My vegan sugar cookies are as pretty as they are delicious! Sweet, tender, and topped with tintable glaze, they're fun to make and perfect for everything from holidays and celebrations to everyday snacking.
These vegan sugar cookies totally blew my mind! I always thought of sugar cookies as pretty, but not all that tasty. They can be a little plain, and I normally gravitate towards cookies with more going on, like vegan snickerdoodles, vegan biscotti, or vegan cowboy cookies. But these vegan sugar cookies were DELICIOUS!
Jump to:
Whereas lots of sugar cookies are sweet but otherwise lacking in flavor and texture, these were soft, tender, and perfectly flavored with vanilla and a hint of almond.
They're also super cute, as sugar cookies should be! Cut them into your favorite shapes, frost them, optionally in color, and if you'd really like to go all out, throw on some sprinkles or colored sugar. They'll turn out absolutely adorable, and you'll have fun making them.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
For the Cookies
- Flour. I've only tested the recipe with all-purpose wheat flour, so I can't guarantee results with anything else.
- Cornstarch.
- Baking powder.
- Salt.
- Vegan butter. I used Wegman's brand plant-based butter for this recipe. Other brands you can try include Earth Balance and Miyoko's. You should be able to find it near the regular butter at most grocery stores.
- Sugar. Use organic granulated sugar to keep the recipe vegan. Conventional sugar is often processed using animal bone char, so I don't use it.
- Vanilla extract.
- Almond extract. You can skip this if needed, but it really adds flavor to the cookies.
- Non-dairy milk. Anything unsweetened and unflavored will work. Try soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, or cashew milk. Read my guide to dairy-free milks if you need help choosing one.
- Powdered sugar. This should also be organic.
For the Frosting
- Powdered sugar. Remember to use organic.
- Maple syrup. Feel free to substitute another liquid sweetener, such as agave.
- Almond extract. You can skip this or substitute with vanilla extract if needed.
- Non-dairy milk. Just use whatever variety you used for the cookies.
How They're Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make vegan sugar cookies. Scroll down if you'd prefer to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Stir your dry ingredients together in a bowl: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set this aside for a moment.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, beat together your vegan butter (brought up to room temperature), sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat everything for a full 2 minutes, until fluffy and creamy.
Step 3: Add the non-dairy milk, then continue beating everything just until the milk is incorporated and the mixture is creamy.
Step 4: Start adding the flour mixture to the butter mixture, just a bit at a time, and beating in each addition before adding more. You should now have a thick dough.
Step 5: Divide the dough in two, roll each half in a ball and wrap it in plastic. Place both halves in the fridge for an hour to an hour and a half. You want to chill the dough enough to firm it up, but you don't want it rock solid.
Step 6: Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 7: Take one of your dough halves out of the fridge and roll it to about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle everything with powdered sugar to avoid sticking — dough, countertop, and rolling pin. Be generous with this!
Steps 8 & 9: Grab some cookie cutters and cut your dough into shapes. Fun! Reroll the dough out and cut more shapes. Continue until you've used up all of your dough. The more times your roll your dough, the tougher your cookies will be. So be efficient and cut them as close together as you can!
Tip: Keeping your dough at the right temperature will make rolling and cutting easier, and it will prevent the cookies from spreading too much when they bake. Rewrap each dough ball in plastic and keep it in the fridge (or freezer if it warms up too much) between rollings.
Step 10: Space your cutouts about an inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake them until they're set, about 10 minutes for soft cookies.
Step 11: Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack for the cookies to cool when they're done.
Step 12: Stir your frosting ingredients together while the cookies bake. Adjust the amount of powdered sugar and milk to get just the right thickness — just spreadable, not too thick, and not too runny. Tint your frosting with food coloring if you'd like.
Step 13: Pipe or spread the frosting on your cookies when they're cool. Decorate your cookies with sprinkles, colored sugar, any other garnishes you like!
Shelf-Life & Storage
Vegan sugar cookies will keep in a sealed container or bag at room temperature for about 2 weeks, or in the freezer for about 3 months. Be sure the frosting is fully set, and separate layers of cookies with parchment paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm not sure! The recipe might work with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, but I haven't tried so I can't say for sure.
Only if you don't mind your cookies spreading out way too much, which they will if you skip this step.
This is what the powdered sugar is for, so don't be shy with it!
You can, but you'll need to get it out of the fridge and let it sit for a bit before rolling it. It should take twenty to thirty minutes before it's pliable enough to handle. If you find that it's cracking a lot or difficult to roll, let it sit for a few more minutes.
Variations
- Unfrosted cookies. Instead, top your cookies with sprinkles or colored sugar before baking them.
- Lemon frosting. Skip the almond extract in both the cookies and frosting, and replace the non-dairy milk in the frosting with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Chocolate dipped cookies. Dip your vegan sugar cookies in chocolate instead of frosting them! Melt some vegan chocolate chips by placing them in a microwave-safe bowl and zapping them in twenty second increments, stirring in between. Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate, the set the cookies on parchment paper while the chocolate sets.
- Nuts and chocolate. Make the chocolate-dipped variation, but also dip the chocolate portion in finely chopped nuts before letting it set.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup vegan butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk, at room temperature
- Organic powdered sugar, for dusting
For the Frosting
- 2 ½ cups organic powdered sugar, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk, plus more as needed
- Vegan food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Stir the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract together with an electric mixer at high speed for 2 full minutes, until creamy and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Add the non-dairy milk to the butter mixture. Beat it in just until it's fully incorporated.
- Begin adding the flour mixture to the butter mixture, about a third at a time. Beat each addition in at low speed until fully incorporated and a thick dough has formed.
- When all of the flour mixture has been added, shape the dough into 2 balls. Wrap each ball in plastic and place them in the fridge to chill until firm but not rock hard, about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Generously sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar. Remove one of the dough balls from the fridge, place it on the work surface, then sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Roll the dough to ¼ inch thick. Check to make sure it's not sticking to the work surface, and add more powdered sugar if needed.
- Cut the dough with cookie cutters, then place the cutouts on the baking sheets, spaced at least an inch apart.
- Roll any unused dough back into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and place it back in the fridge to chill while the cookies bake. You can also place it in the freezer if it warms up too much.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until just set on top. Place the baking sheets on cooling racks to cool.
- Repeat the process, rolling any remaining dough, then moving on to the second dough ball. Be sure your cookie sheets are cool before placing new dough cutouts on them. You can place the cookie sheets in the freezer for a few minutes if needed.
- While the cookies cool, stir the frosting ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add extra milk if the mixture seems too thick, and extra powdered sugar if it seems too thin. Stir in some food coloring if you'd like. Optionally, divide the frosting up and tint each portion a different color.
- Spread or pipe the frosting on your cookies, then decorate them with sprinkles or any other decorations you like.
- Allow the frosting to set and serve your cookies or store them for later.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
How long does the icing take to dry? Does it dry hard?
It does dry hard. It will start to firm up pretty quickly (within an hour or so), but I'd say it took a good 4 of 5 hours to set completely.
Can I use applesauce instead of butter?
I'm afraid I haven't tried, so I can't say if it will work. I'd love to hear how they turn out if you try!
Nice post.