Easy No-Bake Vegan Pine Cone Cookies With Just 5 Ingredients

|Updated Dec 21, 2022

Short on time before the holidays? These no-bake vegan holiday cookies are for you! Guests will take one look at these intricate cookies and think they took hours to make.

Vegan pine cone cookies may look complicated to make, but this recipe actually takes minimal effort and just five ingredients! This no-bake cookie recipe is easy to follow and only requires 10 minutes of active time. Vegan pine cone cookies do require a couple of hours to chill, so leave time to cool and decorate.

No-bake vegan pine cone cookies can be easily customized to be free of gluten, sugar, or unhealthy ingredients. You can also have fun with the recipe and add your favorite spices, nuts, or even alcohol!

Vegan Pine Cone Cookie Ingredients

Cookies (Store-bought or homemade)
Vegan chocolate spread or nut butter
Jam
Chocolate cornflakes
Powdered sugar

Should You Use Store-Bought or Homemade Cookies?

Both homemade and store-bought cookies can be used to make vegan pine cone cookies. You can use any vegan cookie for this recipe - try vegan oat cookies, vegan gingerbread, vegan Oreos, spekulatius, sugar cookies, ginger cookies, or a combination of these.

This no-bake vegan pine cone cookie recipe will work with any leftover cookies or cookie crumbles from the bottom of the bag.

What to Use Instead of Jam, Vegan Chocolate Spread or Nut Butter

As the ‘wet ingredient’ you have so many options to choose from as well: jam (apricot and orange are our favorites), vegan chocolate spread, peanut butter, hazelnut butter, tahini, or vegan cream cheese. You can use these alone or in a combination in this recipe.

How much to use of these will depend on the type of cookies you crumbled. If you use filled or softer cookies you will need less of the ‘wet ingredients’ compared to some drier cookies.

Customize Vegan Pine Cone Cookies

No-bake vegan pine cone cookies are extremely versatile and customizable.

Use orange or lemon zest to brighten up the flavor of the cookies.
Sprinkle your favorite holiday spices such as ground ginger, cinnamon, or pumpkin spice to the mix.
Chocolate lovers will want to add in cocoa powder for extra chocolate flavor.
If you're looking for different textures throughout the vegan pine cone cookies, use coconut flakes, chopped dried nuts or cacao nibs.
Vanilla extract is always a great addition to any vegan cookie or vegan holiday dessert.
Dust the cookies with sugar before serving for a snowy effect.
Mix in rum or whiskey for a bold flavor.

How to Make Pine Cone Cookies

Place vegan cookies in a food processor. Pulse into fine crumbs. Work in batches, if needed.
Transfer vegan cookie crumbs into a large bowl, and add chocolate spread and jam. Start with a smaller amount, you can add more if needed as you go. Add any extra ingredients if using them as well.
Start to mix and “knead” the dough, until it’s sticky but shapable. Add more jam and/or chocolate spread, if needed. Place dough covered in the fridge for an hour.
If the dough seems too dry after chilling, add a splash of dairy-free milk and knead again.
Shape about 1/4 cup of the dough into a cone or pyramid. Starting from the bottom, insert chocolate cornflakes into the dough to resemble pine cones. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Dust with sugar before serving.

Make Your Own Vegan Chocolate Spread From Scratch

You can either buy vegan Nutella or make your own vegan chocolate from scratch. Homemade vegan chocolate spread takes under 5 minutes to make. Melt 7 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler, stir in a few tablespoons of coconut cream and refrigerate for 25 minutes.

No-Bake Vegan Pine Cone Cookies

Makes about 12 pine cones

Prep Time: 10 mins

Chilling time: 1 hour

Decorating: 20 mins

Ingredients

1.1 lbs/500 g cookies (about 4 cups of cookie crumbs)
2-4 tbsp vegan chocolate spread or nut butter
4-6 tbsp jam
chocolate cornflakes
powdered sugar

Instructions

Place cookies in a food processor. Pulse into fine crumbs. Work in batches, if needed.
Transfer crumbs into a large bowl, and add chocolate spread and jam. Start with a smaller amount, you can add more if needed as you go. Add any optional extras if using them as well.
Start to mix and “knead” the dough, until it’s sticky but shapable. Add more jam and/or chocolate spread, if needed. Place dough covered in the fridge for an hour.
If the dough seems too dry after chilling, add a splash of plant milk and knead again.
Shape about 1/4 cup of the dough into a cone or pyramid. Starting from the bottom, insert chocolate cornflakes into the dough to resemble pine cones. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Serve pine cones immediately or chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Dust with sugar before serving.