Vegan Cut Out Sugar Cookies

These Vegan Cut Out Sugar Cookies are perfect for Christmas! The buttery soft and sweet cookie dough is cut into festive shapes, baked until they’re ever so slightly golden, and decorated with a simple yet sweet and colorful frosting.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Method Oven

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Chill Time 2

Total Time 2 40

Servings cookies

Calories 239kcal

Author Caitlin Shoemaker

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

1 cup salted dairy-free butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract optional
2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
3 cups 360 all-purpose flour* spooned and leveled; plus extra for rolling
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt*

For the Icing: (optional, or use your favorite recipe!)

4 cups powdered sugar sifted
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4-6 Tablespoons water divided (start with 4)
Gel food coloring optional
Sprinkles for decorating the cookies

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cream the Butter: Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl or stand mixer. Use a handheld mixer (or stand mixer) to cream the butter for 3 to 5 minutes on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the milk, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) to the bowl and beat again until smooth, about 1 minute.
Dry Ingredients: Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl (use 1/4 teaspoon for sweet cookies, 1/2 teaspoon for more salty-sweet). Beat on low speed until just combined. The dough should be thick and not sticky; if it looks too dry, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
Chill: Use a spatula to roughly divide the dough in half. Flatten each half into a flat disc over plastic wrap, then wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days. Chilling the dough is required for this recipe as it helps the flour to absorb extra moisture and prevents the cookies from spreading.
Baking Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 to 4 baking sheets with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Roll: Cover a cutting board or work surface with an extra silicone mat (optional, but prevents sticking) and a light dusting of flour. Remove one of the discs from the fridge (Note: if you have refrigerated the dough for more than 3 hours, let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes to soften). Place the dough on the work surface, sprinkle lightly with flour, then knead the dough a few times to soften it up. Dust your rolling pin with flour, then roll out the dough until it’s about 1/2" thick. Sprinkle the dough and/or rolling pin with extra flour as needed to prevent sticking. (Note: You can use your fingers to pinch the dough together when necessary. Any “cracks” that appear in the dough will show in the final baked cookies, so I recommend rolling until the dough is smooth)
Cut the Cookies: Use cookie cutters to cut out your cookies; I find it works best to press down firmly, then wiggle the cutter a bit to fully separate the edges. Remove excess dough, then use a bench scraper or spatula to transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies at least 1/2" apart from each other. You may need to use multiple baking sheets for each disc of cookie dough.
Bake: Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 8 minutes for soft cookies that are 4” or less. If your cookies are larger, bake for 10 to 11 minutes; the cookies should be just barely golden on the bottom edge. If you prefer crunchy cookies, bake the cookies for a few minutes extra. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to let cool completely.
Repeat: Knead the dough scraps back together, and repeat steps 7-9 with both the scraps and the second disc of dough until all cookies have been baked.
Make the Frosting: Sift the powdered sugar into a large bowl and add the corn syrup, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk well until smooth; if the frosting is too thick add additional water in 1 tablespoon increments. Stir in the gel food coloring now, or divide the frosting into multiple bowls if you’d like to make multiple colors.
Decorate: Transfer the frosting into piping bags (I like to use these re-usable ones) once the cookies have cooled completely. Decorate the cookies with frosting and sprinkles as desired.
Store: Let the frosting set and harden on the cookies for at least 3 hours before storing in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Video

Notes

Butter: You can also make these cookies with unsalted butter or softened refined coconut oil, though the cookies will be slightly more dry with coconut oil. If using either, add 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt to the dry ingredients in step 2.

Nutrition