Soft, vegan sugar cookies with crispy edges, for all your holiday needs. Have fun with different cookie cutters, easy icing and sprinkles of course! 

frosted vegan sugar cookies laid flat

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.

frosted vegan sugar cookies in stacks on a plate

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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collage of vegan sugar cookies process

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.

vegan sugar cookies dough being cut with christmas tree cutter

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.

vegan sugar cookies, cooked on a pan

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.

frosted vegan sugar cookies stacked on a plate

Want more Christmas Cookies?

Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Snickerdoodles

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Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

frosted vegan sugar cookies laid flat
4.91 stars (219 ratings)

The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies

Soft vegan sugar cookies that hold their cookie cutter shapes! Perfect for Christmas, Valentine's Day or any other holiday. Have fun with easy icing and sprinkles of course!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 24 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

  1. 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. 
  2. Almond extract is optional but it adds a very good flavor to both the cookies and the icing, so use it if you can.
  3. 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!
  4. 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.
  5. Baked sugar cookies freeze well, but don't freeze them once frosted. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 149kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 95mg | Potassium: 21mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Nora Taylor
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!

 

 

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Comments

  1. Love this recipe. We have nut allergies so substituted oat milk and it worked out perfectly. Also, I ended up putting the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes in two separate “lumps” and everything came out great!

  2. Best sugar cookie recipe. So nice to have a good option for those with allergies in the fam! Will make these again and again and again 🙂

  3. If I don’t refrigerate them, could I. I use this recipe to make drop cookies?

    Secondly, if I refrigerate your molasses cookies, which are the absolute best, could I use it to make rolled gingerbread cookies?

    Thanks!

    1. Yes, you could make drop cookies out of this recipe. For the molasses ginger cookies, I haven’t tried making rolled gingerbread cookies out of the recipe, but it might work! Glad you like them. Thanks!

    1. I am honestly not sure, I haven’t tested it. I believe a few people have reported making them gluten free, but I can’t guarantee it would work.

  4. Making these again this year. SO GOOD.

    Question: I know I can’t freeze them after they’re decorated, but what about refrigerating them decorated? (flat, no stacking).

    Thanks!
    Erika

    1. Thank you Erika! Yes, refrigerating them is just fine. And once they set, you could stack them even. Hope you enjoy them as much this year as last year!

  5. Subs: soy instead of almond and an extra 1/4 vanilla bc I didnt have almond extract. Amazing amazing recipe!!! By any chance do you think this can be doubled and work out nicely still? Thanks so much, Nora!!!

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies, and yes it can be doubled! I do this every year as we go through a lot of cookies!

  6. Absolutely addictive cookies! I substituted arrowroot powder for cornstarch and used soy milk instead of almond milk but otherwise followed the recipe. The cookies were very easy to cut with cookie cutters when I kept the dough chilled, maintained their shape without puffing during baking, and have the perfect slightly soft, melt-in-your mouth consistency. Will definitely make these again. Thanks for the great recipe!

  7. I wanna make these and poke a hole before baking to make gift tags. Are they hard enough to hold through ribbon or twine? Thanks

  8. What if I only have a hand held stick blender that has a whisk attachment. Are the mixing instructions the same? Thanks!

  9. Hi ! This recipe looks delicious but a common thing in most of the vegan cookies I’ve tried is that they turn rock solid overnight or if not soon. I wanted to know how long they stay “fresh” (?) after they’re baked

  10. My dough is super firm and not reliable after I set it in the fridge for a few hours! Will it soften as it sits out or did I do something wrong?

    1. If you put the whole ball of dough in the fridge, I’m sure it did get rock hard. No worries, you just need to let it sit out for a while until it’s rollable again.

  11. OMG I thought I had the best sugar cookie recipe forever, but when tasked to make some vegan cookies I found this one and now yours are my favorite. I used coconut sugar and I think that is the difference. Mine turned out almost mapley, butterscotchy, gingerbready, caramaly??? I’m obviously not quit sure, but they are so darn tasty. Trial and error? Is this recipe originally yours?

    1. I’m so glad you liked the sugar cookies even with coconut sugar. I’ll have to try that sometimes for a change! Coconut sugar is more maple, caramely flavored. Yes, I created this recipe through trial and error, from non-vegan sugar cookies. Thank you!

  12. I am making these for my daughter’s friends. One of her friends is vegan. The other friend has a tree nut allergy. Could I use water instead of the almond milk?

  13. I just made these and they are AMAZE!
    I was thinking about using this recipe for a gingerbread house. Any chance you know what spices/quantities I’d use? ?
    Thanks!!

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies! Sorry I really don’t know as I’ve never tried making them into ginger cookies. I think ginger cookies usually have some molasses added as well, but I guess you could just add a pinch of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe cloves and see how they turn out! Thank you!

  14. I have a corn intolerance. I don’t think this amount will bother me but is there another option for the corn starch?

  15. Can I use Gluten Free all purpose flour, i.e. Krusteaz? The package says “replaces wheat flout 1 to 1.” I need a gluten free, dairy free, egg free recipe. Thanks

    1. I just made these with the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free flour. No puffing, stayed their shape, great turn out. And I doubled the recipe.

  16. These turned out so good. They taste like super yummy store-bought ones and the texture is perfect. I had to add more flour so I ended up including about 2 1/2 cups of flour but that worked fine. Decorated them with marble-patterned fondant icing and although it took quite a while they look very cute.

  17. Very informative. These look lovely! I have frosted sugar cookies the professional way before and you are right-it takes hours. I want to make these with my two and a half year old grandson who is dairy free. I am very excited! We will not be doing pretty ones lol, just making memories!

    1. Did you follow the instructions completely? You can use 2 cups of flour, and add an extra 1/4 cup if the dough is too wet. It will look crumbly in the bowl when you use a mixer, but once you use your hands to form it into a ball it should come together just fine. So here are my best tips: measure correctly, use the minimum amount of flour if you want (though beware, if you use too little they may spread in the oven), expect it to look crumbly initially, then push it all together with your hands. If you went too far with adding too much flour, you can always add another tablespoon or two of almond milk as well. Thanks and I hope that helps!

    2. Hi!

      I started these cookies last night. Right now the dough is chilling in the fridge. I did notice when rolling that the dough kept sticking to my pin and crumbling. Perhaps it’s because my measurements were off? Should I add some almond milk? We plan on cutting shapes tomorrow night. Looking forward to the results since my son has a dairy and egg allergy, and is often left out of cookie decorating.

      1. Hi there! If the dough sticks, sprinkle a little more flour on both the parchment paper and the top of the dough as you roll it. That will prevent sticking. I would not add more milk as that will make it even stickier. Unless the dough is super dry and crumbly, as if you added too much flour to begin with. If the dough is too wet the cookies will spread in the oven, so you want to avoid that if possible. I hope you and your son enjoy the cookies!

  18. This recipe looks great and I’m excited to try it! I’m hoping to make the dough while my daughter naps and then have her do the rolling and cookie cutting. Can I make the dough into a ball and cover to refrigerate like you do non vegan doughs instead of rolling it out then in the fridge? It would just be easier time wise for me, but certainly I don’t want to mess up the recipe!

    1. Sure that is fine, the o lot issue is that sometimes the dough will get too warm before going into the oven which can cause them to spread. They maintain shapes better when they go into the oven rather chilled. But I don’t think it will ruin them! Hope you both enjoy the cookies.

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