Lebkuchen

I make lebkuchen in December every year. This year I modified the recipe slightly to make it healthier by reducing the amount of sugar and replacing vegan butter with olive oil. I try to avoid all seed oils these days but olive oil in small amounts is probably ok. This is the good thing about home baking: when you see what goes into something it makes you think twice about eating it. It’s still not exactly healthy but as a treat in moderation over Christmas it’s delicious.

• 250g ground hazelnuts
• 700g wholewheat flour (I used wholemeal spelt flour)
• 375g honey
• 300g sugar
• 3 tablespoons of ground flax
• 1/2 cup water
• 80ml soya milk
• 15g cinnamon
• 4g ground cloves
• 25g baking soda
• 80ml olive oil
• for the icing: mix 1 cup icing sugar with 2 tbsp water over low heat (you can make as much of this as you like, depending on how thick you want the sweet topping)

Heat the honey with the olive oil, then let it cool down a little. Beat the flax with the sugar and water then add the soya milk. Mix everything (except icing sugar and water) with the flour (you’ll need a really large bowl).
Spread the dough onto an oven tray and bake for approximately 25 minutes at 200°C. It’ll be thick and sticky but do your best.
Spread the icing sugar/water mixture on top immediately after taking it out of the oven. Cut dough in pieces and let it cool down.