Every Christmas since we’ve been together (over ten years now!), James has made his mother’s famous fruit jumbles. The cookies are a big favourite of Em’s, so James always makes her a big box to take home. Once, several years ago, James was stricken to learn that Em’s boyfriend, Spencer, had eaten almost the entire box of Em’s precious jumbles….so, of course, he made her another big batch.

Now, James has already made his mum’s jumbles this Christmas, and they are, of course, delicious, but they aren’t vegan. I had a look at the recipe (a little index card, now faded and stained with wear) and realized it wouldn’t be too hard to adapt the recipe to an entirely plant-based, no oil, no sugar version.

And, yes, of COURSE, I’m using sweetener (I’m not insane!), but I’m replacing white sugar with date syrup. And, okay, I’m replacing the dairy butter with nut butter. Oh, and I’ll be using flax eggs instead of the real thing.

So….here we go!

Vegan Fruit Jumbles

1/2 lb. chopped medjool dates

1/2 lb. raisins

1/2 lb. chopped walnuts

1 TBS ground flax seed mixed with 3 TBS water

3/4 cups sprouted whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup nut butter

1/4 cup date syrup

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 TBS baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water

Mix well. Use small scoop to deposit cookies on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Aaaaand the verdict is……they’re great! Perhaps not as perfect as James’s mum’s version, but not too bad at all for a WFPB Christmas cookie! Here’s a comparison of the two. The original is on the left and the WFPB version is on the right:

And here’s a picture of the beautiful Janet of fruit jumble fame. This picture sits on the mantel in our cozy little poetry room downstairs.

And, yes, okay, you can stop your chortling: we have a “poetry room,” but that’s what you get in the house of a couple of people who taught English literature for fifty-odd years between us!

And here are some pictures of my darling boy decorating his Christmas sugar cookies:

And the song of the day is a hilarious little Christmas video from 42nd Street Studios!