These delicious VEGAN Gingerbread Cookies have been sponsored by Torani. All opinions are my own, as always. Thank you for supporting brands that fuel Love is in my tummy. #ad #AToraniHoliday

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year, isn’t it? As the year draws to a close and the world is adorned in holiday cheer, kitchens everywhere spew out a wonderful parade of treats that are the stuff memories are made of. Holidays are so utterly traditional, aren’t they? And despite doing the exact same thing each year, you still end up looking forward to it with childish glee, no matter how old you actually are.

This time last year, I posted the recipe for Kal Kal, a traditional deep-fried Indian Christmas cookie – buttery, crisp and flavored with cardamom. Along with the recipe, I shared the story of what a traditional Dawson family Christmas looks like. How we’d all sit around a giant batch of dough a week before Christmas, always after dinner, shaping Kal Kals well past midnight as my mother deep-fried them. It always tastes best when it’s hot out of the oil – the outside is delectably crisp while the center is still soft. As it cools down, the whole thing turns crisp, but for those first few moments, it is singularly perfect.

Ever since moving out of home, it’s these traditions I miss the most – traditions and memories are the quintessential flavors without which holidays would be bland, ordinary and no different from any other day. But as beautiful as they are, lingering on them just won’t do. Lingering on the past prevents you from moving forward to new beginnings. Instead look upon them as an opportunity to craft new ones to carry forth, letting it metamorphose as it grows in time.

I’ve been in this country for about 4 years, and that’s 3 Christmases (not counting the one Christmas I flew back to India for), and I’m only just getting used to the holiday flavors here – I’m still not quite there on Chocolate + Mint yet. Maybe one day. Maybe.

But the two flavors I’ve been truly wrapped around this year are Gingerbread and Chestnut – Oh how I rue the years I’ve lived  on this planet without tasting either. *sigh*

But for someone who did not grow up around these flavors, I found it quite hard to nail the taste right, having no frame of reference to work off of. That all changed when I found a bottle of Torani Gingerbread Syrup. Since getting my hands on Torani’s brilliant and nearly inexhaustible line of syrups, life’s been deliciously easy. And it gave me the perfect excuse to try and tweak something rooted in tradition: my family’s recipe of Kal Kal; because I believe that almost all traditions could use a little updating every now and then.

Besides, it also gave me the chance to turn it vegan! Bonus! The perfect start to a brand new tradition in my tiny new family! Deep-fried cookies might sound absolutely crazy, if you’ve never had one, but they are as decadent as decadent gets. Not unlike churros, if you need a frame of reference. But denser and crispier. Throw in the taste of cardamom and gingerbread and you’ve got yourself some delicious deep-fried VEGAN Gingerbread cookies!

We usually make a large batch of these to give away to friends and family, this time of year as it keeps so well at room temperature. Even stays crisp and everything.

And it’s now a tradition I kinda sorta get to keep, with my own twist, of course. By swapping up Torani Gingerbread Syrup in the recipe with any of their other flavors, you can actually make these deep-fried cookies in assorted flavors, and let the recipient guess the flavors for themselves! How fun!

Me, I’ve been enjoying these {Fried} VEGAN Gingerbread cookies with a hot steaming mug of VEGAN Gingerbread Latte on the side, made with Almond milk. Here’s the recipe (serves 1):

Now tell me some of your Holiday Traditions – I might take up one of yours for myself! Cheers to making new memories and new traditions!

Recipe variations:

1. Dust cookies generously with icing sugar before storing/serving.
2. Drizzle fried cookied with more Torani Gingerbread Syrup for a softer texture.
3. Instead of shaping them as swirls, simply flatten small discs of dough and fry.
4. Roll dough discs in chopped nuts before frying for a fun nutty variant.

When you make {FRIED} VEGAN Gingerbread Cookies (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!