Vegan Sugar Cookies - The BEST Easy Recipe! (2024)

This recipe for the perfect frosted vegan sugar cookies is soft, chewy, fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

Vegan Sugar Cookies - The BEST Easy Recipe! (1)

The best vegan sugar cookie recipe

With no butter, no eggs, and no dairy required, people are always amazed at just how wonderful these buttery sugar cookies taste.

Plus, unlike many other vegan sugar cookie recipes, this one can be made with only basic cookie ingredients.

In fact, you may already have everything in your kitchen needed to make the chewy vegan cookies for dessert tonight.

And yes, the recipe totally works with cookie cutters!

Also try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Vegan Lofthouse sugar cookies

Have you ever tried a Lofthouse sugar cookie?

These soft homemade vegan sugar cookies are sure to remind you of the cake-like decorated sugar cookies you can find at the grocery store.

They are perfect for Valentine’s Day, Christmas cookie trays, birthday parties, holiday parties, or simply just because.

The recipe is also easy to customize.

I will often add a few drops of almond extract, coconut extract, pure peppermint extract, or maple extract for a fun flavor twist.

Or turn them into vegan chai cookies by stirring a sprinkle of cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, ginger, and ground cloves into the batter before adding the liquid ingredients.

You might also like this Vegan Cheesecake – No Cashews

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Ingredients for vegan sugar cookies

The cookies require no flax eggs or chia eggs, just everyday sugar cookie ingredients.

To make the recipe, you will need flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, oil or dairy free butter, nondairy milk, and pure vanilla extract.

Tested flour options that work include white all purpose flour, oat flour, and whole grain spelt flour, which is my favorite. Do not use almond flour or coconut flour.

For dairy free and gluten free sugar cookies, use oat flour. I have not tried all purpose gluten free flour, so be sure to report back for other readers if you experiment.

If you prefer a grain free and paleo option, try these Keto Cookies.

Another granulated sweetener can be substituted for white sugar, including refined sugar free coconut sugar, date sugar, or a no sugar option like xylitol. Pure maple syrup and agave are options we have not tried and therefore cannot recommend.

These sugar cookies can either be oil free or made without vegan butter. Even when using real sugar and vegan butter, they only have about 70 calories each.

The oil version, which uses melted coconut oil or vegetable oil, will have more of a crispy, shortbread texture, while the plantbased butter version is softer.

Both options are really good, so it is entirely your choice.

Finally, milk of choice refers to any vegan milk alternative. You may use oat milk, soy milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, almond milk, or whatever you have in the refrigerator.

Trending Right Now: Vegan Brownies

Vegan Sugar Cookies - The BEST Easy Recipe! (5)

Easy step by step recipe video

Above – Watch the vegan sugar cookie recipe video

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How to make egg free sugar cookies

Get out a large mixing bowl, and add all dry ingredients to the bowl.

Mix these ingredients very well before adding the oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Stir everything together to form a sugar cookie dough.

The dough should look dry at first. Keep stirring, and it will achieve a cookie dough texture after about a minute of stirring. You can also use a stand mixer if you own one.

Either smush the dough into one giant ball and then roll into cookie balls, or transfer the dough to a gallon sized bag and form a ball from inside the bag.

If you are not ready to bake right away, you can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate overnight or for a few days.

When ready to bake cookies, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fold the Ziploc in half, then roll out the dough inside until it takes up the entirety of the other half of the bag.

Cut open the bag, and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

Place the sugar cookie shapes on a baking tray. Bake on the center rack of a properly calibrated oven for eleven minutes.

The cookies should look underdone when you remove them from the oven. Let the pan cool for at least ten minutes before handling the cookies, because they continue to firm up as they cool.

To prevent the frosting from melting, make sure the cookies are no longer hot before adding any icing.

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Plant based sugar cookie frosting recipe

If you want to cut out the sugar cookies and add icing, feel free to use your favorite buttercream or vanilla frosting recipe.

Below is the icing I used, adapted from my Easy Cinnamon Rolls.

Beat room temperature 8 oz store bought or homemade vegan cream cheese with 4 oz vegan butter spread, 2 cups powdered sugar, and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Add a little milk of choice as needed.

Or for a healthier option, you can frost the sugar cookies with melted Coconut Butter and add sweetener of choice as desired or even mashed banana. I opted to garnish the finished cookies with rainbow sprinkles for presentation.

(Note: the cookies can also be rolled into balls an flattened a little before baking if you want thicker cookies instead of cut outs.)

*Here’s a recipe for Vegan Snickerdoodles

Vegan Sugar Cookies - The BEST Easy Recipe! (8)

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Vegan Sugar Cookies

This easy vegan sugar cookies recipe is soft, chewy, fluffy, and delicious!

Vegan Sugar Cookies - The BEST Easy Recipe! (9)

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Print Recipe

Cook Time 11 minutes minutes

Total Time 11 minutes minutes

Yield 15 -20 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour (spelt, white, or oat flour) Or make these Keto Cookies
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar (unrefined if desired)
  • 6 tbsp oil or melted vegan butter
  • 1 1/2 tbsp milk of choice
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • *If you want to frost the cookies, feel free to use your favorite icing. The frosting recipe I used is written out earlier in this post. And if you’re a visual person, be sure to watch the video above that shows how to make the cookies!

    Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients to form a dough. It will be dry at first but should turn into cookie dough within a minute of stirring. Either smush dough into a big ball and then roll into cookie balls, or transfer to a gallon-sized ziploc and smush into a ball from inside the bag. If desired, you can refrigerate the dough overnight or even for a few days. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 F. Fold the bag in half, then roll the dough out from inside the bag until it takes up the one half of the bag (as shown in the third photo in this post). Cut open the bag, cut out shapes, and place on a baking tray. Bake 11 minutes. They’ll look a little underdone, so let them cool and do not touch them for at least 10 minutes. Be sure the cookies are completely cooled before frosting them, or the frosting will melt.

    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

Still craving cookies? Try these holiday favorite Snowball Cookies.

Have you made this recipe?

Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram

More Holiday Vegan Cookies

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Tahini Cookies

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies

Healthy Cookies Recipes

Coconut Flour Cookies

Vegan Sugar Cookies - The BEST Easy Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to moist cookies? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

How to make chewy vs crunchy cookies? ›

Cookie chemistry: We're taking a 180° turn from our crunchy cookies, substituting higher-moisture brown sugar and butter for their lower-moisture counterparts: granulated sugar and vegetable shortening. That, plus a shortened baking time, yields a cookie that's soft and chewy all the way through.

What makes sugar cookies too hard? ›

Working the dough too much.

bad habit of mixing in the dry ingredients until they were completely incorporated. And then mixing the dough even more, for no good reason. Thankfully I was eventually steered in the right direction. Over-working the dough yields a tough cookie, which is not at all what you want.

How to improve sugar cookies? ›

From the dough to the baking to the icing, our guide will leave you with the perfect sugar cookie this holiday season.
  1. Opt for Room Temperature Eggs. ...
  2. Splurge on "Pure" Vanilla Extract. ...
  3. Whisk the Flour. ...
  4. Chill the Dough. ...
  5. Refrain from Overmixing. ...
  6. Go Easy on the Flour. ...
  7. Bake on Parchment Paper.
Dec 16, 2014

What is the secret ingredient to keep cookies soft? ›

Light corn syrup is another ingredient that you can add to cookie dough that will help it stay softer longer. The corn syrup you buy at the grocery store is not the high-fructose corn syrup that soft drinks are made with; it's a sugar that is liquid at room temperature and helps other sugars say liquid at high heat.

Should I use baking soda or baking powder in cookies? ›

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

What ingredient makes cookies more chewy? ›

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

What does brown sugar do in cookies? ›

Brown sugar

Brown sugar is also hygroscopic (more so than granulated sugar) and will therefore also attract and absorb the liquid in the dough. The difference is in the molasses that makes brown sugar brown: It adds moisture and slight acidity, resulting in a moist and chewy texture.

Should you refrigerate sugar cookie dough? ›

Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.

Can you over mix sugar cookie dough? ›

Overmixing the dough

Well, it's not. You really can overmix sugar cookie dough, which then leads to a tougher, chewier cookie. To ensure a light, fluffy cookie every time, mix until your ingredients are just incorporated and then put the mixing spoon down for good.

How long to chill sugar cookie dough before baking? ›

Transfer the dough, still between the two pieces of parchment paper, to a baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours to allow the dough to firm up, and up to three days ahead. Proceed with the recipe as written - such as my easy sugar cookie recipe.

Are sugar cookies better with butter or shortening? ›

Which One Should I Use in Cookies? Basically, cookies made with butter spread more and are flatter and crisper if baked long enough. However, they are more flavorful than cookies made with shortening. Cookies made with shortening bake up taller and are more tender, but aren't as flavorful.

Why do my sugar cookies taste so bland? ›

If the baked cookies taste a bit bland (and if the dough is fairly soft and receptive to additions), add salt and/or spices to the remaining dough before baking. If, on the other hand, they're a bit salty for your taste, try rolling the dough balls in sugar before baking.

What adds moisture to cookie dough? ›

To avoid this, try using as little flour as possible while preparing to roll your dough. Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

How do you moisten baked cookies? ›

Another way to soften cookies is by placing the cookies in an airtight container with a damp paper towel. The paper towel will release moisture and help to soften the cookies without making them too soft or mushy. Another way is to place the cookies in a plastic bag with a slice of apple or a damp tea towel.

What does adding cornstarch to cookies do? ›

1. Cookies. Cornstarch does kind of incredible things to cookies. I mean not only does it give them soft centers, prevents them from spreading, and makes them somewhat thick (in a good way), but it also contributes to the chewiness factor, which, in my opinion, is the most important cookie attribute.

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