Sugar cookies are a year-round treat, but if you’re like most people, you probably associate them with Christmas—no other cookie is so well-suited for cutting into Christmas trees, wreaths, and snowman shapes, or for decorating with colourful icing! If you’re on a plant-based diet, there’s no reason sugar cookies have to be off-limits; vegan sugar cookies have everything you love about the original, minus the eggs, butter, and milk! Yep, you can even nail that buttery sugar cookie flavour by using a high-quality vegan butter. These cookies are sweet, crispy, and have the perfect texture for cut-outs. I decorated my sugar cookies for the holidays, but you can also cut them into rounds using the rim of a glass or cup and add a simple colourful glaze, or use cookie cutters to make shapes for any holiday, occasion, or interest.
Notes on Ingredients
Please note that this is important information on the ingredients and instructions and the FULL recipe with amounts and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
For the sugar cookies:
Vegan butter – Here’s how to make your own vegan butter if you’re not able to find it at the grocery store. If using storebought (like I usually do) I recommend Earth Balance Sticks for this or Miyokos butter.Organic white granulated sugarVanilla extract – The vanilla flavour really shines through in sugar cookies, so choose a high-quality extract.Vegan milk – Use an unflavoured variety; soy, oat, almond, or anything else you like or have on hand is fine.All-purpose flour Baking powderBaking sodaSea salt
For the sugar cookie icing:
Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioners’ sugar. Make sure you sift it first so you don’t have lumps in your icing!Vegan milkLemon juice – This brightens up the flavour and adds a hint of tanginess, reminiscent of cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Vegan Sugar Cookies
If you don’t have a large block of time to make and frost the cookies, you can bake the cookies a day or two in advance and frost them later. Prepare. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and dust it with flour. Mix the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes on medium-low speed until the mixture is fluffy and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract and milk for about 30 seconds. Mix the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt into a small bowl and whisk to combine. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer, with the wet ingredients. Beat slowly, then increase the speed to fully incorporate the flour; this should take about 2 minutes at most. The dough will be slightly sticky to the touch. Roll the dough into a ball. Roll out the dough. Turn out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and used a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Dust the top of the dough with additional flour, then place another piece of parchment paper over it. Chill the dough. Place the baking sheet with the rolled out dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight. Cut the cookies. Start preheating your oven to 350ºF. Peel the parchment paper from the top of the cookie dough and use cookie cutters to cut it into shapes. Collect the scraps, roll them out again, cut, and repeat until you have no more dough left. Leave the cut cookies on the parchment-lined baking sheet, arranging them so there’s at least an inch of space between them. Bake and cool. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. Cool on the sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Make the icing. Combine the powdered sugar, vegan milk, and lemon juice in a small bowl; stir until the mixture is smooth. Decorate. Colour the icing, if desired, and use it to decorate your cookies however you like!
Tips for Success
Here are my best tips for making perfect sugar cookies!
Keeping cookies from spreading. If you don’t want thin, misshapen cookies, it’s all about the butter. First, don’t over-beat the butter and sugar when you’re creaming them together. Too much air in the butter will cause the cookies to spread. The dough—and thus the butter inside of it—needs to be chilled before it goes in the oven. Without this step, the butter will melt immediately, deflating your cookies. If the dough warms up when you’re cutting the cookies, you can refrigerate it for another 15 minutes.Preventing the dough from sticking. If you need to, you can sprinkle additional flour on top of the dough before rolling it out. Getting the right consistency for the icing. You can add the lemon juice a drop at a time and adjust its thickness by adding more powdered sugar or thinning with additional milk or lemon juice. If you’re adding liquid food colouring, I suggest starting with a thicker icing and adding a little less milk and lemon juice.
How to Store
Vegan sugar cookies can be stored just like traditional sugar cookies—in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. To keep the icing perfect, you can place parchment paper between the layers.
Can I Freeze This Recipe?
You can freeze the sugar cookie dough so you have it on hand whenever you’re ready to bake, or you can freeze the baked and frosted cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Enjoy friends! If you make this vegan sugar cookie recipe, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
