Vegan Sugar Cookies

Christmas shaped sugar cookies on a wooden platter

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!

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 10

Chill Time: 1

Total Time: 1 20

Servings: cookies

Calories: 181kcal

Author: Sarah McMinn

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 tbsp. vegan butter, melted
1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk

US Customary - Metric

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

Serving and Storing – 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 nearly any holiday. 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. You could also wrap them individually in plastic wrap if you prefer.

Recipe Tips

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to use cookie cutters? 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.

What if I don't have a piping bag? 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.

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