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This recipe for Vegan Frosted Cookies comes from community member Carol Clayton, as part of her Vegan Holiday e-Cookbook! Tune into the Christmas Around the World podcast series while you make Carol's perfect vegan sugar cookies for Christmas!
What makes the perfect Christmas Vegan Cookies? Tender, buttery, thick, lots of surface area for soft, sweet buttercream frosting. Carol's recipe for the Best Vegan Frosted Cookies hits all these notes. It's the perfect plant-based cookie recipe for all your holiday baking, including with kids.
Use this Vegan Sugar Cookie Recipe for birthday parties, baby showers, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day or any other time of the year! Check below for some specific flavoring and decorating ideas!
P.S. You may also like these No Chill No Spread Cutout Sugar Cookies or 47 Traditional Christmas Desserts Around the World.
About Carol Clayton of Carol's Vegan Kitchen
Carol is passionate about sharing outstanding vegan recipes that capture the best of each season. Her mission is simply to Feed People Plants. She loves working closely with small local farms to source ingredients for her recipes, host culinary events, and promote a sustainable field-to-fork lifestyle. She truly feels that what we eat is one of the most powerful choices we can make.
Follow @carolsvegankitchen on Instagram
Find more of Carol's amazing Vegan recipes and cooking classes!!!
Carol's Vegan Holiday E-Cookbook
In addition to these Vegan Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies, Carol has combined her experience and expertise to create over 22 recipes for your holiday season from Thanksgiving to Twelfth Night!
Purchase Carol's Holiday E-Cookbook here!
Ingredients
Classic Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan butter sticks
- Egg replacer (Carol prefers Bob’s Red Mill Egg)
Flour - Fine sea salt
- Baking powder (I strongly recommend Rumford's)
- Vegan butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Almond extract
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- Powdered sugar
- Vegan butter,
- Vanilla extract
- Food coloring (gels will create deeper colors)
Instructions
All it takes to make these soft sugar cookies is a few simple steps. This is a classic holiday baking project for you can enjoy with your kids, using no animal products.
Make Vegan Sugar Cookie Dough
- Make the vegan egg.
- Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter on medium speed until soft and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract and continue to mix.
- Mix in the egg replacer. The creamed butter and sugar will “break” - This is totally normal. Don’t worry, the dough will come together beautifully as you add the flour.
- Add the flour in 3 parts
Freeze Now OR Roll Out Cookies
- Divide the dough in half.
- Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll out one disc of dough.
- Cut out the cookies- Use cookie cutters to shape the cookies. Place on baking tray covered with piece of parchment paper.
- Press the scraps into a tidy disk and reroll the dough to make more cookies.
Bake Cookies
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. They will look soft and slightly underdone at first but will cool to the perfect texture.
- No need for a wire rack - cool on baking sheet.
Make the Frosting
- Cream the butter.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar at low speed. Finish by mixing in the vanilla.
- Divide - Use one small bowl per frosting color.
- Use a butter knife to generously swirl vegan buttercream frosting onto cookies.
Decorating Tips & Ideas
Carol's recipe makes the Best Sugar Cookies for any special occasion! Here are a few tips on flavoring and decorating for various events and holidays.
- Vegan Eggless Royal Icing - most polished idea, also great make-ahead. You'll need a piping bag and tips for this route, but it's very elegant! And FUN!!
- Baby Showers: Blue or Pink Frosting with white accents. Love this baby cookie cutter collection.
- Valentine's Day: Hearts with red and hot pink frosting. These icing gels will give you deeper colors than the cheap liquid food coloring from grocery store.
- Christmas Cookies: Add up to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg to the dough. This is time to go all out with the sprinkles!!!! Try this pack; its my favorite!
- Easter: Consider adding a little lemon zest to the dough for a spring zing. Pastels and cutesy non-pareils.
- Birthday parties: Two words: RAINBOW SPRINKLES!! Add to the dough or sprinkle on top of the icing
Equipment
- Cookie Sheets
- Handheld Mixture or KitchenAid
Storage & Freezing
- Airtight container on counter or covered with plastic wrap
- Freeze dough balls wrapped in plastic wrap in Ziploc bags OR bake and freeze before frosting
More Vegan Recipes Around the World
Christmas Desserts from Around the World
Recipe
Vegan Frosted Cookies {Best Christmas Vegan Cookies}
- Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings 1x
Description
Soft, thick vegan sugar cookies generously frosted with vegan buttercream frosting. The classic Vegan Christmas cookies for every gathering and holiday baking projects!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 tablespoons (34 g) of vegan egg replacer whisked with (I use Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer)
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) of water
- 3 cups (360 g) of sifted all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (227g) of vegan butter, cut into large chunks
- 1 cup (100g) of sifted powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- 2 1/4 cups (225 g) of sifted powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup 170 g) of vegan butter, cut into large chunks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Food coloring (use your favorite colors and brand)
Instructions
Make The Cookies
Cue Up The Episode!
Make sure to listen to the Christmas Around the World podcast series while you make Carol's perfect vegan sugar cookies for Christmas!
Make The Recipe
- Preheat your oven to 375°F / 190°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Make the vegan egg: Whisk the vegan egg replacer with water and set aside to thicken.
- Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Cream the butter and sugar: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until soft and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract.
- Continue to mix starting at low speed and working your way up to medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix in the egg replacer- Add the egg replacer and mix until well incorporated.
- The creamed butter and sugar will “break” after you add the egg replacer and look curdled. This is totally normal. Don’t worry, the dough will come together beautifully as you add the flour.
- Work in the flour- Add the flour in 3 parts, mixing in between, starting at low speed and working your way up to medium. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as you go.
Roll and Cut (or Freeze)
- Divide the dough in half.
- Form two tidy rounds and then press them into disks. If you don't have time to finish the cookies today, tightly wrap the discs in saran wrap, then place them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container to refrigerate (for use within 24 hours) or freeze until ready to use.
- Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour, place the disk on top, and then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 3/8” thickness.
- Cut out the cookies- Use cookie cutters to shape the cookies. Then place them on your prepared baking sheets.
- Press the scraps into a tidy disk and reroll the dough to make more cookies. You can re-roll this dough up to three times.
- Bake the cookies- Bake at 375°F / 190°C for 12 minutes. They will look soft and slightly underdone at first but will cool to the perfect texture.
- Let them cool directly on the baking sheets and frost when completely cool.
Make The Frosting
- Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, at medium speed.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar at low speed. Finish by mixing in the vanilla.
- Divide the frosting into small bowls, one for each color. Add a few drops of food coloring, mixing as you go. Once you’re satisfied with the color, move on to the next bowl.
- The frosting stays soft, after you spread it on the cookies, creating the perfect palate for decorating.
Notes
Thanks to Carol Clayton of Carol's Vegan Kitchen for sharing! Take a peek at Carol's Holiday Vegan e-Cookbook here, featuring 22 more amazing recipes with clear, easy-to-follow instructions!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Baking, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Calories: 355
- Sugar: 24
- Sodium: 243
- Fat: 19
- Saturated Fat: 4
- Carbohydrates: 43
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 3
- Cholesterol: 8
Would love to hear from you!