Make these perfect vegan sugar cookies! You only need 9 simple ingredients. They're soft, sweet, buttery, and super yummy. Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes and decorate them however you like! Easy and delicious baking fun. Easy and tasty baking for the holidays!
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.
If you try this recipe let us know by leaving a comment, rating it, and don't forget to tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
(click stars to vote)
Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies
Servings: cookies (approximately)
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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!
Becky says
I’ve found my new vegan sugar cookie recipe! These cookies were easy to make and delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!!! Thrilled you loved them so much, Becky 🙂
Sam Davis says
I just made these tonight and plan to frost them tomorrow. But the unfrosted cookies taste great! I totally forgot to grind my chia seeds, so you can see them throughout the cookie, but that doesn’t bother me. I like the little crunchies and my 4 year old didn’t seem to mind either! They definitely don’t look as golden as non vegan sugar cookies, so i had to remind myself to pull them out even though My mind kept trying to keep them in longer.
Sam Turnbull says
That's awesome!! So very happy you love the recipe so much 🙂
Petra says
Hi! Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
Sam Turnbull says
Yes, but the cookies won't have that buttery taste. Enjoy!
Amber says
These were perfect to make with my two-year-old today. So quick and simple.
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
Kristin A. Crage says
Do I need to include the chia seeds and if I don't do I still need the water?
Sam Turnbull says
Yes, you need to include the chia seeds and water, they help bind the cookies together. Enjoy!
Mindy Clark says
Can I make the dough, keep it in a ball, put it in the fridge over night then the next day take it out to soften a bit then roll it out and cut my cookies?
Sam Turnbull says
Yep! That will work fine. Enjoy!
Jordan says
Should the butter be softened?
Sam Turnbull says
No need. Straight from the fridge is fine.
Emily says
Hi there! Can’t wait to try these!
Is ground chia literally just ground chia seeds? Or is it meant to be mixed with water? Just not sure because it’s listed under wet ingredient. ☺️
Thankyou so much!
Sam Turnbull says
Yes, just ground chia seeds. If you read step 3 you will see it is mixed with the water listed in the ingredients 🙂
Yash roy says
ummmm...nice ...yummy.....delicious....mouthwatering
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks!
Shayla says
Have you tried using aquafaba instead of flax or Chia for the egg replacement?
Sam Turnbull says
I haven't in cookies, no. I like the speed and simplicity of chia or flax.
Healthymomhappyfamily says
Hi! Thanks so much for your awesome site, I use the recipes a lot! Anyway, I'm baking these sugar cookies right now, and I'm debating using the icing. What I want from the icing is to be like royal icing (hard). Will this icing harden? Thanks!!
Yvette says
How would I make these gluten free?
Sam Turnbull says
I'm not gluten-free so I'm not knowledgeable in gluten-free baking. I have heard good things about Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1, but have never tried it myself. Hope that helps!
Melanie says
I have made them with GF all putpose flour and they work just fine.
Miriam says
Thank you so much for posting this, I have been looking for a recipe like this for ages! And all my previous tries with other recipes have ended in failure, but yours is all I wanted 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Wonderful! You're most welcome, Miriam. 🙂
Frangelica says
Can I freeze these iced so I can make them ahead of time for my wedding favors?
Sam Turnbull says
Yes, they should freeze fine. Enjoy!
Marisa Berruecos says
I baked thesecookies for Christmas and LOVED THEM! Have you tried freezing them? I would love to know if I can make them, decorate them and freeze them!
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you enjoyed! They freeze very well with frosting and all 🙂
Kristina says
Hi, I came across your website while searching for vegan sugar cookies. Made these tonight and let me just say the cookies held out their shape. Usually with other non-vegan sugar cookies, the shape doesn't hold and I'm left with a blob 🙁 These cookies taste great and my girls love them! Once again, great recipe, which will now be my go to! Merry Christmas!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! Thrilled you love the cookies so much, Kristina! Merry Christmas 🙂
Kate says
I made these for the first time last weekend and they were delicious! I was wondering how long they lasted if I wanted to make them in advance for Christmas
Sam Turnbull says
I would say about 3 - 4 days... but they never last that long in my house! Haha. Enjoy!
Suzanne says
And sorry, My rating didn’t go through the first time. Thanks!!
Suzanne says
Hi, great recipe. Thanks! I aspire to your brilliant colors. I made a bunch of icing but plan to decorate over the next couple of days. Should the icing be stored in the fridge? It’s in the sealed plastic piping bag. How long can the cookies be stored once iced? Can they be left out in Tupperware or similar container?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Suzanne, the icing can be stored in the fridge and once warmed to room temperature should work just fine. If it does get a little firm, just mix in a tiny amount of water until desired consistency is reached. I would keep the cookies for 3-4 days in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Suzanne says
I see. So the cookies alone are good for 3-4 weeks, but once iced only 3-4 days. Thanks for clarifying! Can you freeze the cookies after they are iced?
Sam Turnbull says
Either or, I would say. But they never last that long in my house!
Kat says
Sam, these tasted great but mine came out really hard. I want to attempt to make them again but I’m not sure what I did wrong. I may have rolled them out a little too thin. I baked them an extra 2 minutes because when I checked on them at the 11 min mark they looked really gooey.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Kat! The hardness could either be from overworking the dough, or more likely from baking them too long. The cookies will look underdone when you take them out of the oven but they will set as they cool. If you try the recipe again, be gentle with the dough, and try baking just one test cookie first to see how it bakes and sets. Hope that helps!
Jenn says
These are exactly what they claim to be: perfect! I have been searching for the best vegan sugar cookie for years. Came across these as I have only been following you for about a year. Had to try them out. Very easy to follow directions and the dough came together perfectly without me having to add more milk. (I used earth balance soy free in the red tub). The kids enjoyed decorating them with me and these also got their seal of approval! These will be added to my yearly Christmas cookie rotation!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!! Wonderful! Thrilled you love them so much, Jenn 😀