Delicious Vegan Sugar Cookies that are easy to make, soft and crispy on the edges, and that keep their shape beautifully after baking.
They’re not overly sweet, which makes them perfect to eat plain, spread butter and jam on them, or, if you feel fancy, decorated with Vegan Royal Icing (recipe bellow) and turn them into a heavenly work of art.
Looking for a recipe with minimal effort and mess but lots of fun? This is it! You will be amazed by the few and basic ingredients you need to prepare those cute sugar cookies. They are made with just 3 main ingredients: butter, sugar and flour. The rest of the ingredients, salt and vanilla, are used to basically enhance the taste and flavour of the cookies.
Ingredients
This recipe makes 40 cookies. Bellow you’ll find the details regarding shapes and measurements.
Vegan butter. I use margarine straight from the fridge. Margarine has a softer consistency than dairy butter, so, it’s much better to keep it in the fridge just until you are going to use it.
Sugar. Organic cane sugar works great here. Not something you normally have in your pantry? Don’t worry, white granulated sugar is a good substitute here.
Flour. All purpose flour is the best for this recipe. Use gluten-free all purpose flour if you’d like to make these cookies gluten-free, at a ratio of 1:1.
Salt. Used to enhance the taste of baked goods.
Vanilla. That’s the usual flavour for this type of cookies. I’ve also flavored them with almond flavour sometimes and, although I don’t dislike it, I find that vanilla suits much better here.
How to Make Vegan Sugar Cookies
Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a summary of the process.
- First, beat butter and sugar until just combined. Add vanilla and stir again. Then, add the flour and beat until everything is well mixed.
- Place the dough on a parchment paper, flatten and wrap it. Place int the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF / 175º C.
- Once refrigerated, cut out the cookies and place them onto the prepared cookie sheets. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Bake cookies for 13 minutes or until the edges are brown.
- Let cool in the baking sheet. Transfer to a cooling rack when almost at room temperature and let cool completely before storing or decorating.
Tips for the Best Vanilla Cookies
Use cold butter. The butter will soften when you mix it with the sugar but the dough will be a bit cooler, which makes it easier to work with.
Refrigerate the dough Although this dough can be used straight of the mixing bowl, it’s advisable to refrigerate it before and after cutting out the cookies.
Baking time. Every oven is different. Baking time is quite accurate but keep in mind that cookies are done when the edges are slightly brown although the center may look a bit underdone. So keep an eye on your cookies while baking.
One batch at a time. Unless you’ve got a professional oven, it’s much better to place just one tray in the center of the oven.
Shapes and Measurements
Yield: with this recipe you’ll get:
- 15 heart shaped cookies, 2.5 inch (6.5 cm) diameter
- 15 round cookies, 2.5 inch (6.5 cm) diameter
- 10 round slightly bigger cookies, 3 inch (7.5 cm) diameter
Cookie Cutters Measurements: I’ve used:
- a 2.3 inch (6 cm) heart shaped cutter
- a 2.5 inch (6.5 cm) round cutter
- a 3 inch (7.5 cm) round cutter
RECIPE
Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Makes 40 cookies: 2.5 - 3 inch (6.5 - 7.5 cm)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons 250 grams vegan butter
- 1 ¼ cups sugar 250 grams white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour 470 grams
Makes 20 cookies: 2.5 - 3 inch (6.5 - 7.5 cm)
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoons 125 grams vegan butter
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 125 grams sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 235 grams
Ingredients for the Vegan Royal Icing (to decorate 20 cookies)
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons light golden syrup
Instructions
- Instructions for the Cookies
- First, line or lightly grease two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until just incorporated and a bit creamy. Don’t over work or the cookies will spread while baking.
- Add the flour and salt. Mix until the dough comes together and clumps around the paddle attachment. Your dough is ready.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface, divide in two and flat them to make discs. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF / 175 ºC.
- Place the dough on a parchment paper, cover with another sheet of parchment paper and roll out ¼ inch (6mm) thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes, place on the lined cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown at the edges.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet to firm up and then transfer to a cooling rack. You can eat them as they are or decorate with royal icing.
- Instructions for the Royal Icing
- In a medium bowl, mix all the icing ingredients. Beat until they are incorporated and the mixture starts getting glossy. You can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, a hand mixer or simply do it by hand with a whisk.
- If using an electric mixer, mix on low speed to until smooth and then switch to medium speed for a few seconds. If it’s too thick, add some water, one teaspoon at a time.
- Color the icing with food coloring. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. I use Wilton round piping tip #4 for outlining and flooding the cookie.
Notes
Nutrition
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these cookies look so, so pretty!! My daughter will definitely make these for Christmas and I will be helping her eat – she is the baker in this house. The fact that these cookies are vegan is a bonus.
I hope you will love it as much as we do, Ramona! Thanks so much for the sweet comment!
These sugar cookies are decorated so pretty! I have not tried making vegan sugar cookies yet. Excited to give them a try!
They’re one of my favorite cookies! You can’t even tell they’re vegan
What beautiful cookies and so simple! My SIL is vegan and I was looking for an amazing sugar cookie recipe to make her. She RAVED over this! Thank you so much for sharing
You are welcome, Lori. Thanks to you for your charming feedback and review! I’m really glad your SIL loved the cookies!
These were so delicious! The tip about Cold butter was really helpful and I loved the savouriness the salt brought to the sugar cookies
Hi, Zhen! Thank you so much for your sweet review. I’m thrilled to hear you love these vegan sugar cookies! Enjoy!
I am so excited to make these sugar cookies!! I have a couple of vegan students that I want to bake for so this is perfect!
That makes me so happy to hear! I would love to hear how it worked out for you.
Thanks for sharing this recipe with me. My brother recently went vegan, and I want to make him some cookies for Christmas.
I’m glad you love these cookies Maggie, this is my go-to recipe to make butter cookies, you have to try it!
Ok. First of all, let me say this: you have talent. These are the most beautiful, elegant, charming cookies I’ve seen lately. They are so cute. I wish I could see a video tutorial on how to decorate them.
Hi Enri, thanks for the sweet words! Making video recipes is on my to-do list. One of my goals for next year!
I love the look of these cookies, it is so elegant and looks really delicious!
Hi Amy, thanks! Glad you enjoy them.
These are so pretty I cannot wait to make them! I don’t think mine will look as good haha but I’m going to try my best
Hi Mindy, I’m sure your cookies will look fantastic! Hope you have a great time making them! Thanks for the comment!
This is so creative and perfect for the festive season. Best gifting option too.
Thank you Veena! You are right this can be a great holiday recipe but we love it all year round lol, my family loves these cookies, they are one of our favourites. Enjoy!!
Wow! This cookie recipe looks so delicious and mesmerizing! The cookie design is so awesome! I’ll definitely make this next baking session with the family! Loved it!
Thank you, Jamie! You are right, this can be a great holiday activity to make with the familily. Happy baking!
These are stunning! I learned a long time ago that vegan butter tastes so much better than regular butter! Mine did not turn out nearly s beautiful as yours, but they taste amazing! Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Amanda, I’ve decorated dozens and dozens of sugar cookies, I love it! It’s a matter of practice. Thanks for the sweet comment, I’m sure yours turned out wonderful!
This is the easiest recipe ever. A few of my family members are vegan and this recipe is just perfect to prepare a delicious batch of cookies for them. I love how you decorated them!
Hi Silvia, thank you! I hope your family loves them as much as we do! They are super easy to make. Make the cookies the day before if you’d like to decorate them.
These sugar cookies are so pretty and simple! Made them for a friend with allergies and she loved them!
Hi Zhen, I’m so glad to hear that you could make this recipe work out! Happy that you loved it!!!