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.
Gissel says
Is the dough too thick for the coolie gun?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Gissel, it is very thick yes, you can see the consistency of the dough in the video. 🙂
Nicole says
Love this recipe! I have used a gluten free baking mix. And rice milk. Without the almond extract due to also tree nuts allergies. The first batch was bitter because the flour mix has raising agent included (which I presumed was Baking Soda) so I made another batch and omitted the baking soda and it turned out so good! Kids and hubby gobbled it up.
For frosting, I have used water instead of milk. And my kid shaped it and decorated it with coloured sprinkles. Such a fun activity for kids with allergies.
If I have to make a big batch maybe 60cookies and bring it in a 14hour flight, what do you suggest I do? Do I freeze them? Then pack it on the day? Afraid the Butter in the cookies will melt..
Alison Andrews says
Hi Nicole, so happy you enjoyed the recipe! They travel very well in a sealed container, no need to freeze them first. All the best! 🙂
Stacy Rosenfeld says
Hi! If I love marzipan, about how much almond extract would be enough for an almond-y flavor but not too sickly?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Stacy, you could double the amount and use a 1/2 teaspoon and see how you like it. Almond extract is quite strong so I’d be hesitant to use more just in case it was overpowering. 🙂
Allison says
Loved them! Will keep up the practice on baking these between now and Christmas to help us enjoy an amazing Vegan Christmas this year 🙂
THANKS
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Allison! 🙂
Kata says
Hey, I will try to make these cookies for vegan relatives. How do you make your powdered sugar? Do you just blend the normal vegan white sugar or do you have to add any starch to it? Thank you ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kata, I just buy powdered sugar, it’s also called icing sugar or confectioners sugar. 🙂
Sarah says
How do you make sure you have the right amount of flour? Simply placing it in a measuring cup is not enough? I have made these a few times and they are by far the best vegan cookies I have come across, but I feel like I am not getting it quite right and I wonder if it is the flour measurement being off?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sarah! The best method is weighing the flour on a food scale, but the other way to measure it correctly is to spoon and level. So you can’t scoop it or you end up with too much as it packs the flour in. The best guide to the spoon and level method for measuring flour is from The Spruce Eats. 🙂
Jenny says
The recipe was easy to put together, but the dough was hard to roll out. I baked for the 10 minutes and they look fine, but they have a weird aftertaste. I did not use any almond extract and did do the coconut oil sub instead of vegan butter. It almost tastes like they need more sugar. It tastes very floury in my batch.
Ann says
My 6 yr old grandson is severely allergic to dairy, eggs, and nuts, so I used rice milk and left out the almond extract. I couldn’t get him to taste one (he is extremely cautious with food), but the rest of the family absolutely loved them. I have two questions: what size ball do you need to make to get 30 drop cookies, and is there a way to make them a little moister?
I will definitely make them again, maybe today!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Ann! So glad they were enjoyed! I’m not sure of the size they need to be, I normally just eyeball it and then sometimes end up re-rolling a few of them to get as many as I need. To get them a little moister, I would add in a little more non-dairy milk. 🙂
Alice Wilkerson says
I followed the recipe exactly. This is the first vegan cookie recipe I have found where the dough, after worked with my hands, is indeed exactly like any sugar cookie dough made with eggs, butter, etc. I did one batch of drop cookies and one of rolled/cut out (the dough rolled out smooth and pliable) – and subbed lemon juice for the milk in the frosting. These cookies are exactly what I’ve been looking for to share with my youngest granddaughter who is allergic to dairy and eggs. Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
This is wonderful to hear Alice! Thanks so much for your awesome comment and rating. 🙂
Linda Volin says
Can I use vegan shortening? Not sure if that is different from vegan butter…
Alison Andrews says
Hi Linda, shortening is different from vegan butter and I’m not sure about using it as it’s not an ingredient that I have used before. If you can get a dairy free margarine that would work fine.
Shai Rikard says
Okay, so I modified this recipe and it still turned out well! I didn’t use vegan butter(as I didn’t have any) so I just used what I did have, which was coconut oil. And instead of using vanilla and almond, I used strawberry extract. I had to add about two tablespoons more of soy milk to really form a good ball of dough. So… I guess what I baked wasn’t sugar cookies but strawberry cookies 🙂 I highly recommend trying this. Everybody loved them.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing! Sounds great! 🙂
Lisa Nguyen says
Hello!! I have just tried your recipe but the issue I had was that they were puffy while baking but as soon as i took them out, they flattened out 1/4” all the way around! Can you tell me what I did wrong? I used earth balance vegan butter and roll 1/4” thickness. Should I omit the baking soda next time or roll thicker? Btw, very delicious recipe. I’ve tried many vegan recipes and this one is definitely a keeper (if I can figure out the spreading situation!)
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lisa! So glad they were delicious! You can try rolling them a bit thicker for a thicker cookie next time. All the best! 🙂
Samina says
I am making your vegan sugar cookies, but when I roll it out, it is a bit crumbly and the cookie breaks a little when I lift it to put it the pan. Do I need to knead with more milk? Is it because I melted the earth balance butter?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Samina, you could add a couple of drops more non-dairy milk and see if that helps to bind the dough a bit better. All the best! 🙂
Crystal says
Can the cookie dough be made ahead of time (like 1 week ahead of time) then stored in freezer prior to baking?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Crystal, yes definitely! There are some great tips in this article about freezing cookie dough depending on how you want your cookies (rolled into balls or cut into cookie cutter shapes).
Sarah says
My apologies if this is already mentioned in comments and I missed it. We love every recipe of yours that we’ve tried and I’m excited to try this one next! Would canned coconut milk work for the milk in the cookie dough? Would you mix canned coconut milk and water together or just use it straight from the can? Thank you!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sarah, yes you could use it! Straight from the can should be just fine. 🙂