it forms a grainy texture. I suggest mixing them in a large bowl to prevent a mess. Using a hand or stand mixer makes things easier. Next, mix the buttermilk and vanilla in until everything is fully combined.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl. This helps reduce the amount of clumps that need to be broken up later, which would cause overmixing. Beat the dry ingredients in just until they’re fully combined. The batter will be thick. There is no need to chill it as that would cause the ladyfingers to be more dense and chewy.
Spoon the batter into a piping bag. If you don’t have one, use a storage bag. Then, clip a corner that’s ½ inch wide. Pipe the batter in strips that are 2 ½ inches long and an inch apart. Bake them for about 10-12 mins in the middle of the oven. 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 for 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack for another 10 minutes. Dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy! No need to add powdered sugar if you're planning to use them to make tiramisu.
Frequently Asked Question
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 when making tiramisu, store them loosely covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can also freeze them for 3 months.
Related Vegan Recipes
I hope you loved these Vegan Ladyfingers!
Vegan Ladyfingers
Ingredients
- ½ cup plant milk, such as soy
- ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup vegan butter, salted
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
- Stir the cold soy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Set it aside for a few minutes to give it time to curdle. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 1 large or 2 smaller baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Beat the cold vegan butter and cane sugar together in a large bowl until it forms a grainy texture. Next, beat the buttermilk and vanilla into the mixture until everything is fully combined.
- Use a sifter to add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl. Beat them in just until they’re fully combined. The batter will be smooth and thick.
- Spoon the batter into a piping bag. Pipe the batter in strips that are 2 ½ inches long and an inch apart from each other.
- Bake the ladyfingers for about 10-12 mins in the middle of the oven. Start checking on 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 the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack for another 10 minutes. Dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy! No need to add powdered sugar if you're planning to use them to make tiramisu.
Video
Notes
- Makes about 24 ladyfingers
- I have had the best curdling results by using soy milk but another full-fat plant-based milk can be used.
- Keep the vegan butter and plant milk cold by keeping them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them. This will help the ladyfingers rise up when baking.
- Using a sifter for the dry ingredients helps break up any clumps. This reduces the need to overmix the batter.
- There is no need to chill the batter as I found that to cause the ladyfingers to be more dense and chewy. We want them light and airy.
- If you don’t a piping bag, simply spoon the batter into a quart or gallon storage bag. Then, push out the excess air, seal it, and clip a corner about ½ inch wide.
- Lining the baking sheets helps to keep the ladyfingers from cooking too fast and flattening on the hot pans.
Nutrition
The nutrition information is estimated and can vary depending on brands and measurements used.
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