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
For everyone asking about making these GF, I did and they turned out amazing! I’m not a big sugar cookie person but even I had a hard time resisting these!! I also made them with water instead of milk and turned out just fine.
Hi Rachel. Thank you for sharing your tips, and positive feedback!
Do you use the unsalted earth balance sticks or regular (with salt)?
Hi Naomi. I use salted butter. Enjoy!
These look amazing! Could we use 100% stone ground whole wheat pastry flour?
They will probably turn out quite a bit different, but it might work!
These cookies turned out perfect! I’ve tried several vegan recipes but this is the best by far!
Hi Claudine. I’m so glad you loved the cookies, and that they turned out great! Thank you for sharing your great feedback!
girl, is the earth balance unsalted? I’ve been looking for it and don’t see any that’s unsalted 🙁
Hi Kathryn. I use salted butter. Enjoy!
Hi Nora,
These tasted really great but it was so difficult to transfer the cut cookies onto the final baking sheet, they kept breaking. Maybe the dough was too wet? I tried to use metric measurements. Does 281 h correspond to 2 cups or 2.25 cups in your recipe?
Sorry to hear that, Anisha. 281g is about 2 1/4 cups of flour. Was the batter sticky as well? Did you add flour to the surface you were rolling them on? If not, it sounds like the batter was wet/not enough flour was used.
I made these *hesitantly* for a friend of mine who is vegan and who’s birthday we are celebrating tomorrow. She loves my normal cookies and is willing to “cheat” for them but I thought, what if she didn’t have to?!
Love how they baked up. I’m wary about the icing but only bc I’ve gotten so used to royal icing. My question, pertains to the icing. Should It be refrigerated bc of that little bit of almond milk??
I’m so glad you’re happy with how they turned out, thanks! They don’t need to be refrigerated, no. Hope she loves them!
Great recipe! I have never tried to make vegan cookies before, so was curious as to how this would work. Fantastic! My vegan coworkers appreciated being included in the treat and non-vegans didn’t miss the eggs or butter. No more difficult to make than sugar cookies with eggs and butter.
I was lazy-ish and did not roll the dough before chilling – was just fine to roll out and cut for me. Also was lazy on the icing and just mixed a bit of almond milk with powdered sugar and it was just fine for my purposes.
Hi Joan. I’m happy to hear you love the recipe! I’m glad your coworkers enjoyed the cookies as well! Sounds like you relaxed and had fun making the cookies! Thank you for sharing your fabulous feedback!
What is the reasoning for not freezing once frosted? Wondering because I was hoping to do this for prep!
The frozen cookies thaw really well, but the icing does not. The texture just isn’t the same and the colors may bleed once thawed (ruining all of your hard work!).
This recipe is amazing. My daughter is vegan and my grandson is allergic to eggs as well. I’m not a great baker but these were so easy and came out perfect. Decorating was a challenge for me. I don’t have a steady hand so I just dipped the cookies in the icing for the main color then used the piping bag for the details and found that to be the best way for me to decorate them.
Hi Amy. I’m glad you loved the sugar cookie recipe! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and review! How fun that you made these for your daughter and grandson. I know they are beautiful!
Can the baking powder be left out for highly detailed cutters?
Sure, it probably could.
How do you think this would work as one big cookie? I’m looking to make one shaped as a cactus for my daughter’s birthday lol.
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure! One large cookie can be tricky because sometimes the edges cook but the middle is raw by the time it’s “done”.
I know this comment is probably too late to be useful to you, but I thought I’d reply in case it would be helpful to anyone else. I regularly bake this recipe as one big cookie to make the best fruit pizza crust! In my case, I lightly grease a Wilton 11” nonstick tart pan, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan, then bake at 325 for 18 mins until just beginning to turn pale golden all over. I then top with a cream cheese frosting made with 8 oz vegan cream cheese (I prefer Kite Hill), 1/4 c slightly softened vegan butter (I prefer Miyoko’s), 2 c sifted powdered sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Just drain any liquid from the cream cheese, then beat the cream cheese and butter for 30 sec- 1 min until just well combined. Add vanilla and beat to combine, then add powdered sugar 1 c at a time and beat on low until just combined. Top with sliced fruit and berries, then brush on a glaze made with apricot preserves diluted with a little water. It’s SO good!! Thank you, thank you Nora for this cookie recipe. I’ve made it time and time again as both cookies and fruit pizzas and everyone raves over both and requests them regularly. Your recipes are always outstanding!
I’m wondering if these could be made gluten free? We made them last year and we’re delicious but now need to be gf and wanting to try them that way maybe with oat flour or a normal gf 1:1 flour?
Hi Aren. I haven’t tested them with gluten free flour, but a 1:1 gluten free flour mix should work!
This will be my first attempt with non dairy butter. Can you use the spread or does it have to be stick?
Sticks are much better if possible. The tub is really difficult to measure especially with something like these cookies. Hope you enjoy!
Hi! I’m so excited to try this recipe! Wondering if it could be used for a fruit pizza? Do you think this dough would work well for a pizza-sized cookie? Thank you so much. 🙂
Pizza-sized cookies can be a little tricky because sometimes the outside is done baking before the middle is ready. You could try it out, but I’m not sure it will work.
Hi Nora! I am wondering if it’s possible for your Royal icing recipe to be “painted” onto after it’s dry, with a watercolor type method of using vegan food coloring + water? (Or if you recommend using a different combo for the watercolor “paint” effect). Thank you!
Hi Kara. Yes, you can paint on the icing after it’s on the cookies! It hardens well and should be an excellent canvas for the food coloring + water mix. Sounds like these are going to be some gorgeous looking cookies!
can oat milk be used for the Almond milk?
Yes, you can use oat milk.
Hello from Greece! My daughter loved your cookies! I have a question, how many days do they stay fresh? I want to make them for a party, and put fondant on them. If I bake them on Friday and put them in bags, will they be ok on Tuesday? Thank you very much!
Hello! How fun my sugar cookies are being baked in Greece! I’m so glad your daughter loves the cookies! The cookies will stay good for 3-5 days at room temperature. You can also freeze them, unfrosted, to keep them fresher. They do start to get stale around day 4. If you freeze them, ensure they are at room temperature before decorating them. I hope this helps!
What size cookie cutters works best?
Any standard size cookie cutter will be just fine.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Hey Kim, this recipe makes about 24 cookies.
These are the best!! Question: can I use oatmilk instead of almond?
Sure! Thank you!
Wow I am terrible baker, but these directions were so easy! Cookies came out great! I wonder can you add other flavors to the icing or to the cookie dough? Thanks!
That’s wonderful to hear, Laura! Thank you for the great feedback! If you want to customize the flavor, you can use replace the almond and/or vanilla extract with a different flavored extract in the dough or icing, or even add up to 3/4 cup of cocoa powder to make chocolate sugar cookies. Hope this helps!
Hi there,
This recipe is amazing thank you!
I always have cookie dough left over, could you tell me how I could freeze it and also how long it lasts in the fridge unbaked?
Thank you,
Rachel
Hi Rachel, I’m so happy you loved the cookies! You can wrap the leftover dough tightly in plastic and freeze it for up to 3 months.
Hi , would these work with gluten free flour ? Thanks
I haven’t tested them with gluten free flour, but a 1:1 gluten free flour mix should work!
Could I let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for about 24 hours before I cut them out and bake them? Or would that not work??
Hi Bekka. If you chill the dough overnight without rolling it first, the dough will be a bit crumbly and hard to roll out after chilling. It will go much more smoothly if you first roll it out, then chill it. It would be best if you could find a little space, temporarily, for the dough to chill flat. I do stack the dough so it doesn’t take up too much space. You want the cookies going into the oven cold, which helps them not spread or puff up too much. I hope this helps!
I figured after making these cookies at least ten times (or more, I’ve lost count!) in the past few years I should review them. These are the BEST sugar cookies I have ever eaten or made. These do not spread out and hold their shape perfectly, they are soft on the inside and firm on the outside. I always get asked where I got my recipe and people are floored when I tell them it’s vegan! I am set to make a batch right now for Valentine’s Day and can’t wait to gobble them up with my daughter.
Hi Rachel. Thank you for your positive review and feedback! It made my day! I am so glad you are loving the sugar cookies! Have fun making the cookings for Valentine’s Day, and happy cooking!
For the sugar cookies can I use a different milk than almond? I prefer NotMilk brand – which is pea protein based.
Yes, that should work just fine. Thanks!
What flour do you use?
Regular all purpose flour. I use a variety of brands, and always unbleached.
Nora,
I have a cookie order to make next week. Trying to get my ingredients. Can I use Gold Medal all purpose flour?
Hi Michelle. Yes, this all purpose flour should work fine. Happy cooking!