Colorful and fun vegan sugar cookies. These soft and chewy sugar cookies are super easy and perfect for any occasion.
You know, I love simple recipes. Whenever I consider any recipe, the first thing I’m thinking of is what ingredients I can remove and how I can simplify it.
When it comes to these vegan sugar cookies, I wanted to make the easiest version I could think of.
And this is it!
Even the frosting decoration is so simple it’s ridiculous.
Sugar cookies are usually soft cookies and these are no exception. But if you prefer more crunch to your cookies, then just bake them a few minutes longer.
Almond Extract
Sugar cookies also often use a little almond extract, just a touch, to bring out the flavors and add just a little hint of something extra.
However, if you use too much you will get a bit of a marzipan vibe. And if you’re not a fan of the marzipan, you will not be charmed.
In fact, even if you use the exact right amount of almond extract there might still be the faintest hint of marzipan that comes through. So again, if you don’t like marzipan, I would just leave this ingredient out.
For everyone else who is happy for that slightest of slightest hints of marzipan to come through, carry right on.
Decorating Frosting
The decorating frosting is just an easy mix of powdered sugar, non-dairy milk and vanilla. I separated it into two bowls and added a drop of food coloring (red and blue) to each.
I used so little that the red food coloring colored the frosting pink instead of red and I was pretty fond of the pink and blue vibe.
This is definitely an occasion where you could use a few drops of beet juice for a natural food coloring if you don’t want to use regular food dye. But of course that will only work for the pink and not the blue. But in that case you could just do pink and white instead.
This kind of frosting is a decorating only frosting, I didn’t add any vegan butter to it, so it ends up with a very gluey kind of texture. It’s not the easily spreadable texture of a regular frosting. It’s perfect for decorating though as it dries quickly and it stays in place. It’s the same frosting I used to paint the eyes and mouths on my vegan gingerbread cookies.
Want To Frost The Whole Cookie?
Sometimes you want to frost your sugar cookies completely, and not just do a decorating drizzle, and if that is the case, then I would suggest you use the frosting from our vegan chocolate sugar cookies.
We frosted those completely, and added decorating sprinkles, and that was fun! And looked cute, if a little messy. Decorating things is not one of my strengths.
So you can do the same with these, frost them completely using that frosting recipe and then add sprinkles and decorations and anything you like!
Tips For The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies
Measure the flour correctly. It’s definitely a good idea to weigh your flour so you make sure you use the right amount.
Flour is a tricky measure to get perfectly accurate so either weigh it, or use the spoon and level method (the correct method for measuring flour when using cups). Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
The cookies puff up a little when baked. You can see this in the pictures above with our before baking and after baking shot. They do puff up a little.
So if you need this to NOT happen, like if you are making very precise shapes and can’t have them puff much (or at all), then cut out the shapes as normal and place onto your parchment lined tray. Then place the whole tray into the freezer for 15 minutes. Then bake them as usual. This prevents them from puffing up when baking.
Recipe FAQ
Can I make these gluten-free? I haven’t tried with these particular cookies, but I have made certain other of my cookie recipes gluten-free with just a simple swap from regular all purpose flour to a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. And it generally works great.
What can I use instead of vegan butter? We have had readers comment that they used coconut oil and it worked well. You could also try making your own homemade vegan butter. I have used that successfully in a couple of my other cookie recipes.
What can I use instead of the almond extract? You can just leave it out.
Can I make these in advance? Sure, you can make up the dough and then leave it in the fridge for 3 days and then roll out as normal and cut out your cookies. You can also freeze the dough and then let it thaw overnight in the fridge and then use it as normal.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your cookies stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. They can also be stored in the fridge.
They are freezer friendly for up to 3 months. The cookies can be frozen with or without decorating frosting.
More Vegan Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Shortbread Cookies
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
The Easiest Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ¾ cups White Granulated Sugar (150g)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Almond Extract
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
For the Decorating Frosting:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar (120g)
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
- Cream the vegan butter and sugar together and then add the vanilla extract and almond extract.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking soda and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in by hand until crumbly. Add soy milk and mix in to create a big ball of dough. If your mix is too crumbly to form a ball of dough, add in a little more soy milk until it does.
- Flour your hands and a baking mat and transfer the ball of dough to the baking mat.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to around ¼ inch thick, dip a cookie cutter into flour so it doesn't stick and cut out your cookies. Transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking tray. With the remaining dough, form it into a ball and then roll it out again and repeat.
- If you want round cookies and don’t want to make shapes, then you don’t need to roll out the dough, you can simply tear off pieces of the dough and roll into balls and place the balls onto a parchment lined baking tray. Flour the bottom of a glass and use that to press down on the balls to flatten them neatly before baking.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating.
- Prepare your decorating frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vanilla and soy milk to an electric mixing bowl. Start on low speed and gradually increase speed until smooth. If you need a little more soy milk then add it a drop at a time so that you don’t use too much. The consistency will be very sticky, almost gluey. Separate into 2 bowls. Add a drop of food coloring into each bowl and mix in.
- Decorate the cookies and allow to set before serving.
Video
Notes
- Almond extract – can be omitted if you prefer.
- Flour – should be measured correctly, either by weighing it on a food scale or using the ‘spoon and level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- Frosting – the decorating frosting can also just be mixed up by hand in a bowl, you don’t have to use the stand mixer.
- Storing: Keep your cookies stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. They can also be stored in the fridge.
- Freezing: They are freezer friendly for up to 3 months. The cookies can be frozen with or without decorating frosting.
Natalia says
This is great! Used coconut oil instead of vegan butter and worked perfectly. Amazing recipe, super easy and tasty!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Natalia! 🙂
Mimi Kay says
Thank you Alison for this great recipe. I just made this today and I can’t stop eating them with a cup of homemade cappuccino!
I can’t wait to share these with my husband when he gets home from work tonight! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic to hear that Mimi! Thanks a million for the great review. 🙂
Linda Pedersen-Hylka says
I must say, I’m not very good at baking, but these cookies were SO good. The recipe was easy to follow & they turned out great. My daughter came to spend Christmas with me, we were going to spend it with my sister & her boyfriend. They got sick so we weren’t able to go over but had no problem eating all the cookies in the two days she was here. I am going over to my sisters tomorrow to have our celebration & I’m going into the kitchen now to make another batch. Well done with this recipe so very easy & so very delicious. Thanks for sharing
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Linda! So glad they were a success! 🙂
Lisa Dombrowski says
I made these cookies for my daughter’s best friend who is vegan due to severe food alliergies. I was a little apprehensive at first. I mixed up the dough exactly as called for and wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled overnight. I pulled the dough out this morning, it was a tad crumbly so I rolled it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper to eliminate the need of flour for sticking. Worked like a charm. I roll all my sugar cookies to 3/8′ as I love a thick chewy cookies. I baked for 9 minutes, on a chilled parchment lined pan turning pan once in oven. Once I took them out from oven I immediately placed them on a cooling rack and let me tell you they are FANTASTIC!!! The appearance, texture and taste are all pleasing. It only made 12 – 2 1/2″ cookies that I iced & sugared. My tasting team, my hubby and daughter sampled one and said they were perfect! Thanks for sharing your recipe with everyone. I have found a keeper!!! Lisa
Alison Andrews says
Sounds wonderful Lisa. So happy they were a success and thanks so much for sharing your review! 🙂
Kira says
Hi Alison,
My friend and I made this recipe step by step (except not adding almond extract and just using vanilla). The butter we used was Smart Balance Original. The taste came out a little weird.. it has an aftertaste of odd chemicals. We don’t know what we did wrong because everyone is saying that they turned out great but ours just tastes a little bland (think cardboard!). Do you have any suggestions? We really want to improve our vegan baking skills!
Thanks,
Kira & Sara
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kira (and Sara), is it possible you used a little too much baking soda? It should be a teaspoon measure and flattened off at the top. That’s all I can think of for an aftertaste, there aren’t any other ingredients in these that could really cause that. As for being bland, I really don’t know why that would be – again it can come down to measuring correctly so there is the right ratio of ingredients. Hope you’ll try some more vegan baking recipes!
Eunji says
When I say NEVER, I mean never. I never leave comments on blogs, but this one was too good not to! I made your cookies on Christmas Eve Eve with my son to decorate with family and friends at Christmas Eve dinner. They were a hit!! I have been exploring more vegan options because we found out pretty recently that our daughter, who is still nursing, has a dairy allergy (not sensitivity as many people assume are the same thing) and I was able to enjoy the cookies without guilt. Thank you! That touch of almond was fantastic! Everyone said they were good and for anyone wondering-they worked great with very detailed cookie cutters!! Thank you!!
Alison Andrews says
So glad to hear they were a hit, and that detailed cookie cutters worked out great too, thanks a million for sharing! 🙂
Eunji says
I’m making my 8th batch in a month. To say we’re hooked is an understatement. ??
Alison Andrews says
Haha, that’s just wonderful! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Cassie says
This is the second year in a row that I’ve made these for Christmas. My family loves them! I did have to add a bit more soy milk to the dough but they’re seriously so easy to make. The icing dries perfectly. It’s so fun to experiment with different cookie cutter shapes. I’m definitely going to be using this recipe again for any occasion.
I highly recommend trying this recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Cassie! So happy they have worked out great for you. Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Rachel says
These are delicious when dipped in coffee!
Alison Andrews says
Haha yes! I’m with you there! 🙂
Bonnie says
Hi, could you make these like drop cookies, I don’t want to mess with rolling and cutting. I’m lazy!
Alison Andrews says
Sure! ?
Nikki Nelson says
This is my go to recipe. I dont use anything else for sugar cookies anymore. I have tried so many recipes and these are perfect. I whip the earth balance and sugar for several minutes scraping the sides now and then and find that it makes the cookies turn out delicious. Now I need to find the perfect chocolate crinkle recipe!
Alison Andrews says
So great to hear that Nikki! Thanks a million for the awesome review! 🙂
Candice says
Hi Alison, these look great! Just wondering if they are ok to freeze once made?
Alison Andrews says
Yes you can freeze them! 🙂
Whitney Arthur says
Hello, I am wanting to try this recipe tonight for my little guy with food allergies. Would coconut oil in the solid form work for the vegan butter? Thanks so much Whitney
Alison Andrews says
Hi Whitney, if you read the other comments some have used coconut oil as a swap for the vegan butter and said it worked out!
Cassara Holt says
I have a vegan friend who helped me out this holiday season and wanted to return the love. These cookies were were so simple and turned out fantastic! I made them them without the almond extract but added a bit more vanilla and they were delicious!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much Cassara! 🙂
Steve says
HELP!!
I could not get the dough to ball up with 2tbsp…I used almond milk.I added more ,more and finally made a ball. Just didn’t come out, still dry and crumbly.
What did I do wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Steve, did you make any ingredient substitutions? You may just need more almond milk, if your vegan butter brand is one that is very hard at room temperature then it has a lower water content and you may need even more non-dairy milk.
Scriv says
Hi!
What type of sugar do you normally use ? I am trying it with granulated tonight as this is all we have in the house!!
Hopefully it’s right 😀
Thanks
Alison Andrews says
Yes, ordinary granulated sugar is perfect! 🙂
Tiffany says
I’m not vegan, but had to go dairy free because I’m breastfeeding and my little one has a dairy allergy. I have always failed with sugar cookies, but this is by far the easiest and tastiest sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever had!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thank you so much for the awesome review! 🙂