The three doshas; Vata, Pitta, and Kapha are present in all humans. However, you will notice a predominant type in each person, which is what we need to address. Nutrition-wise, each dosha has unique requirements. I will address these requirements using healthy yet practical vegan ayurvedic snacks. Let’s get to it!

Ayurvedic Snacks For Pitta Dosha

The Pitta types are very fiery and they can’t tolerate heat. They eat very fast and digest very fast. This means they also get hungry more often and hunger makes them angry. Hence, a choice of a heavy filling cold snack would be the most ideal.

Date Energy Balls

Ingredients

• ½ cup Rolled Oats
• 1 cup dates – pitted
• Vegan chocolate chips (as many as you want)
• 1-teaspoon Hemp, Chia or Flax seeds
• 3 tablespoons Cashew nut butter (or use peanut butter or any nut butter)

Procedure

Presoak the dates for 20 minutes in hot water if they are too hard and drain them off.

In a food processor or grinder, pulse the dates to a coarse texture. Add the nut butter and the rest of the ingredients and pulse until well combined. Roll this mixture into small balls using your hands and your snack is ready to eat. These can also be frozen for up to 6 months.

Coconut Energy Balls

Ingredients

• 1 cup Rolled oats
• Vegan chocolate chips – just a few
• 2 tablespoons Hemp, Chia or Flax seeds powdered
• ½ cup cashew nut butter (or use peanut butter or any nut butter)
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)

Procedure

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients using your hands. Then shape into palm-size balls and enjoy these delicious ayurvedic snacks.

Ayurvedic Snacks For Vata Dosha

These are usually lean, super active and unsettled. They have poor sleeping patterns and poor eating habits. You can consider them malnourished. They also can’t tolerate cold hence a choice of a warm energy-packed snack would be the most ideal.

Baked Granola Bars

Ingredients

5 cups vegan granola (homemade or store-bought)
2 tbsp. raw cacao powder
4 tbsp. hemp seeds
4 tbsp. maple syrup (or your preferred sweetener)
3 tbsp. cashew nut butter (or any nut butter)

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 356F.

Pulse 1 cup of the granola to powder form. This powder helps to bind the entire mixture.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients with your hands until well combined and lumpy. If still too dry, add a little nut milk.

Line a baking tray and compact this mixture well.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Let them cool before cutting into even palm-sized bars. You can enjoy these ayurvedic snacks with your favorite ayurvedic tea.

Ayurvedic Snacks For Kapha Dosha

These have masculine bodies yet are quite calm and composed. They have deep sleep patterns with slow digestion. For this reason, they need a low-calorie snack diet to avoid obesity.

Baked Carrot Chips

Ingredients

2 carrots, chopped into even chips.

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Your favorite healthy dried herbs. I use parsley and paprika, ¼ teaspoon each

Procedure

Coat the carrot chips with all the ingredients, and then bake them in a pre-heated oven at 425F for 25-30minutes. You can enjoy these ayurvedic snacks hot or cold. Moreover, you can dip them in a vegan ranch dip.

If you have ever been a victim of boring vegan snacks or flavorless dips, then its time to make a change this Christmas. Good cooking is like good music. They are all based on the foundation of proper technique. Vegan Christmas appetizers, tapas, finger foods, canapés, or whatever you might call them, prepare your pallet for the main feast.

It is a diverse category of foods; just like the occasions, we serve them for. And the beauty is that almost all types of food ingredients can be adapted as appetizers. This makes it hard to narrow down on specific foods especially for major Holidays like Christmas. In this article, I will share with you my all-time favorites, variations, and serving tips. Read on!

Baked Apples with Vegan Cheese

These are the simplest vegan Christmas appetizers to make. The best apples for this recipe are the green Granny Smith varieties, and the best cheese is the vegan cream cheese. You can also add fruits, nuts, and spices. I love the combination of star anise, cinnamon, and black peppercorns with dried apricots.

For this recipe, feel free to adjust the measurements according to the number of guests you will be serving.

Ingredients

• 8 apples
• 4 tablespoons vegan cheese
• 1 tablespoon diced dried apricots
• 1 tablespoon diced raisins
• A pinch of ground cinnamon, star anise, and black pepper

In a bowl, mix the vegan cheese, the diced fruits, and spices well.

Remove the core of your apples and a little more flesh around it. This creates holes in the apples for stuffing.

Spoon the cheese mixture in the apples and bake them at 200 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes or until your apples are tender.

As a tip, add a little water in your baking tray to keep the apples from drying out while baking.

Remove from the oven, garnish with some whole spices.

Serve hot!

Variation

Instead of apricots, you can use chopped pecans or dried cranberries. These are rich in anti-oxidants and other nutritional benefits.

You can also use other firm apple varieties such as Empire or Cortland.

Finally, you can add maple syrup if you have a sweet tooth but remember to balance the sweetness with a pinch of salt. This also depends on the apple variety you use. If your apple is naturally sweet, you don’t need to add more sugar.

Vegan Cheese Balls

Cheese balls are a delicious choice of vegan Christmas appetizers. You can prepare them in advance and cook them when your guests arrive. For this recipe, we shall use our favorite vegan cheese recipe.

Once you have the cheese ready, you will need the following to make the vegan Christmas appetizers.

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes
• 2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese
• ½-teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1-teaspoon chopped fresh coriander leaves
• ½-teaspoon dried oregano
• 1-teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
• 1-tablespoon corn flour
• Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and boil your potatoes (skin on) until tender. Peel off the skin and mash them with a fork. Add salt, pepper, and all the above ingredients and mix well. You can use any spices of your choice.

Now scoop the potato mixture and using your hands, flatten them into small patties. Add some more vegan cheese. Fold the patties into small balls, and set aside. The idea is to have more cheese inside your balls. So once they are done, you take a bite, and the cheese at the center melts in your mouth.

Make some batter to coat them before cooking. This batter gives a crispy layer outside. And at this point, you can get more creative.

For my batter, I use:

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons corn flour

Mix well to form a light batter.

Dip your vegan cheese balls and swirl around to coat well.

Roll the coated ball in breadcrumbs and set aside.

Repeat with the rest of the potato balls and roll in different coatings such as pistachio, chocolate shavings, chopped nuts, and cranberries to make several colorful vegan Christmas appetizers.

Freeze these coated balls for at least 1 hour before cooking. This ensures your cheese is firm enough to withstand the heat when cooking.

To cook, you can deep fry them in hot oil, or pan fry with just a little vegetable oil, or bake them at 250 Celsius for 15 minutes. However, deep-frying produces the best results.

Serve hot with a sweet and sour chili dip or this delicious vegan sour cream.

Baked Avocado Fries

Avocado is a key ingredient if you are on a Ketogenic diet. They are rich in monosaturated fats, vitamins, and minerals. For these fries, you need to preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius (425 F).

Ingredients

• 3 avocadoes – Slice them evenly (like French fries but not too thin)

For the flour mixture

• 2 tablespoons of arrowroot flour, or cassava flour, or coconut flour (you can also use all-purpose wheat flour)
• Spices – ½ teaspoon each
• Garlic powder
• Paprika
• Chili flakes
• A pinch of salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all the dry ingredients and set aside.

For the wet mixture

• 1½ tablespoon ground chia seeds (or you can use flax seeds)
• 4 tablespoons of water
• 1 lime juiced

Mix well and set aside.

For the final coating

You can use breadcrumbs, coconut flakes, cornflakes, or any similar ingredient that can create a crunchy effect.

To assemble

Dredge the avocados in the flour mixture to coat well. Dip in the wet mixture and finally in the coconut flakes or breadcrumbs. Lay the slices on a lined baking tray and spray with olive oil (optional).

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

These avocado fries need a tangy dipping sauce. The vegan sour cream works well, but you can also use our vegan ranch.

Vegan Christmas Appetizers for the kids

For the kids, this vegan snacks recipe has several treats that you can easily serve as appetizers. These include the energy balls, Tofu fingers, and of course the cashew cheese balls.

Cashew cheese balls

You can also make deep fried vegan chicken nuggets from our easy vegan chicken recipe.

So now you don’t have an excuse to serve sloppy vegan appetizers. The options are endless. You only need to be creative and think outside the box. Happy holidays!

What makes vegan Christmas cookies delicious? The list of ingredients and the procedure followed. Cookies are a versatile delicacy, especially when serving many people. You only need to make one batch of cookie dough and get creative with the shapes and cookie decoration designs.

In this article, I will share with you easy recipes for the two most common Christmas cookies: Christmas sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.

Let’s get started!

For both recipes, you need to pre-heat your oven at 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees F).

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1½ cups vegan butter
• 1-cup white sugar (this is the best option to achieve pale sugar cookies)
• 3 tablespoons vegan cream cheese (my secret ingredient)
• 3 cups of almond flour (or any gluten-free version you have. You can also use all-purpose flour)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds – pre-soaked for 4 hours (these act as an egg substitute)
• ½-teaspoon baking powder
• Spices
• 1-teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½-teaspoon almond extract
• A pinch of salt

Cream the sugar, butter, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Use your fingers to know the right consistency. If you can still feel large sugar granules, continue whipping.

Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Sift in your dry ingredients and combine to form flaky dough. Avoid over-mixing at this point.

Let the dough chill for 1 hour.

Roll the dough to 1/4″ thick. Cut out different shapes using a cookie cutter.

Transfer the cutouts on to a lined baking tray. You can also lightly spray the baking tray with coconut oil.

Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how crunchy you love your cookies.

Let them cool completely before decorating.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients

• ¼-cup coconut cream
• ¼ cup coconut sugar (you can use 2 tablespoons of maple syrup)
• 2 cups almond flour
• 2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses (optional)
• 1-teaspoon bicarbonate
• Spices
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• A pinch of salt

Mix all the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, mix the cream and sugar with all the wet ingredients. Combine with the dry ingredient and mix well to form soft dough. You can add a little almond milk if the dough is too dry.

Chill for 1 hour. Chilling makes the cookie dough firm hence easier to roll.

Roll the dough to 1/4″ thick. Cut out different shapes using cookie cutters.

Transfer the cutouts on to a lined baking tray. You can also lightly spray the baking tray with coconut oil.

Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how crunchy you love your cookies.

Let them cool completely before decorating.

For the Frosting

• 1-cup coconut cream
• ½ cup sifted sugar
• 2 tablespoons almond milk (for a slightly firm-runny consistency)
• Natural food coloring (Green and red for Christmas themed vegan cookies)

Whisk the ingredients together.

Chill the frosting until you’re ready to decorate.

In Conclusion

These vegan Christmas cookies taste terrific, and they are all gluten-free and of course dairy-free. They make an excellent breakfast addition or an accompaniment for your 10 o’clock tea. My kids usually poke holes right before baking. And when the cookies are baked, they loop a string around them and hung them in the Christmas tree as decoration. As you enjoy the cookies, create memories for your family this festive season. Merry Christmas!