Nothing says fall or winter like soft vegan sugar cookies. These frosted cookies are perfect for a dreary afternoon in the warm kitchen, any time of year. They'll impress your guests, and limit the mess.
Sugar cookies not your thing? Check out these chocolate chunk cookies or kitchen sink cookies. Want something else frosted? This carrot cake bread is divine.
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Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- Softened unsalted vegan butter (such as Miyoko's). Soften for 1-2 hours at room temp. Vegan butter melts faster than dairy butter.
- Vegetable oil
- Granulated sugar - classic for a sugar cookie
- Powdered sugar - for a soft cookie
- Aquafaba aka juice from a can of chickpeas or light beans. It is a FANTASTIC egg replacer for cookies
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Coconut milk
Dry ingredients:
- Cake flour for a more delicate crumb
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
Frosting:
- Softened unsalted vegan butter (such as Miyoko's) - see above
- Powdered sugar
- Coconut milk (for thinning as needed)
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Salt
- Food coloring
Optional:
- Vegan sprinkles - Sweetapolita has a great collection of vegan sprinkles!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let's get into it!
First, prepare dry ingredients. Combine cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl and stir gently to combine. Set aside.
Now prepare wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, beat softened unsalted vegan butter and vegetable oil with hand mixer until smooth and homogenous.
Add granulated sugar, powdered sugar and beat until combined. Then add aquafaba, vanilla, almond extract and coconut milk and mix again. It's ok if it looks a little wet.
In two batches, add dry ingredients to wet, mixing in between. Form into golf ball sized scoops, and chill for at least 10 minutes.
Place balls onto a lined cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not flatten the dough balls - they will spread as they bake.
There is a very fine line between under-baking and over-baking these soft vegan sugar cookies. They should not have any golden brown color around the edges. When they come out of the oven, the top should be barely set - if you touch the top of the cookie, it may jiggle slightly, but you shouldn’t be able to see where you touched it.
Using a hand mixer, beat all frosting ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl until homogenous. Add food coloring and mix until you have your desired color.
Once cookies have cooled completely, frost using a knife or offset spatula. Finally, add sprinkles. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Hint: it is OK to underbake these cookies a little bit - we aren't dealing with raw eggs, so the dough is safe to eat as well!
Substitutions & Variations
This recipe is already vegan and naturally, dairy free. I do not suggest making many alterations. Baking is a science!
If you're looking for a non-vegan version of this cookie, Sarah and Sofi from Broma Bakery do a fantastic job!
If you need a gluten-free variation (though not vegan), Daniela from The Gluten Free Austrian will have something to satisfy your cookie craving. She is a professional pastry chef, after all.
If you're not a fan of almond extract, you can leave it out or replace with the same amount of lemon extract in the cookie for a different vibe. It already has some vanilla, so you're set!
Equipment
For these soft vegan sugar cookies, you'll need:
- Measuring cups & spoons
- 2 mixing bowls for wet and dry ingredients, and later on, frosting
- Metal sheet trays lined with parchment paper (or nonstick sheet trays)
- Hand mixer for beating cookie dough and frosting
- Ice cream scoop for scooping uniform dough balls
- Offset spatula for frosting cookies (a regular knife or spoon also works)
- Cooling rack
Storage
Store the cookies in the refrigerator until ready to eat. They will survive on the counter at room temp, but do not cover with plastic as it will stick to the frosting. I have a cake container that converts to a cookie container that I use.
Frequently asked questions
There are a few good replacements for eggs in cookies. Aquafaba and flax eggs are two of the best. Aquafaba is the juice from a can of chickpeas, and flax "eggs" are made by combining ground flaxseeds with water. This recipe uses aquafaba. In general, 3 tablespoons of aquafaba equals one egg, while 2 tablespoons equals one egg white.
If you plans to adapt a non-vegan recipe, don't forget you may need to play around with the leavener ratio. In this case, we increased the amount of baking powder.
Vegan butter has a different melting point than dairy butter. So it melts more quickly when squeezed out of a piping bag.
While adding more sugar sometimes help, it can result in a dessert that is too sweet.
To keep frosting from melting, there are a few things you can do. First, turn down the AC - it does make a difference! Second, handle icing as little as possible, especially in a piping bag. Third, store frosted treats in the refrigerator.
Top tip
Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 15 mins before baking, otherwise the dough will be too runny. When in doubt, under-bake these cookies for a soft result. They're vegan, so there's no danger from raw eggs.
Soft vegan sugar cookies
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 15 cookies 1x
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These soft vegan sugar cookies are perfect for a dreary afternoon in the warm kitchen, any time of year. They'll impress your guests, and limit the mess.
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ⅓ cup softened unsalted vegan butter (such as Miyoko's)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp aquafaba (juice from a can of chickpeas or light beans)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp almond extract
- 1 Tbsp coconut milk
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Frosting:
- ½ cup softened unsalted vegan butter (such as Miyoko's)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp almond extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- Food coloring
Optional:
- Vegan sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven & prepare dry ingredients: preheat oven to 325 F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir gently to combine. Set aside.
-
Combine dry ingredients: in a large mixing bowl, beat softened unsalted vegan butter and vegetable oil with an electric hand mixer until smooth and homogenous. Add granulated sugar, powdered sugar, aquafaba, vanilla, almond extract and coconut milk and beat until combined.
-
Add wet ingredients: in two batches, add dry ingredients to wet, mixing in between. Form into golf ball sized scoops, and chill for at least 10 minutes.
-
Bake: place balls onto a lined cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not flatten the dough balls - they will spread as they bake. There is a very fine line between underbaking and overbaking these cookies. They should not have any golden brown color around the edges. When they come out of the oven, the top should be barely set - if you touch the top of the cookie, it may jiggle slightly, but you shouldn’t be able to see where you touched the cookie.
-
Prepare frosting: using a hand mixer, beat all frosting ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl until homogenous. Add food coloring and mix until you have your desired color.
-
Frost cookies: once cookies have cooled completely, frost using a knife or offset spatula, then add sprinkles on top if desired. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- The frosting melts easily, so it is important to frost cookies that have cooled completely, and keep frosting away from direct sunlight.
- The frosting recipe also works with dairy ingredients.
- Adapted from Broma Bakery’s Copycat Lofthouse Cookies
Keywords: lofthouse cookie, sugar cookie, frosted sugar cookie, soft sugar cookie
Make them with me!
Food safety
Some tips:
- Since we don't use raw eggs, this dough is safe to eat.
- If you're extra cautious, you can heat treat the flour.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods - store these cookies in the fridge if possible
- Never leave cooking food unattended
The Hangry Chickpea
Though a little tricky to get right, 10/10 worth the effort.
★★★★★