These right here, are truly the perfect vegan sugar cookies! Let me explain why:
- They are super easy to prepare. Just 9 easy ingredients to make the cookie dough.
- Unlike most sugar cookies, these actually taste delicious. They are soft, sweet, buttery perfection.
- The dough works perfectly with cookie cutters making them a fun cookie to shape and decorate however you like!
This vegan sugar cookie dough works beautifully for any kind of cookie cutter. If you want to attempt detailed snowflake cookie cutters or simpler kid-friendly Christmas cookie cutters, these cookies will hold up. If it's not the holiday season, you can use any kind of cookie cutter to create whatever shape you like, hearts, animals, letters, or numbers, making them perfect vegan sugar cookie for any time of year!
What I love most about these vegan sugar cookies is that they are not only great for cookie cutters, but they actually taste good. I find so many cut-out cookies are just hard and flavourless. The key that I learned from Sally's Baking Addiction is to use both vanilla extract and almond extract to really enhance the flavours. The result is sweet, light, soft, buttery, and totally addictive (Sally was right about that addiction thing).
To make perfect vegan sugar cookies:
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
Mix together the chia or flax with the water in a small bowl and let thicken. Then add that along with the remaining wet ingredients to a bowl, and beat the wet ingredients together until they are soft and fluffy.
Then add the wet into dry and mix until a dough is formed.
For the vegan butter, I used Earth Balance Buttery Spread, but I have found that sometimes the moisture levels in vegan butters are different, so if your dough does not come together, add up to 1 tablespoon of water until the dough just comes together.
Collect the dough into a ball, and place it between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough out until it's ¼ inch thick. Put the parchment paper covered dough on a baking tray and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes, or in the fridge for 30 minutes. This cools the dough, so the cookies are easy to cut out, and they will hold their shape in the oven.
Once cooled, remove the top piece of parchment and cut out your cookies. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut out more cookies, cooling the dough if needed. Bake the cookies until just lightly golden underneath. Let cool completely before icing.
To make the icing, mix together the powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of plant-based milk or water. Add more liquid as needed until desired consistency is reached. Mix in vegan food colouring as desired.
Use a piping bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off to decorate your cookies as you like! Have fun 🙂
ICING TIPS:
- For an extra white icing, I find using full-fat coconut milk as the liquid in the icing works best.
- The icing recipe makes enough to lightly decorate the cookies. If you want to heavily decorate them (like I did), double the recipe.
- Try not to eat them all before you finished icing them!
Common Questions:
- What food coloring is vegan? Most food coloring listed as "natural" is vegan because they are derived from plants. There is an exception though: carmine. Carmine is not vegan as it contains "cochineal", which is derived from bugs. Be sure to read and research the ingredients list before purchasing just to be safe 🙂
- Can I freeze sugar cookies? Yes. The best way to freeze sugar cookies is to wait form them to thaw, then either freeze them wrapped on a baking sheet in a single layer, or in an air-tight container. If stored in the freezer correctly, they should last for about 3 months.
- Are these sugar cookies gluten-free? Unfortunately, this is not as it recipe contains all-purpose flour.
Bon appetegan!
Sam
Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 tablespoons ground chia or ground flax
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-4 teaspoons plant-based milk or water
- A few drops of food colouring (optional)
Instructions
To make vegan sugar cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
- In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flax or chia, and the water and set aside to thicken which will be almost instant if using chia, but take about 10 minutes if using flax.
- In a third bowl beat the vegan butter and sugar together until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining wet ingredients including the flax or chia mixture, and mix well. Add the wet mixture into dry and combine until a dough is formed. I used Earth Balance vegan butter, but I have found that sometimes the moisture levels in vegan butters are different, so if your dough does not come together, add up to 1 tablespoon of water until the dough just comes together.
- Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to about ¼ inch thick. Now pop it onto a baking tray and chill the rolled dough in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once chilled, cut your cookie shapes and lay them on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Re-roll remaining dough until it’s all used up, chilling in between if needed. Bake 8 - 11 minutes.
To make the icing:
- Add the powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of plant-based milk or water, and food colouring if using, to a bowl. Mix together. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons more plant-based milk or water if needed to reach desired consistency. Let cookies cool completely before decorating.
Notes
- For an extra white icing, I find using full-fat coconut milk as the liquid in the icing works best.
- The icing recipe makes enough to lightly decorate the cookies. If you want to heavily decorate them (like I did), double the recipe.
- Try not to eat them all before you finished icing them!
Nutrition
Lyndsey says
Would this recipe work if I used an actual egg instead of using the ground flax/quinoa? I'm not vegan but do need a dairy free recipe. Thanks!
SD says
Thank you for this recipe. We love these cookies! I will double the recipe next time because the cookie cutters I use are on the bigger side, and we got around 16 cookies. We like our sugar cookies thin and crunchy, so I rolled them thinner and baked them a little longer. Also, I don't have a lot of refrigerator space, so I made a few dough balls in the bowl and refrigerated them. Only used one ball at a time and kept the rest in frig. Used a little bit of flour on the bottom piece of parchment paper when rolling them out which helped me get the cookie off a little easier. Saw someone mention cutting down a little on the almond extract as a matter of preference, and I think I'll try that as well. The icing recipe is perfect. Tried it with both canned coconut milk and flaxseed milk. Both are great for these cookies.
Sarah says
I don't want to give this a bad rating but I followed the recipe and the dough came out very soft (like the consistency of buttercream icing). I am chilling it currently hoping maybe that might help but I am thinking that if I bake it I will have a cookie puddle. What did I do wrong??
Sarah says
I wanted to update. Even after chilling the dough was still soft but much improved. I thought it was too soft to use cookie cutters. Upon cooking the dough, the cookies were delicious! So I am updating my rating to 4 stars.....just don't know why my dough was so soft but it was still delicious so I will likely be making it again. I may try a little less almond extract next time (my personal preference), maybe sub a little with lemon or orange extract....sounds yummy! Thank you for the recipe!
Kim says
So I agree with you on the consistency. Though I made this dough a second time as I forgot I had made it previously. This time I used ground chia seed, I was out of flax, and they were so much better. The cookies held up and I was able to ice them and put them in cute bags!! I happened to make them a third time yesterday, as I had forgotten I made them the first time, and used flax (only change) and again they were really soft. The dough was really soft, even after freezing. Maybe try this, the flavor didn’t change, just the consistency.
Savannah says
This has been our family go-to recipe for a few years now. Our 4th Christmas, I believe! Vegans and non-vegans in our family love them! We even use the icing recipe and love it!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy it's a fave 🙂
Alissa says
Made this recipe tonight and it turned out great. So happy I found a ‘go to’ sugar cookie recipe. I also substituted the flax/chia seeds for 3 tablespoons of Just Egg.
Lindsy says
Hello!! Can I omit the almond extract or substitute with anything? It’s the only ingredient I don’t have!
Paige says
I made these day before yesterday, to give some Halloween treats as gifts. I followed the recipe exactly, and they came out just perfectly. For my first batch, I just sprinkled some colored sugar on before they went in the oven, and the result was as delicious as any sugar cookies I remember from before I was vegan. I got a little braver with the next batch, and made aquafaba icing, and everyone I’ve given them as gifts to loves them. Thank you for another dependable recipe! (I was out of Earth balance, so I used Country Crock sticks made from olive oil this time, in case that helps anyone else). Happy Fall!
Lisa says
I've made these several times and they always turn out perfect. My 7 year old hates any cookies with chocolate in them, so I was looking for recipes that are chocolate free for him. We found this recipe, and now these are his FAVOURITE cookies ever!! We use dinosaur cookie cutters, and the dough holds up and keeps the Dino shapes well. I've also made these for my kids friends, and they all love them too. Kid approved! 🙂
Leigh says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! Everyone loved the cookies and I was proud of how perfect they looked. I followed your cookie and glaze recipes and used a squeeze bottle for the first time to decorate. Wish I had pics to share!
Sherry says
I’ve made these a few times and they work out well- definitely recommend! Perfect for vegans and non-vegans!
Jenna says
i'm just laughing at the comment that said they tried the recipe SEVEN times and hated it. like if it didn't work the first couple times, why wouldn't you just find a new recipe?? lol
I thought they turned out good for me though.
Sandra P says
I just made these and they came out perfectly! They're delicious- aromatic and sweet, but not overly so as store-bought sometimes are. I refrigerated mine for a full 30 minutes and used the Earth balance unsalted buttery sticks (and flax, not chia). I'm also at 5k feet and needed no adjustments, if that's helpful to anyone. Mine held together well. Thank you- can't wait for your new cookbook!