Soft, vegan sugar cookies with crispy edges, for all your holiday needs. Have fun with different cookie cutters, easy icing and sprinkles of course!
After much trial and error, I finally have the perfect recipe for soft cut-out vegan sugar cookies. Seriously, these are the cookies of my dreams, and I think you will LOVE them!
They are easy to make and roll out. A little trick I learned is to roll the dough onto parchment paper before chilling in the refrigerator. This way, the cookie dough only needs to chill for about an hour before you can cut and bake! And you don’t have to roll out cookie dough that is crumbling everywhere. Easy peasy.
How to make perfect vegan sugar cookies:
First, make the dough, using just 1 bowl and either a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer. Your cookie dough should be similar to the texture of play dough. It will be rather crumbly in the bowl, but not dry, and it should stick together when you use your hands to roll it into a ball. Once the dough is made, break it into two balls. Place one of the doughs onto parchment paper, on a hard surface.
Roll the dough out, about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle a little flour on top so the dough doesn’t stick to your rolling pin.
Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the first rolled dough.
Repeat with the second ball of dough (I usually do this right on top of the first rolled dough). Place another piece of parchment paper on top and carefully transfer the rolled dough to the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
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Remove the dough from the fridge, cut into desired shapes and bake for 8-10 minutes. They will look underdone, but firm up considerably as they cool. This is the key to soft sugar cookies. If you want them crispy, you could roll the dough thinner and cook them a bit longer, but I prefer them softer.
They will look like this when they come out of the oven. See how they don’t puff up a bunch or spread like some sugar cookie recipes do? Cookie perfection.
What’s the best way to decorate vegan sugar cookies?
So, let me tell you a little secret. I am not a natural decorator of sweets! I can bake, but the actual decorating of cookies or cakes is not really my thing, so I watched several videos and almost had a panic attack while decorating the cookies for these photos. 🙂 For real, it took me HOURS…
This video was incredibly helpful. So if you want to make really pretty sugar cookies, I recommend it! The trick is to outline the cookies first with a thicker icing, then flood the inside with a thinner icing, and carefully spread it to all the corners of the cookie.
I used Wilton Bags and decorating tips for this, which I highly recommend for all your cookie and cake decorating needs.
After icing, simply grab some food coloring, if desired, sprinkles of choice and have fun! My family has a tradition of making these cookies, and we usually just slap on some icing and have fun decorating. They don’t usually look quite so pretty, but they always taste amazing!
What food coloring is vegan?
Well this is quite a complicated topic. I’ve done A LOT of research on this online. Watkins brand is for sure vegan. From what I can tell, several of Wilton brand are vegan, such as the gel based color. I found a few at my local craft store, and carefully read the ingredients before buying. If you don’t want to use food coloring, you can also make your own, or just go with white frosting.
Want more Christmas Cookies?
Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 3/4 cup vegan butter (earth balance preferred), slightly softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but so good)
- 2-2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, divided (correctly measured)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Easy Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (can omit, but it makes the icing very shiny)
- 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- In a large bowl either using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the vegan butter for about 1 minute until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and light.
- Now add in the almond milk, cornstarch, vanilla and almond extract (if using). Beat on high until it is all fully combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add 1 cup of the flour to the wet mixture. Sprinkle the baking powder and salt on top of the flour. Mix on low speed, until just combined. Now add 1 more cup of the flour and continue to mix on low until just combined; don't over mix. The dough should feel similar to play dough when you work it in your hands, but it will look crumbly in the bowl. If it seems too wet for rolling, add another 1/4 cup of flour. You want the dough to be thick, but not dry. I always use the full 2 1/4 cups of flour. If the dough is too wet, your cookies will spread.
- Using a spatula, scoop all of the dough out of the bowl; use your hands if needed to push it all together. Divide the dough in half and roll into two balls.
- On a flat surface, add a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle a little flour on it, then add half the dough. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough, and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top. Repeat for the second ball of dough, and then stack them with parchment paper. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Once the dough has been chilled, set it on the counter for 10 minutes while the oven is preheating to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut into desired shapes using a cookie cutter and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Continue re-rolling the dough until it is all used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, in the middle rack of the oven, until very lightly colored on top and around the edges. They will appear underdone, but they will firm up considerably as they cool. Let them cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to let cool completely before icing.
Easy Icing
- Whisk all icing ingredients in a bowl. If it seems too thick, add a little more almond milk. It should be smooth, glossy and not runny. If too runny, add more powdered sugar. You can dip the cookies in the icing, or use brushes, spoons or a squeeze bottle. See this helpful video on how to decorate sugar cookies with icing.
- *If you want really pretty cookies, first make the icing thicker, by using only 1 tablespoon of almond milk. Using a decorating tip, outline the cookies with the thicker icing. Then add a little more milk to thin it and flood the inside with icing. This way the icing doesn't spill over the cookie edges.
- Decorate with sprinkles as desired. The icing will take several hours to harden completely. The cookies will stay soft for about 5 days at room temperature.
Notes
- Try to get the earth balance sticks if you can; they are easier to bake with. Results will vary with other brands of vegan butter.
- Almond extract is optional but it adds a very good flavor to both the cookies and the icing, so use it if you can.
- To correctly measure flour, make sure to spoon and level by scooping the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon and level it off with the back of a knife. If you don't correctly measure the flour, you can end up with way too much flour and the dough will be dry!
- If you aren't comfortable using corn syrup, you may omit it. I rarely use it, but it makes cookie icing pretty and shiny and it's just 1 tablespoon.
- Baked sugar cookies freeze well, but don't freeze them once frosted.
Nutrition
Maybe this is a silly question, but do you use salted or unsalted earth balance?
Not silly! I use salted butter.
Hello Nora,
My little guy has severe nut, dairy and egg allergies. How would you make your cookies if almond milk and almond extract were not an option?
Best wishes,
Christine
No problem! Just use soy milk (or oat milk) and omit the almond extract.
Do you know if the icing would keep well if I stored it in an icing bag for a few days? Thinking of making some cookie decorating kits for my childrens birthday parties, so wanted to make the cookies and icing up in advance.
Hi Sidney. The icing is best made and used the same day, fresh, as it hardens as it sits. Sometimes I make it a few hours ahead of time, then whisk it smooth and add more milk if needed. Hope this helps!
These are so stinking good. Oh my word!
Made four batches of these cookies. Everyone loves them.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad the cookies were a hit!
Even after re-rolling a few times, I only got 13 cookies out of this – nowhere close to the 24 stated at the top of the recipe. But, the texture is just right and they are delicious! So I would definitely make this again, but I’d have to double it if I really wanted 24 cookies.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad the cookies turned out delicious for you!
Made these with my non-vegan family and they were impressed! The almond extract is excellent, everyone agreed they were the best sugar cookies. We skipped icing and added some colourful sugar crystal sprinkles before cooking.
Can you use a vegetable shortening instead of vegan butter??
Vegetable shortening would probably work. Follow all the instructions for chilling the dough. Let me know how it works for you!
I just made them today with vegetable shortening and they were delicious. Such a great recipe!
Aloha, Love, Prema
Your cookies are simply delicious, Mahalo
Fantastic recipe. Cookies turned out perfect. Highly recommend using the almond extract even though it’s optional.
After refrigerating, if the dough looks crumbly and can’t be rolled out, hand knead about a tablespoon of applesauce into the dough and it will hold together. The taste of the applesauce cooks out.
Hi! Love these cookies, but my dough keeps cracking when I roll it. I used the 2 1/4 cups of flour the first time I made them and only 2 cups the second time. It is still cracking. What am I doing wrong?
Make sure you are measuring everything accurately, and that your vegan butter isn’t too cold (this will make the dough crumbly). Did you chill the dough before rolling out? The reason I have you roll out the dough before chilling is because then you don’t have crumbly, cracking dough when you roll. But the dough needs to be chilled before baking so the cookies hold their shape. Hope that makes sense!
How many does the original make? The recipe. I don’t know if I need to double it
hi in the ingredients list you have 4-4.5 cups flour but in the instructions you state you always use 2 1/4 cups. I am currently at 2.5 cups and the dough is still too wet. I’m hoping you meant 4 1/4 cups and it was a typo.
NVM – I realized my wife had the recipe doubled lol. Thank you.
If you are doubling the recipe, it will be 4 1/2 cups. The original recipe uses 2 1/4, but I can’t automatically change the text everywhere when you hit the “2x” recipe. Hope that makes sense!
Could I just chill the dough in the 2 balls & roll it out when we are ready to use it?
You can, just be careful as the dough will be a bit crumbly and hard to roll out after chilling. The other option is this: before chilling, roll and cut into shapes. Place on the pans, then pop in the fridge for an hour, or the freezer for 30 minutes. Then place them directly into the preheated oven and bake. Hope that helps!
Cookies are good – icing is AWFUL. Way too sugary & completely ruins the cookies.
Wow, these really are the best vegan sugar cookies! They’re so delicious and easy to make. I’ll be doing them every year!
The dough looks great, it’s chilling now. I double checked measurements (because I’ve never cooked with some of these ingredients) used the suggested 2 1/4 cups flour, and measured and measured and measured to make sure it was 1/4” thick all the way through. There is NO WAY this makes 24 cookies, I tried the smallest cutter off the smallest set (guess we’re all getting holly leaves this year lol) and even tried a 2 1/4” round with all the edges touching and accounting for scraps. I went back and went closer to 1/8”, there’s maybe 12-15 cookies coming out of that.. plan accordingly
Can you use other nondairy milk? Like soy?
Yes, any milk works fine here.
I’ve made sugar cookies for years and vegan ones for 5. Last year I tried this recipe and will never go back to another. Hands down the best sugar cookie recipe. I use Miyokos butter and I sub 1 of the tbsps of milk for brandy as I did in my traditional recipe. I also do half vanilla and half almond extract. So Yummy!
Can I make these with. Gluten free flour?
They work pretty well with a quality gluten free flour. I like King Arthur’s Measure for Measure.
Hi Nora,
I love all your recipes…I followed your directions exactly, added a little flour to the parchment paper, but the ‘layering’ is causing the underneath dough to stick to the top parchment. Any way to avoid this. That previously perfectly rolled layer is now crumbling when I try to pull the top layer away!
Thanks much for your advice!
Tina
Sprinkle with a little flour, both on the dough and parchment paper to prevent any sticking. Also, handle the dough gently, especially when peeling the parchment paper off. Hope that helps! If nothing else, take it off, re-roll it and cut into shapes.
I used whole wheat flour because that’s all I had in the house. Followed the rest of the recipe to a T. Even froze it over night .It was just crumbling. So frustrated. Was so looking forward to a new cookie recipe. Had to through it all out.
Whole wheat flour is actually much drier than white flour, and freezing it would absolutely make it crumbly. Sorry they didn’t turn out!
I am looking to make these cookies for the holidays. We like to use sugar crystal sprinkles to decorate sugar cookies prior to baking. I was curious if you have tried doing this and if so how did they come out?
I have never used sugar crystals prior to baking the cookies, however, I think they would come out fine if you do. Let me know how it goes for you! Happy holiday cooking!
Hi Nora! I’m wondering if these can be frozen or maybe even refrigerated after being frosted with the icing?? I absolutely love this recipe!! I always used to make my grandmother’s recipe, but now my youngest is allergic to dairy and eggs. This tastes just like her recipe but safe for our whole family. I’m so thankful for recipes like yours that allows us to continue family traditions.
Hi Samantha. Thank you for sharing your fantastic review! I am glad my sugar cookies can be enjoyed by all, and allows you to continue family traditions! You can refrigerate or freeze them after frosting them. They may not hold up as well being frozen after being frosted, however it will work. Hope that helps! Happy cooking!