You're going to love these vegan sugar cookies! They are soft, buttery, fluffy, and topped with the perfect royal frosting. This easy cookie recipe makes a delicious holiday treat that you can enjoy year 'round!
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These easy vegan sugar cookies are the perfect baking activity for kids. I look forward to baking and decorating sugar cookies with my children every year around the holiday season. We make a whole day out of baking, shaping, and decorating; it's become a holiday tradition.
Of course, I don’t only bake sugar cookies at Christmas. We have tons of fun decorating these vegan frosted cookies for all the other holidays and occasions. They are perfect for Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Baseball Day (perhaps this only a holiday we celebrate at our house but we go all out for opening day of baseball).
Making and decorating these easy cookies with the kids is a fun activity all year long. And with only 8 easy ingredients, you won’t mind when your kids ask you to make them again and again!
Recommended Ingredients and Equipment
You don’t need too much to make these delicious bakery-style cookies at home. You likely already have the ingredients on hand. Anything else can easily be found at your local grocery store.
Here is everything you need.
Ingredient Notes
- All-Purpose Flour - For a gluten-free alternative, use 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend (<<affiliate link). You may need to reduce the liquid slightly in the recipe to get the same sugar cookie consistency.
- Vegan Butter - With so few ingredients, it's especially important to look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- Cornstarch - This gives the cookies some extra fluffiness to replace the eggs. You can omit but the cookies won't be as soft and fluffy.
- Applesauce - The applesauce acts as the binder for these cookies. You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
- Non-Dairy Milk - Use a neutral-flavored milk such as soy or cashew.
Recommended Equipment
For all my cookie recipes, I recommend a stand-up mixer. These make whipping, beating, and blending so much easier. However, they are pricy and if they are not in your budget, you can make cookies with a handheld mixer.
In addition, you will need basic cooking equipment including baking sheets, silicone baking mats, a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One - Make the Dough
In a bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
In a stand-up mixer bowl, beat the vegan butter for one minute until it is light and fluffy. Once it is fluffy, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides.
Turn the mixer back on low and slowly add the granulated sugar. Whip together for another minute and scrape down the sides as necessary. Once the sugar and butter are fully incorporated, add the applesauce and vanilla extract and mix until it is well incorporated.
Pro Tip: The mixture may look a little curdled at this point. Don't worry, it will come together when you add the dry ingredients.
With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together.
Do not over mix the dough! Once you add the flour, mix it until it just starts coming together. At that point, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Use your hands to bring it together.
Step Two - Roll and Chill
Once you have combined the dough with your hands, transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper. Lightly dust with powdered sugar and place another piece of parchment paper on top.
Roll out the dough until it is about ¼" thick and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step Three - Cut and Bake
Once your dough is chilled, cut out shapes with your cookie cutters.
Avoid rolling out the dough too many times. Each time you roll out the dough, it will get more cracked and dense. To avoid waste, keep the shapes as close together as possible.
Pro Tip: Smaller cookies will bake for less time than larger cookies. Keep similar shaped cookies on the same baking sheets.
Once the cookies are cut out, return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to let the dough re-harden. Do not skip this step! Otherwise, the cookies may spread out too much and lose their shape in the oven.
Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes or until they are slightly golden around the edges. Keep in mind, all ovens bake differently, so you should adjust times accordingly to avoid over-cooking the cookies. Bake them until the edges start to turn golden brown.
Step Four - Frost the Cookies
While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the ingredients for the frosting. You can add colors and make different batches of frosting so you have several colors to choose from.
Pro Tip: Not all food coloring is vegan. Make sure to check the ingredients or pick some vegan certified food coloring up online.
Transfer the icing to a piping bags to make intricate designs or use a knife to spread an even layer over the cookies. For some great decorating tips, check out this helpful tutorial for sugar cookies!
Serving And Storing
Serving - Vegan sugar cookies are a great dessert any time of year. Cookie cutters come in all sorts of seasonal shapes, which makes them great for any holiday.
Storing - You can store these cookies for about 3 to 5 days at room temperature. To store them, place them in an airtight container or sealable bag. If you are using sealable bags, make sure you squeeze as much air out as possible.
Freeze Cookie Dough: If you only want to make only a few at a time, you can store the remaining dough in the freezer. To do this, shape the cookies and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Set them in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer the unbaked cookies to a large ziplock bag and return to the freezer. You can store the cookies this way for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t overwork the dough! That will make it tough and cause it to crack more easily.
- Make sure your sugar cookies are well-chilled before placing them in the oven. This prevents them from spreading too far apart.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies. If your oven runs hot, adjust your cooking to time so that they just start to get golden brown around the edges.
- Smaller cookies will bake for less time than larger cookies. Keep similar shaped cookies on the same baking sheets.
- Use a middle rack to bake the cookies. Cookies can burn easily on the bottom rack of an oven. Make sure you place them on a middle or higher rack in your oven.
- Don’t ice the cookies until they are completely cool! If they are too warm, the icing will melt and spread everywhere.
- Use piping bags and tips for decorating to make cool designs with the icing. If you don’t have piping bags, you can easily use a large sealable bag and cut off the tip like you would a piping bag.
- Use a glass when filling the piping bags. To do this, place the tip into the glass and spread the opening to the bag so that it drapes over the sides of the glass. Use a spoon to scoop the icing into the bag.
Frequently Asked Questions
Decorating sugar cookies adds extra sweetness, a bit of moisture, and some additional flavor. It also adds a fun activity to do with your family once the cookies are baked and cooled.
If you don’t like icing on your cookies, you can skip it though. It won’t affect the cookie, which will still taste really good with or without icing.
If you don’t have fun shapes, you can use other objects you find in your kitchen to cut shapes. One of the simplest shapes you can make, a circle, you can do using a glass. You can use different size glasses to make different size cookies or make them all the same size.
Piping bags are close bags shaped like a cone. Though they have some advantages over a plastic baggie, you can easily ice your cookies using a sealable bag. You just need to cut one corner and insert a tip just like you would a piping bag.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Ultra-Chewy Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Ultra-Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookie
- 4-Ingredient Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Salted Chocolate Rosemary Cookies
- Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Check out all my vegan cookie recipes for more inspiration.
Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegan butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Royal Icing
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
- 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
Instructions
- In a bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer, beat the vegan butter for one minute until it is light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the side. Slowly add the granulated sugar. Whip together for aother minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the applesauce and vanilla extra and mix until it is well incorporated. The dough may look a little curdled at this point. That’s okay! It will sort itself out once the rest of the ingredients are added.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until the dough comes together. Do not over mix that dough. Once you add the flour, mix it until it just starts coming together. At that point, turn it out onto a floured work surface and bring it together with your hands. Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper, lightly dust with powdered sugar and top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about ¼" thick. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Once your dough is chilled, cut out shapes with your cookie cutters. Avoid rolling out the dough many times. Each time the dough is rolled, it will get more cracked and dense. Keep the shapes as close together as possible. Return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to let the dough reharden. Otherwise, your cookies will spread out too much in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they are slightly golden around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the ingredients for the frosting. Feel free to add any colors you choose. Once your cookies are completely cool, frost the cookies. Check out this helpful tutorial for sugar cookie decorating tips.
Notes
- Don’t overwork the dough! It will make it tough and cause it to crack more easily.
- Make sure your sugar cookies are well-chilled before placing them in the oven. This prevents them from spreading too far apart.
- Smaller cookies will bake for less time than larger cookies. Keep similar shaped cookies on the same baking sheets.
- Use a middle rack to bake the cookies. Cookies can burn easily on the bottom rack of an oven. Make sure you place them on a middle or higher rack in your oven.
- Don’t ice the cookies until they are completely cool! If they are too warm, the icing will melt and spread everywhere.
- Use a glass when filling the piping bags. To do this, place the tip into the glass and spread the opening to the bag so that it drapes over the sides of the glass. Use a spoon to scoop the icing into the bag.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the 
Michelle says
These turned out great!
I’m wondering if you could edit it to clarify that you need to get vegan sugar and vegan icing sugar. I was making these for my vegan sister and only realized after I had made it that regular granulated sugar and confectioner’s sugar are not vegan.
Erika says
Can i freeze them once they are baked ?
Sara says
The cookies held very well and I always have those ingredients on hand so it is convenient too.
I followed the recipe exactly and even ate some without decoration on it.
Sarah says
Do you have any thoughts on icing for these that isn’t royal icing and is more stiff, for lack of a better term? Recipes that you can suggest? Thanks!