These vegan and gluten-free sugar cut-out cookies are easy to work with no matter what cookie shape you are using. This simple recipe yields sweet, tender, "buttery" sugar cookies that are perfect for decorating... and can be made in one bowl! Pair them with my vegan vanilla frosting or a refined sugar-free icing option. Happy baking!
No matter what you celebrate, I love that the holiday season is all about family, food and holiday cheer. And in my house, holiday cheer means vegan cookies galore!
Whether we're making soft-baked vegan gingersnaps or vegan double-chocolate peppermint cookies, my kids LOVE to get in on the action. And one of my favorite activities around the holidays is making these vegan sugar cookies with them!
I set out to create an easy recipe that would work for everyone in our family (looking at you, food allergies) and would be fun for the kids to decorate no matter the season. The goal was delicious vegan holiday cookies that are also gluten-free.
My Hanukkah sugar cookies are based off this recipe, as are the cookies I make for Christmas and Valentine's Day. The only differences lie in the shape of the cookie cutters and the colors of the icing!
Mastering these sugar cookies without butter was definitely a challenge at first. After a handful of batches, I landed on the perfect combination for easy cut-out patterns and now I'm SO happy to say... this recipe is foolproof!
They turned out better than expected and I can't wait to share this recipe with you. I went with a dough that combines almond flour and oat flour for the perfect balance of both flavor and texture. Arrowroot powder gives them a fluffy height that's absolutely delicious!
Ingredients
The ingredient list is surprisingly short, and it's made from mostly pantry ingredients! We'll be baking with:
- coconut oil or vegan butter
- pure maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- almond extract
- almond flour
- oat flour
- arrowroot powder
- salt
You can make these dairy-free sugar cookies in one bowl, too! Less dishes is always my goal, especially when my kids get involved in the kitchen.
How to Make these Gluten-Free Vegan Sugar Cookies
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
The perfect sugar cookies really don't require that much effort! I start by using an electric hand mixer to get the wet ingredients light and fluffy. Then I mix in the dry ingredients to create the cookie dough, roll them into two balls, flatten them somewhat into discs in plastic wrap, and pop them in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
Then, when ready to bake, I'll use a rolling pin with the cookie dough sandwiched between two sheets of parchment paper on a baking sheet to flatten it out until it is about ½-inch thick.
Then comes the fun part! Use cookie cutters to cut them into your desired shapes or simply roll them into small circles. Bake for 7-8 minutes until just slightly golden brown around the edges and let them cool on a cooling rack to room temperature. Done!
You can cut these cookies into any shape you like, or just use the top of a drinking glass to make circles.
Nut-Free Sugar Cookie Option
This recipe uses almond flour and almond extract, but if you have a nut allergy in your house I made sure to add a substitution for you! Simply use all oat flour instead of almond flour. This may create a drier dough, so you can increase the amount of oil or vegan butter to compensate for that. We want everyone to be able to join in the cookie fun!
Sugar Cookies Made Healthy!
As far as sugar cookies go, this one might just be the healthiest recipe around. They are full of whole grains, plant-based protein and contain zero refined sugars (I sweetened them with pure maple syrup).
The recipe uses either coconut oil or vegan butter, neither of which contain trans fats or hydrogenated oils. These cut-out sugar cookies are still a treat, but a treat you can feel much better about eating over other holiday cookies!
Vegan Frosting for Sugar Cookies
After the cookies bake, you want to let them completely cool before decorating. For frosting I use my homemade vegan cream cheese frosting (my favorite), vegan vanilla frosting or vegan vanilla icing, all of which work great with these cookies. My kids also love to spread cashew butter on top instead of frosting. My daughter thinks this is the most delicious treat!
These photos above of the snowflake cookies were taken using dye-free sprinkles and refined sugar-free vegan vanilla icing. This is a thinner glaze-style topping that I think is really beautiful. I used these cookie cutters for the snowflake cookies.
We had so much fun decorating these Valentine's Day cookies (photographed above) with pink sprinkles and pink heart sprinkles! And these are the cookie cutters we used for the Valentine's Day cookies.
More Vegan and Gluten-Free Cookies
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Cranberry & Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
- Coconut Macaroons
- Flourless Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Classic Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
And whether you're looking for more Christmas cookies or simply something fun for birthday parties, get some inspiration from these 25 vegan and gluten-free cookie recipes!
Vegan Gluten-Free "Buttery" Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 20 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These vegan and gluten-free sugar cut-out cookies are easy to work with no matter what cookie shape you are using. This simple recipe yields sweet, tender, "buttery" sugar cookies that are perfect for decorating... and can be made in one bowl! Pair them with my vegan vanilla frosting or a refined sugar-free icing option. Happy baking!
Ingredients
For the cookies
- ¼ cup coconut oil or vegan butter, softened
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ¼ cups super fine blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ cup oat flour (do not use homemade oat flour here)
- ¼ cup arrowroot powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
Frosting/Decoration Options
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vegan + Paleo Vanilla Icing
- Vegan Vanilla Frosting
- Easy Vanilla White Sweet Potato Frosting
- natural food dyes can be found here if you want colored frosting
Dye-Free Sprinkles (not all are refined sugar-free, see labels before selecting)
Instructions
- Place the coconut oil or softened vegan butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and almond extract in a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to combine on medium low speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients (almond flour, oat flour arrowroot powder and salt) and mix on low speed until combined.
- Divide the dough into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap, then flatten into a disc. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour or overnight.
- When you are ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two half sheet baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place one disc of dough on a piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper overtop the dough.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is ½-inch thick. Do not roll too thin or they will not be soft when baked and are difficult to handle when raw.
- Cut the dough into desired shapes. Or if you don’t have cookie cutters you can roll into small circles about 2 inches in diameter.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 8 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake smaller shapes or the cookies will be too dry. I like to do 8 minutes for a softer cookie. If you use very large cookie cutters or the dough is thicker than ½ inch, the baking time may vary. Check on the cookies toward the end as they can burn easily. You want them to look just slightly golden brown around the edges.
- Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes (this allows them to harden a bit before handling them). I sometimes stick the entire cookie sheet in my freezer on a silicone heat pad.
- Carefully move cookies to a cooling rack to cool fully (they will harden once fully cooled).
- Repeat with the other disc of dough.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, decorate using one of the frosting or icing recipes linked above. Add natural sprinkles if desired before the frosting sets.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven Baked
Kori says
Hello! Great looking recipe! How big are your cookie cutters to be able to get 20 cookies?
Elaine Gordon says
Hi, Kori: I believe it was 2.5 inches in diameter. I hope that helps. Best, Elaine
irma says
What can you substitute oat flour with. I cannot have oats.
Elaine Gordon says
Hi, Irma: Are you able to have certified gluten-free oat flour? I have not tested this recipe without the oat flour so I'm not sure. Oat flour has a very unique texture and absorbs differently than other flours so I'm not sure if there is a good substitute here. I do have a paleo section on the blog where you can find grain-free recipes. I hope that helps. Best, Elaine
Lauren says
This is a great recipe! We've made it for Xmas, Easter, Valentines and everything in between. Everyone loves them and no one knows they aren't "regular" cookies. We bake ours a bit longer to be a little crispy, and top them with sprinkles 🙂
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you so much, Lauren! I'm so happy to hear you enjoy these so much! I'm honored they are part of so many of your holiday traditions! Best, Elaine
El says
I would love to see a version of this that has a pumpkin twist for fall/halloween! Pumpkin puree and/or pumpkin spice. I’ve seen other delicious-looking pumpkin cookie recipes you have but found haven’t any healthy ones that work with cookie cutters. Maybe it’s too hard of an ask for pumpkin puree?
Elaine Gordon says
Oh this is a fabulous idea! I would need to test that out since adding pumpkin puree does affect the wet to dry ratio and overall flavor/texture. But such a good idea. Thank you!