These vegan sugar cookies are perfect for cutting into shapes and decorating with colorful icing! They’re buttery and crisp on the edges, just like the original, but made without dairy and eggs.
1 ½cupsflour of choice regular all-purpose flour180g
1teaspoonbaking powder
¼teaspoonbaking soda
¼teaspoonsea salt
For the Sugar Cooking Icing:
1cuppowdered sugarsifted
1tablespoonvegan milk
1teaspoonlemon Juicefresh or processed
Instructions
In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes on medium low speed until creamy and incorporated. You don’t want to over beat and incorporate too much air which can cause the cookies to spread.
Add in the vanilla extract and vegan milk and blend for another 30 seconds until incorporated.
In a small separate bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt until thoroughly combined.
Add in your flour mixture into the wet mix. Start slowly then slightly increase speed to mix in the flour thoroughly into the dough, about 2 minutes max on medium low speed to thoroughly incorporate. Dough should be slightly sticky to the touch.
Roll/mold your dough together into a ball.
On a baking sheet, on a piece of floured parchment paper or a flour silicone mat, place the dough. Feel free to dust with a little bit of extra sifted flour on top. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thickness and no thinner than that. This helps so much when cutting out the chilled dough so you don’t over warm it trying to shape it properly. Dust with a little bit more flour, then cover the top with another layer of parchment paper.
Place the rolled out dough on the baking sheet in your fridge for at least 1 hour. You can also chill overnight if needed.
Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Cut out shapes with your cookie cutters. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the process to use up all of the dough. You want to ensure your dough stays cold during the process, otherwise refrigerate for another 15 minutes again.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake for 10 minutes (the cookies will continue to cook as they cool - you don’t want to overbake them as they brown quickly if overbaked). Bake cookies of the same size together to prevent under or over baking.
Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once *completely cooled*, decorate as desired.
To make the sugar cooking icing:
Mix together the powdered sugar, vegan milk and lemon juice until fully combined (about a drop at a time). Feel free to thicken if desired with more powdered sugar or thin out with more milk or lemon juice depending on which flavor you prefer.
My top tip would be to outline your cookies first with a slightly thicker icing, then you can add a bit more milk for the inside to fill in the outline.
If you are using food coloring, definitely add a little less milk since liquid food colours can make the frosting more runny. If you’re using a gel food colouring you can usually leave your milk quantity as the same.
Use this icing recipe to decorate your cookies.
Video
Notes
How to store: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, separating layers of cookies with parchment paper to keep the icing intact.How to freeze: 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.