Simple vegan ladyfingers, aka savoiardi sponge fingers. Ideal for trifle and tiramisu, or just for dunking in coffee!
The recipe to unlock all your dream desserts: it's vegan ladyfingers (aka savoiardi, aka sponge fingers). You'll need these guys to master my vegan tiramisu recipe, but they're also essential for English trifle and also just make a really delicious snack!
This seems like one of those recipes you'd imagine was SUPER EASY to develop - tiny little fingers of sponge, what could possibly be tricky about that?! I'll tell you: EVERYTHING! These guys have literally taken me TWO YEARS to get right, but I guarantee you, this recipe is easy and involves very few ingredients and YOU'RE BLOODY WELCOME!
I also have two slightly different methods for you today, depending on the kind of kit you've got to hand. I bought silicone ladyfinger moulds especially for this recipe, but I also wanted to make sure that the results are equally amazing baking on a simple baking sheet.
And I have to say - these ladyfingers turn out IDEAL every time - with or without silicone mould. They're deliciously vanilla-y with a gentle snap (more like a cookie than a sponge) which means they're ideal for soaking up espresso in a tiramisu WITHOUT going soggy. That's right - I even did a soggy bicky test and found that these guys keep their structure even when triple OR quadruple dunked in espresso. Again, YOU'RE WELCOME!
How do I make vegan ladyfingers?
If you don't need your hand holding by your lovely, supportive older vegan brother (me) then feel free to scroll RIGHT to the bottom of this page and get cracking with the recipe. If you love me like a real sibling and trust my guidance and love to read all the stupid trash I write in these recipe intros, then you're in the right place!
Here's a little walkthrough for making vegan ladyfingers:
1. Combine your dry ingredients
I'm not really one ton insist you use a sieve when baking. Usually it's not necessary, but this recipe is different. Not only does it remove lumps of baking powder or flour from you mixture (which helps to guarantee an even rise) but it also helps to blend together your ingredients nicely. So please don't skip this step.
Sieve together then set aside for later.
2. Whip your aquafaba
I'm going to stick my neck out here and assume you've already heard of NAY used aquafaba - that liquid from a can of chickpeas. It's going to act like whipped egg whites in this recipe which will help to put some microscopic airbubbles in our batter which gives everything lightness and lift.
The key to great aquafaba is to use a stand mixer with a SPOTLESSLY clean bowl. I even rub a wedge of lemon around the bowl and over the whisk attachment because the acidity dissolves any small grease particles which will stop the aquafaba reaching its full potential. You're then going to add your sugar, vanilla and a little oil to the mix and beat like crazy.
3. Fold in flour mixture
Now we've got a gorgeously fluffy, glossy aquafaba mixture, we're going to fold in our flour mixture. Don't worry about being SUPER gentle. I tried gentle folding AND vigorous folding and it really had little impact on the final ladyfinger.
What is important, however, is that you leave the ladyfinger batter to rest for a minute. When first folded together, the baking powder goes crazy as it reacts to the moisture or the aquafaba and the acidity of the sugar. Let it calm down for a few minutes then transfer it to a piping bag.
4. Pipe out your ladyfingers
Whether you're using a ladyfinger mould or not, it's important to use a piping bag to form your ladyfingers. If just using a baking tray, make sure it's lined with greaseproof paper and try to keep the piped ladyfingers as uniform as possible.
If using a silicone mould, you can be a little more careless, but try to ensure you put the same amount of batter into each well.
5. Dust with icing sugar
Again, whether using a mould or not, it's best to dust your ladyfingers with icing sugar BEFORE you bake them. This was, as they bake, the icing sugar that's in contact with the batter liquifies and creates a lightly glazed, crackly surface on the top of the ladyfinger.
You can brush it off after baking, to reveal the glazed surface if you wish, but I think it looks quite pretty!
6. Bake until crisp
Because of the very low amount of fat in this recipe, the ladyfingers won't brown dramatically. They will, however, crisp up beautifully. They'll be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven but as they cool, they'll become firm and suitable for all your tiramisu/trifle/dunking needs!
And that's how to make vegan ladyfingers!
Bingo! You're ready to go! If you'd like to make a DELICIOUS tiramisu now, why not head over to my recipe and whip one up!
If you love the look of this recipe PLEASE DO ME A MASSIVE FAVOUR AND RATE IT 5 STARS BELOW! You can also leave a nice comment or review if you like!
Vegan Ladyfingers (Savoiardi)
Ingredients
- 240 g plain white flour
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (aka cornflour in the UK)
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 120 g aquafaba (the liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas)
- 140 g caster sugar (aka superfine sugar in the USA)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 30 g vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar in the USA)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150c (fan) and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. Alternatively, if you have silicone ladyfinger moulds, grease lightly with vegan butter and place them on the baking trays.
- In a medium bowl, sieve together the plain white flour, cornstarch, fine sea salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a spotlessly clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the aquafaba and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Stop the mixer, add the caster sugar and whisk again until the mixture is glossy and falls in ribbons.
- With the mixer still running, drizzle in the vanilla extract and the vegetable oil. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the flour mixture until just combined and no lumps remain. Set aside on the counter to rest for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe the mixture into thick lines around 6-8 cm long on the lined baking trays or directly into the silicone ladyfinger moulds. This recipe makes around 20 lady fingers and I’d advise splitting them between two separate baking trays.
- Before baking, dust the tops of the batter with icing sugar.
- Place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool and crisp up fully.
JBN
Surprisingly easy! Thnks! For the recipet
Richard Makin
Really great to hear friend. Thank you so much for making the recipe
Lianne
Hi! I haven't made these yet, but they look very pretty and easy enough to make. I have a question though: do you think it would mess with the structure of the dough if I use a bit of food colouring?
Thanks!
Vix Phipps
Made these about 6 times now to go in the Tiramisu. I’m hooked! Easy to do and work so well.
JBN
Surprisingly easy! Thnks! For the recipet
Rach F
Can't believe these worked so well. I've tried so many recipes and they all went totaslly flat in the oven. These were puffed and crisp. Now to make that tiramisu
Richard Makin
That's awesome news. Yeah I tried many recipes in the development process and they all had a similar issue. So glad these ones worked for you.
Rach F
Can't believe these worked so well. I've tried so many recipes and they all went totaslly flat in the oven. These were puffed and crisp. Now to make that tiramisu
Richard Makin
Really great to hear friend. Thank you so much for making the recipe
Allison
Made these today and then made tiramisu ☺️ So good! I might have overbaked them a little as they seemed a tad dry. I think that was probably my fault though. They were easier to make than I expected and were delicious in the tiramisu!
Richard Makin
That's awesome news. Yeah I tried many recipes in the development process and they all had a similar issue. So glad these ones worked for you.
Chloe
Just made these with success - they look just like the photos (if a little misshapen due to my poor piping!) I'm planning to make a tiramisu on Thursday or Friday, so am wondering whether you think they'll store better at room temperature or in the freezer until then? Thank you so much for another reliable recipe! 🙂
Richard Makin
Hey Chloe, Funnily enough, I think they're best to store at room temp and only loosely covered. Some people actively like to dry out their ladyfingers to help them soak up more coffee, so I think it's a great plan to perhaps leave them in a cookie jar with the lid off. Let me know how you get on! Thanks for making them!
Chloe
Just made these with success - they look just like the photos (if a little misshapen due to my poor piping!) I'm planning to make a tiramisu on Thursday or Friday, so am wondering whether you think they'll store better at room temperature or in the freezer until then? Thank you so much for another reliable recipe! 🙂
Sabrina
Just made these to use as part of the tiramisu and they were great. My dough turned out quite tough to pipe because it was a bit solid and sticky - must have gone wrong on the recipe somewhere. But I persevered and the end result was brilliant!
Richard Makin
Hey Sabrina! Yeah the dough can be pretty tough and sticky - that's ok (I needed to use quite strong piping bags that don't split under pressure). Can I ask, did you refrigerate the batter before piping or did you pipe at room temp? Thanks for the comment! Big love!
Sabrina
Just made these to use as part of the tiramisu and they were great. My dough turned out quite tough to pipe because it was a bit solid and sticky - must have gone wrong on the recipe somewhere. But I persevered and the end result was brilliant!
Richard Makin
Hey Chloe, Funnily enough, I think they're best to store at room temp and only loosely covered. Some people actively like to dry out their ladyfingers to help them soak up more coffee, so I think it's a great plan to perhaps leave them in a cookie jar with the lid off. Let me know how you get on! Thanks for making them!
Richard Makin
Hey Sabrina! Yeah the dough can be pretty tough and sticky - that's ok (I needed to use quite strong piping bags that don't split under pressure). Can I ask, did you refrigerate the batter before piping or did you pipe at room temp? Thanks for the comment! Big love!
Lina
They were a bit denser than I would have liked, I remember them being a lot more porous from my non vegan days, but the flavour was great and the method with aquafaba was simple and resulted in yummy savoiardi
L37P
Easy to make and they have a wonderful marshmallow flavour! I'll be making the tiramisu with them tomorrow, once they've dried up just a bit more to soak up the espresso!
Thanks Richard!
Maggie
Have you tried subbing the flour with a gluten free blend?
Sophie
Hi! Do you know if these freeze well?
R Wilson
These turned out wonderfully.
I have a ceoliac in the household, so I used Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour and they still worked! Just had to bake them a little longer.
Also added a pinch of cream of tarter with the aquafina to help stabilise the whipping process.
Thankyou!
Colin R
I just made a batch of these and boy are they good! I'm at my parents so I had to make a few adjustments based on what they had in. Sainsbury's were out of cornflour so I added an extra tbsp of plain and then a tbsp of fine rice flour. I also used the aquafaba from a tin of butter beans and they whipped up perfectly. And then granulated sugar instead of caster. They came out so well. Much easier than I thought they would be to make and they'll go so well in the trifle I'm making tomorrow. Thanks Richard!
Helen
This recipe was a life saver, thanks. Got sent here from the Guardian comments on this 'vegan' recipe https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jun/11/how-to-turn-spent-coffee-into-a-brilliant-vegan-dessert-tiramisu which utterly failed to include vegan ladyfingers. I only realised halfway through buying ingredients for it. Looks like they ripped off your tiramisu recipe! Made yours (minus coffee grounds) and it was amazing. Thanks! Go sue them!
Kay
These are so easy to make and taste delicious. I made them once a week for months they are this good!The only vegan ladyfinger recipe you need. Layered with fresh fruit and vegan cream you end up with a very tasty cream cake.
Sarah
Hi, I have just made these and they are great. Do you happen to know how long they would last in an airtight container i.e ziploc food bag? I'm planning on making a few batches about 2 weeks in advance for a ginormous tiramisu to be served at my wedding.
many thanks
Sheri City Kid Adventures
I had to fight my family off these as I was saving them for the tiramisu! YUM!!!
Christina
First time attempting these, really impressed! Would have liked more color on them but appreciate the explanation why they don't brown too much. Thanks!
MDX
Mine ended up fairly soft after leaving them for a few hours, probably because I used the moulds, might take them out of the moulds next time and give them 5 more minutes in the oven. Not the end of the world though since they're going in a tiramisu anyway.
Was also a real pain to get the batter in the moulds because it was quite thick, have you played around with the amount of cornflour to make it a bit easier? Might give it a go and see how it affects the end result.
Elaine
Just made this to use in a trifle, very easy to make and if they taste as good as the raw mixture they will be delicious! Very irregular shaped due to my very poor piping! They’ve spread out quite a bit in baking so fingers crossed they turn out ok.
Thank you so much for all the amazing recipes Richard, a very merry Christmas to you!
Chandrikah
I used spelt flour and coconut sugar and these came out great!! I loveee tiramisu but haven’t had it since becoming vegan 4 years ago so thank you for creating this! Yumm, making this again for the 2nd time in a month
AP
I think my meringue mix to dry mix ratio was off, and I couldn't pipe the cookies. Possibly because the amount of aquafaba in a can might vary. Still turned out good - I just baked it in a layer like a sheet cake.
Keely
Not sure what went wrong but these did not work for me. All was fine until I folded in the flour, at which point my batter collapsed and became a crumbly, shortbread dough consistency! I tried shaping them by hand and baking just in case and it did not work at all. Oh dear.
Samy
The same thing just happened to me. As soon as I added the flour mixture it just deflated. 🙁
Grace
I just made these (to use in a trifle) and they came out PERFECT! I’ve never had much success with aquafaba so I was surprised these were so easy to make! Thanks for another great vegan recipe!!!!
Allison
Do these spread much when baking? I'd like to make a tiramisu in a springform pan, and I'm wondering whether I could trace the bottom piece of the pan onto parchment twice, then pipe straight lines from top to bottom of the circles to minimize waste or the need to cut cookies. If I should try this, how much space do you reckon I should leave between the piped lines and at the ends? Do you foresee any issues with this method? I really appreciate all the effort you put into developing and trialing your recipes, and your commitment to not posting meh recipes. Thanks!!
Sangita Jain
Thank for this amazing recepe. I want to try it . Let me know at the earliest if I can use home made boiled chick pea drained water as aqua faba
Would appreciate if you could email to me as well. Thanks
Libby
Yay vegan trifle here we come baby!