This is the only recipe for Vegan Sugar Cookies you’ll ever need! Easy to make and with soft, melt-in-your-mouth bites, these perfect cookies are almost as much fun to eat as they are to decorate with vegan icing and sprinkles.
More sugar cookie-themed desserts you’ll love: Vegan Lofthouse Cookies, Vegan Sugar Cookie Bars and Chocolate Sugar Cookies!
My Vegan Sugar Cookies are a holiday staple and for good reason! These cookies are soft and buttery with delicate flavors and elaborate icing decoration. My family and I have a ton of fun every holiday season cutting them out with different cookie cutters and playing around with the easy vegan icing and sprinkles!
They’re truly the vegan Christmas cookies of my dreams not only because they’re too sweet and delicious to resist, but also because they’re easy to make. The cookie dough comes together in a pinch and stays soft from beginning to end. Say goodbye to dry and crumbly cookies!
Saving the best for last, the easy vegan icing in this vegan sugar cookie recipe is as shimmery and sweet as traditional royal icing. Customize it with as much food coloring as you like, then pipe it onto the cookies. Just like me and my family, I know you’ll have a ton of fun and make new memories with all of the fun decorations you like.
Why these are the best vegan frosted sugar cookies
- The ultimate vegan Christmas cookie recipe – Just like classic sugar cookies, my vegan sugar cookies are delicate, soft, and a must-have treat for the holiday season. Plus, they keep their shape in the oven.
- Fun to decorate with icing – Make the easy royal icing dupe, add food coloring, and pipe it onto the cookies to make each one more eye-catching than the last.
- Easy to make – This vegan sugar cookies recipe comes together easily using less than 10 ingredients!
- 200+ 5-star ratings! It’s official–these cookies are a hit! Here’s what my readers have been saying…
“I absolutely LOVE this recipe & have made it again & again & again. The cookies are so buttery & delicious, almost like a shortbread, but better!” – Julianne
“I’ve made this recipe now for two years – Holiday cookies, Halloween cookies, Easter cookies … you name it. Perfect. It’s the best Vegan sugar cookie adaptation I’ve found. THANK YOU NORA! Huge for us!” – Karin
”I’ve made these a few years in a row now and they’re so soft and delicious every time! Best sugar cookie ever!” – Sarah
How to make vegan sugar cookies
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy and smooth. Beat in the sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Next, mix in the plant milk, cornstarch, vanilla, and almond extract until combined.
Slowly mix 1 cup of flour along with the baking powder and salt into the wet ingredients. Add 1 more cup of flour and continue to mix until the dough feels like play dough in your hands (it will still look crumbly).
If the dough feels too wet to roll, mix in another 1/4 cup of flour. I always end up using the full 2 1/4 cups of flour.
Scoop the dough out of the bowl and push it together with your hands. Divide it into two balls.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a flat surface and sprinkle a little flour on top. Add one dough ball to the parchment paper, sprinkle some flour on top, and roll it out with a rolling pin to ¼-inch thickness. Cover with another sheet of parchment on top.
Repeat this step with the second ball of dough, then chill the flattened dough in the fridge.
After chilling, use your favorite cookie cutters to cut fun shapes out of the sugar cookie dough. Lay the cookies onto the lined baking sheets.
Continue re-rolling the scrap dough and cutting it into shapes! Nothing goes to waste here.
Bake the cookies until they’re just starting to turn golden.
Set them aside to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Make sure they’re completely cool before decorating with icing.
How to decorate sugar cookies
You can either get really fancy and pipe the icing onto the cookies with a piping bag and fine tip or keep things simple by spreading my Vegan Buttercream or another frosting on the cookies with a spatula! Below, I’ll show you how to decorate the prettiest sugar cookies:
- Make a thick batch of icing by only using 1 tablespoon of milk so the icing doesn’t spill over the cookie edges.
- Scoop the icing into several bowls and stir 1 to 3 drops of gel food coloring into each portion.
- Transfer the colorful sugar cookie icing to one or multiple piping bags (I used Wilton Bags) fitted with a fine tip.
- Trace the cookie edges with your icing, wait for it to set, then fill in the center with more icing. Add some sprinkles as well and have fun!
Check out this helpful video for more guidance and sugar cookie decorating tips.
They will look like this when they come out of the oven. See how they don’t puff up a bunch or spread like some sugar cookie recipes do? Cookie perfection.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, chilling is a must! If you skip this part, the sugar cookie dough will be too soft and sticky, which will make the cookies hard to work with and cause them to spread in the oven. Luckily, I found that rolling out the dough onto parchment paper is the secret to a quick chill time (about 1 hour) so you can cut the cookies and bake them as fast as possible!
Yes, I have had good results making these cookies with King Arthur’s measure for measure gluten-free flour. If you don’t use this brand, use another quality gluten-free baking flour.
My go-to food coloring brand is Watkins, which is vegan-friendly. Several Wilton brand gel food colorings are vegan, too. Always read the label carefully to ensure the brand you’re buying doesn’t contain any animal products. Or, you can try making your own vegan gel food coloring.
Absolutely! Once the dough has come together in a ball, wrap it in a layer of plastic and store it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Thaw the dough in the fridge overnight and set it on the kitchen counter for a few minutes so it can soften before you roll it flat.
Place the leftover vegan sugar cookies in an airtight container (or gift bags if you’re gifting them for the holidays) and store them at room temperature for 2 or 3 days or in the fridge for 5 days. The baked and unfrosted cookies freeze well for about 3 months, too.
Want more vegan Christmas cookies?
- Ginger Crinkle Cookies or Vegan Ginger Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Shortbread Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Vegan Snowball Cookies
The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 3/4 cup vegan butter, slightly softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened plant milk soy, almond or oat milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract optional, but good
- 2-2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Easy Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract optional
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (can omit, but it makes the icing very shiny)
- 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened plant milk
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- In a large bowl either using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the vegan butter for about 1 minute until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and light.
- Now add in the milk, cornstarch, vanilla and almond extract (if using). Beat on high until it is all fully combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add 1 cup of the flour to the wet mixture. Sprinkle the baking powder and salt on top of the flour. Mix on low speed, until just combined. Now add 1 more cup of the flour and continue to mix on low until just combined; don’t over mix. The dough should feel similar to play dough when you work it in your hands, but it will look crumbly in the bowl. If it seems too wet for rolling, add another 1/4 cup of flour. You want the dough to be thick, but not dry. I always use the full 2 1/4 cups of flour. If the dough is too wet, your cookies will spread.
- Using a spatula, scoop all of the dough out of the bowl; use your hands if needed to push it all together. Divide the dough in half and roll into two balls.
- On a flat surface, add a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle a little flour on it, then add half the dough. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough, and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top. Repeat for the second ball of dough, and then stack them with parchment paper. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Once the dough has been chilled, set it on the counter for 10 minutes while the oven is preheating to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut into desired shapes using a cookie cutter and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Continue re-rolling the dough until it is all used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, in the middle rack of the oven, until very lightly colored on top and around the edges. They will appear underdone, but they will firm up considerably as they cool. Let them cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to let cool completely before icing.
Easy Icing
- Whisk all icing ingredients in a bowl. If it seems too thick, add a little more milk. It should be smooth, glossy and not runny. If too runny, add more powdered sugar. You can dip the cookies in the icing, or use brushes, spoons or a squeeze bottle. See this helpful video on how to decorate sugar cookies with icing.
- *If you want really pretty cookies, first make the icing thicker, by using only 1 tablespoon of plant milk. Using a decorating tip, outline the cookies with the thicker icing. Then add a little more milk to thin it and flood the inside with icing. This way the icing doesn't spill over the cookie edges.
- Decorate with sprinkles as desired. The icing will take several hours to harden completely. The cookies will stay soft for about 5 days at room temperature.
Notes
- Try to get vegan butter sticks if you can; they are easier to bake with. I always use salted vegan butter; if you use unsalted, add a pinch more of salt. Any brand will work, though Miyoko’s is my favorite in terms of flavor.
- Almond extract is optional but it adds a very good flavor to both the cookies and the icing, so use it if you can.
- To correctly measure flour, make sure to spoon and level by scooping the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon and level it off with the back of a knife. If you don’t correctly measure the flour, you can end up with way too much flour and the dough will be dry!
- If you aren’t comfortable using corn syrup, you may omit it. I rarely use it, but it makes cookie icing pretty and shiny and it’s just 1 tablespoon.
- Baked sugar cookies freeze well. You can also freeze the dough.
Maybe this is a silly question, but do you use salted or unsalted earth balance?
Not silly! I use salted butter.
Hello Nora,
My little guy has severe nut, dairy and egg allergies. How would you make your cookies if almond milk and almond extract were not an option?
Best wishes,
Christine
No problem! Just use soy milk (or oat milk) and omit the almond extract.
Do you know if the icing would keep well if I stored it in an icing bag for a few days? Thinking of making some cookie decorating kits for my childrens birthday parties, so wanted to make the cookies and icing up in advance.
Hi Sidney. The icing is best made and used the same day, fresh, as it hardens as it sits. Sometimes I make it a few hours ahead of time, then whisk it smooth and add more milk if needed. Hope this helps!
These are so stinking good. Oh my word!
Made four batches of these cookies. Everyone loves them.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad the cookies were a hit!
Even after re-rolling a few times, I only got 13 cookies out of this – nowhere close to the 24 stated at the top of the recipe. But, the texture is just right and they are delicious! So I would definitely make this again, but I’d have to double it if I really wanted 24 cookies.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad the cookies turned out delicious for you!
Made these with my non-vegan family and they were impressed! The almond extract is excellent, everyone agreed they were the best sugar cookies. We skipped icing and added some colourful sugar crystal sprinkles before cooking.
Can you use a vegetable shortening instead of vegan butter??
Vegetable shortening would probably work. Follow all the instructions for chilling the dough. Let me know how it works for you!
I just made them today with vegetable shortening and they were delicious. Such a great recipe!
Aloha, Love, Prema
Your cookies are simply delicious, Mahalo
Fantastic recipe. Cookies turned out perfect. Highly recommend using the almond extract even though it’s optional.
After refrigerating, if the dough looks crumbly and can’t be rolled out, hand knead about a tablespoon of applesauce into the dough and it will hold together. The taste of the applesauce cooks out.
Hi! Love these cookies, but my dough keeps cracking when I roll it. I used the 2 1/4 cups of flour the first time I made them and only 2 cups the second time. It is still cracking. What am I doing wrong?
Make sure you are measuring everything accurately, and that your vegan butter isn’t too cold (this will make the dough crumbly). Did you chill the dough before rolling out? The reason I have you roll out the dough before chilling is because then you don’t have crumbly, cracking dough when you roll. But the dough needs to be chilled before baking so the cookies hold their shape. Hope that makes sense!
How many does the original make? The recipe. I don’t know if I need to double it
hi in the ingredients list you have 4-4.5 cups flour but in the instructions you state you always use 2 1/4 cups. I am currently at 2.5 cups and the dough is still too wet. I’m hoping you meant 4 1/4 cups and it was a typo.
NVM – I realized my wife had the recipe doubled lol. Thank you.
If you are doubling the recipe, it will be 4 1/2 cups. The original recipe uses 2 1/4, but I can’t automatically change the text everywhere when you hit the “2x” recipe. Hope that makes sense!
Could I just chill the dough in the 2 balls & roll it out when we are ready to use it?
You can, just be careful as the dough will be a bit crumbly and hard to roll out after chilling. The other option is this: before chilling, roll and cut into shapes. Place on the pans, then pop in the fridge for an hour, or the freezer for 30 minutes. Then place them directly into the preheated oven and bake. Hope that helps!
Cookies are good – icing is AWFUL. Way too sugary & completely ruins the cookies.
Wow, these really are the best vegan sugar cookies! They’re so delicious and easy to make. I’ll be doing them every year!
The dough looks great, it’s chilling now. I double checked measurements (because I’ve never cooked with some of these ingredients) used the suggested 2 1/4 cups flour, and measured and measured and measured to make sure it was 1/4” thick all the way through. There is NO WAY this makes 24 cookies, I tried the smallest cutter off the smallest set (guess we’re all getting holly leaves this year lol) and even tried a 2 1/4” round with all the edges touching and accounting for scraps. I went back and went closer to 1/8”, there’s maybe 12-15 cookies coming out of that.. plan accordingly
Can you use other nondairy milk? Like soy?
Yes, any milk works fine here.
I’ve made sugar cookies for years and vegan ones for 5. Last year I tried this recipe and will never go back to another. Hands down the best sugar cookie recipe. I use Miyokos butter and I sub 1 of the tbsps of milk for brandy as I did in my traditional recipe. I also do half vanilla and half almond extract. So Yummy!
Can I make these with. Gluten free flour?
They work pretty well with a quality gluten free flour. I like King Arthur’s Measure for Measure.
Hi Nora,
I love all your recipes…I followed your directions exactly, added a little flour to the parchment paper, but the ‘layering’ is causing the underneath dough to stick to the top parchment. Any way to avoid this. That previously perfectly rolled layer is now crumbling when I try to pull the top layer away!
Thanks much for your advice!
Tina
Sprinkle with a little flour, both on the dough and parchment paper to prevent any sticking. Also, handle the dough gently, especially when peeling the parchment paper off. Hope that helps! If nothing else, take it off, re-roll it and cut into shapes.
I used whole wheat flour because that’s all I had in the house. Followed the rest of the recipe to a T. Even froze it over night .It was just crumbling. So frustrated. Was so looking forward to a new cookie recipe. Had to through it all out.
Whole wheat flour is actually much drier than white flour, and freezing it would absolutely make it crumbly. Sorry they didn’t turn out!
I am looking to make these cookies for the holidays. We like to use sugar crystal sprinkles to decorate sugar cookies prior to baking. I was curious if you have tried doing this and if so how did they come out?
I have never used sugar crystals prior to baking the cookies, however, I think they would come out fine if you do. Let me know how it goes for you! Happy holiday cooking!
Hi Nora! I’m wondering if these can be frozen or maybe even refrigerated after being frosted with the icing?? I absolutely love this recipe!! I always used to make my grandmother’s recipe, but now my youngest is allergic to dairy and eggs. This tastes just like her recipe but safe for our whole family. I’m so thankful for recipes like yours that allows us to continue family traditions.
Hi Samantha. Thank you for sharing your fantastic review! I am glad my sugar cookies can be enjoyed by all, and allows you to continue family traditions! You can refrigerate or freeze them after frosting them. They may not hold up as well being frozen after being frosted, however it will work. Hope that helps! Happy cooking!