These Frosted Vegan Sugar Cookies are just like the bakery treats you love with all plant-based ingredients! Whip them up in just 30 minutes and top with a homemade pink vegan buttercream frosting and plenty of sprinkles.
VEGAN FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE
Of all the vegan cookie recipes, this is my favorite to make because it is so versatile! These Vegan Frosted Sugar Cookies are super fluffy on their own. But add a little slightly sweet, perfectly creamy homemade vegan frosting and they are perfect.
If you love those pillowy soft frosted cookies from your local grocery store, you are going to love this recipe for making vegan Lofthouse cookies!
Change the vegan frosting color to red and green for Christmas, orange for Halloween, or your kiddo's favorite color for a birthday party.
Everyone will love these delicious gluten-free frosted vegan sugar cookies.
We have lots of different gluten free and vegan cookie recipes for you! Be sure to try my Vegan Oatmeal Rasin Cookies and Vegan Snickerdoodles too!
INGREDIENTS IN VEGAN SOFT BAKED FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES
Flour: I always use a gluten-free all purpose flour for my vegan baking recipes. And I swear, you cannot taste the difference!
Baking powder: For the fluffiest vegan frosted sugar cookies, you want a little rise.
Baking soda: Vegan frosted sugar cookies are fluffy like cake, but they are so easy to make!
Salt: The best cookie recipes have a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. I recommend kosher salt for all your baking recipes.
Xanthan gum: When you are working with gluten-free flour, you always need a little xanthan gum to make up for the lost wheat.
Sugar: Caster sugar is super fine and perfect for baking, but you can always use regular white sugar for this recipe, too.
Butter: You will need softened vegan butter for the cookies and the frosting, too. Earth Balance sticks work well for baking, but you can use your favorite brand.
Vanilla extract: If you love cookies and cakes, you definitely love vanilla extract. It has all that warm flavor in just a few drops.
Flax egg: If you have never made a flax egg, it is so easy! You only need flax seed and water to make the best vegan egg replacement.
Powdered sugar: For the fluffy frosting, powdered sugar is the key. You cannot make vegan frosted sugar cookies without it!
Food coloring and sprinkles: I love to top my vegan sugar cookies with a little pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles, too. Use any color you want for holiday-themed sugar cookies.
If you have any questions about vegan frosted sugar cookies, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you ASAP!
HOW TO MAKE FROSTED VEGAN SUGAR COOKIES
To make frosted vegan sugar cookies:
- First, prep the ingredients and preheat the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, too.
- Then, whisk together the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.
- In a second mixing bowl, beat the vegan butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
- Now, add the flax egg and vanilla extract to the fluffy butter mixture.
- Next, sieve the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold everything together gently by hand.
- Roll the cookie dough into evenly sized balls, and dip each ball in sugar to coat it.
- Bake the cookies until the edges are set but the middle is still slightly soft. Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
- Frosted or unfrosted, these vegan sugar cookies will stay perfectly soft for about 5 days at room temperature.
To make vegan buttercream frosting:
- First, prep all your ingredients. Make sure your butter is softened but not melted.
- Add the softened butter and vanilla extract to a bowl.
- Then, beat the vegan butter and vanilla together with an electric hand mixer. You can also use a stand mixer here.
- Now, gradually sieve powdered sugar into the butter mixture a little at a time, whisking after every addition.
- Keep adding powdered sugar until the frosting is thick and fluffy.
- Once the frosting is ready, add a few drops of food coloring at a time, mixing well before adding more.
- To decorate the vegan frosted sugar cookies, pipe or spread the frosting onto completely cooled cookies. If the cookies are warm, the vegan frosting will melt.
- Once frosted, cookies should be stored in an airtight container for the freshest cookies all week long!
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions for vegan sugar cookies, please see the recipe below.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH VEGAN FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES
Looking for more gluten-free cookies? Fill your gluten-free cookie platter with these copycat tagalongs! This salty-sweet combo is one that you just cannot resist.
You can always find me in the afternoon with some homemade cold brew coffee. These sweet sugar cookies are such a perfect complement to my afternoon pick-me-up.
Too hot for tea? Think again! This iced matcha latte is a creamy and refreshing drink perfect for any occasion.
HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN A VEGAN SUGAR COOKIE?
When I am in dessert mode, the last thing I worry about is calories. It is all about a balanced diet — and balance means cookies, I promise.
For this vegan frosted sugar cookie recipe, each cookie is about 279 calories. This could always vary based on your ingredients. Unfrosted cookies also have fewer calories than frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles.
WHAT FOOD COLORING IS VEGAN?
I tend to use a vegan liquid food coloring for my buttercream frosting. You can use any color and sprinkle combo you want! Gel-based food coloring and powdered food coloring are also options for these vegan frosted sugar cookies.
If you do not want to use artificial food coloring, you can make your own with natural ingredients. Beet juice adds a perfect pink shade to the frosting with all natural ingredients! The more you add, the deeper the color.
MORE AMAZING VEGAN DESSERT RECIPES
Impress everyone this year with homemade vegan frosted sugar cookies on your holiday dessert spread or Christmas cookie trays!
Another impressive holiday dessert, this super simple apple crisp recipe has all the fall flavors but none of the heavy dairy or hard work!
These air fried Oreos are truly my favorite vegan dessert. They are ready in just 5 minutes and need just 3 ingredients to make.
If you thought vegan panna cotta was out of reach, think again! This gelatin-free recipe is so creamy with just 6 ingredients.
Missing the classic Girl Scout cookies? This vegan Thin Mints recipe is just like the original with only plant-based products!
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Vegan Frosted Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- 3 mixing bowls
- Small bowl
- Piping bag or offset spatula for frosting
Ingredients
Vegan Cookie Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose gluten-free flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ⅔ cup caster sugar or granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegan butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 flax egg
- 3 tablespoons sugar for rolling
Vegan Frosting Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Food coloring optional
- Rainbow sprinkles optional
Instructions
To Make Vegan Sugar Cookies:
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum to a mixing bowl. Whisk everything together until combined.
- In another bowl, beat together vegan butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the flax egg and vanilla extract and mix through.
- Sift in the flour mixture and fold everything together.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls and dip each in the bowl of sugar to coat it.
- Put the dough balls on the lined baking sheets, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are set but the center is still soft.
- Leave the cookies on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. They will be very soft when fresh out the oven but firm up a little once cool.
To Make Vegan Frosting:
- Beat butter and vanilla extract with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Gradually sieve in the powdered sugar a little at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated.
- Once all of the powdered sugar has been added and the mixture is smooth and fluffy, add the pink food coloring a few drops at a time until your desired color is reached.
- Pipe or spread frosting onto each cookie and finish with a few rainbow sprinkles.
Notes
- Let cookies cool completely before frosting. Warm cookies will melt the frosting.
- Store in an airtight container in a single layer, or place parchment paper between layers if needed.
- Vegan Sugar Cookies will last at least 5 days at room temperature.
These were so easy and soft! The best frosted sugar cookie for sure 🙂
I love this recipe so much! I make these at least once a month and my kids devour them. Just made a batch for thanksgiving with orange frosting, and I have them on my list for Christmas cookies this year too. Thank you!!
Hi Cindy, just made these for my son because he's vegan. He'll be coming home for a couple of days this week and I wanted him to have a dessert on hand. I made the mistake of sprinkling decorative sugar on a few of them and then read that the sugar was not vegan so we kept those cookies separately and had another batch of frosted but not sugared for him. I also made them gluten free. I used to eat completely gluten-free and wanted to see how they were. These cookies are absolutely delicious, cake like cookies, soft...SOOO good. Glad I found your site. Thank you for posting this so I could find it. I'll be on your site again for sure, especially to look for the gluten-free stuff ❤️. Take care!! Virginia