The Best Vegan Sugar Cookie!

I love a good sugar cookie. Even though they may be considered a more “simple” cookie, sometimes simple is still the best and I love to eat these with a mug of hot tea at the end of a long day and just savor all the sweet buttery goodness. I used to make “regular” sugar cookies, but this past year I’ve especially been avoiding dairy and egg, so I wanted to find a good vegan sugar cookie that would fit our food plan and accommodate other pals who avoid those things at parties and gatherings as well (I also have been making fun cookie videos for our Instagram as well recently, which has been so fun to learn). I tried a few versions and ended up tweaking the below into what’s now my favorite recipe …

The Best Vegan Sugar Cookie (I get around 20 3-4″ cookies with this recipe)
Adapted from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground chia (or ground flax works too)
2 1/2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup vegan butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter flavor
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Combine your dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together to mix. Add your ground chia (or flax) into your 2 1/2 tablespoons of water and mix to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until you have a thick gel. Mix your butter and sugar with hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy (should only take a few minutes depending on how cold your butter is). Add in your flax or chia mixture, vanilla extract, butter flavor, and almond extract and mix to combine. Slowly add in your wet ingredients into your dry and a dough will start to form. If your dough is too dry, you can add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together (you don’t want it to be a wet dough though, just add enough until it stays together and doesn’t look dry).

Gather your dough into a ball and place it between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out your dough between the parchment until you have a circle that is 1/4″ thick. Place in the fridge for about 30-40 minutes or until it feels very firm. Prep a cookie tray with parchment paper on the bottom while your dough chills.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Take out your chilled dough and place it on a flat surface to cut out your cookies. If your dough is chilled enough, it may stay in your cookie cutter when you lift it up after cutting so it’s easy to transfer to your baking tray and gently push out. As your dough warms, it will stay in place on the counter and you’ll have to lift the excess dough around it to gently pull out your cookie. If you reach a point where it’s too warm and pliable to pull out a cookie successfully, you’ll need to re-roll and chill the dough again before cutting more (if you care about perfect shapes, that is!).

If you don’t care so much about looks, you can bake your cookies right away, but if you are decorating cookies and want them to keep their shape, pop your tray into the freezer for 5 minutes or so until the cookies have firmed back again so that it only makes a small dent when you press your finger into them. If they feel solid and you can’t make a dent at all, they are too frozen, so let them sit out on the counter for a minute or two before baking. I like my cookies on the underdone side and pull them out just before they even start to brown (and under-baking sugar cookies makes them hold up longer as well if you are making them ahead of time for a party or trip), so I do about 9 minutes in the oven. But your oven and cookie taste may be different, so cook longer if you like it a little browned.

Once your cookies are done baking, let them sit on the pan for at least 5 minutes before trying to carefully transfer them to a cooling rack with a spatula and allow the cookies to totally cool before icing.

There you go! Now you can please more people at parties and no one has to sacrifice any flavor or fun. If you love to ice and decorate your cookies like I do, I posted a vegan royal icing recipe so you can get your decorating on as well. xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

5 from 4 votes

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Vegan Sugar Cookies

Servings 20 cookies

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground chia or ground flax works too

Wet ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup vegan butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon butter flavor
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Combine your dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together to mix.

2. Add your ground chia (or flax) into your 2 1/2 tablespoons of water and mix to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until you have a thick gel. Mix your butter and sugar with hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy (should only take a few minutes depending on how cold your butter is). Add in your flax or chia mixture, vanilla extract, butter flavor, and almond extract and mix to combine.

3. Slowly add in your wet ingredients into your dry and a dough will start to form. If your dough is too dry, you can add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together (you don’t want it to be a wet dough though, just add enough until it stays together and doesn’t look dry).

4. Gather your dough into a ball and place it between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out your dough between the parchment until you have a circle that is 1/4″ thick. Place in the fridge for about 30-40 minutes or until it feels very firm. Prep a cookie tray with parchment paper on the bottom while your dough chills.

5. Preheat your oven to 350°. Take out your chilled dough and place it on a flat surface to cut out your cookies. If your dough is chilled enough, it may stay in your cookie cutter when you lift it up after cutting so it’s easy to transfer to your baking tray and gently push out. As your dough warms, it will stay in place on the counter and you’ll have to lift the excess dough around it to gently pull out your cookie. If you reach a point where it’s too warm and pliable to pull out a cookie successfully, you’ll need to re-roll and chill the dough again before cutting more (if you care about perfect shapes, that is!).

6. If you don’t care so much about looks, you can bake your cookies right away, but if you are decorating cookies and want them to keep their shape, pop your tray into the freezer for 5 minutes or so until the cookies have firmed back again so that it only makes a small dent when you press your finger into them. If they feel solid and you can’t make a dent at all, they are too frozen, so let them sit out on the counter for a minute or two before baking. I like my cookies on the underdone side and pull them out just before they even start to brown (and under-baking sugar cookies makes them hold up longer as well if you are making them ahead of time for a party or trip), so I do about 9 minutes in the oven. But your oven and cookie taste may be different, so cook longer if you like it a little browned.

7. Once your cookies are done baking, let them sit on the pan for at least 5 minutes before trying to carefully transfer them to a cooling rack with a spatula and allow the cookies to totally cool before icing.