Soft Vegan Vanilla Sugar Cookies with Frosting

These soft vegan sugar cookies are the tastiest sugar cookies you’ll eat; a sweet treat so tender and rich in flavor they’re irresistible with or without frosting. Imagine biting into a cookie that’s the perfect balance of sweet and soft, with a melt-in-your-mouth quality that’ll have you reaching for more. The creamy texture comes from vegan butter and believe it or not – powdered sugar and agave nectar! Add a little vanilla and almond extracts to create a taste that’s simply sublime. These are the cookies you’ll want to bake when you’re after a comforting, home-baked treat that everyone can enjoy.

Have you ever eaten a cookie just once and you loved it so much that all you could think about was that cookie? Because it was just the best cookie ever? Soft, tender, and full of flavor. But then you lost the recipe. And then over time you went vegan so you weren’t going to eat it anyway. But you never stopped thinking about that cookie so you went to the lengths of the earth to find and veganize said cookie recipe? No? Just me? Lucky for you, my vegan friends, you get the benefit of my cookie quest for the perfect soft vegan sugar cookie!

When you veganize cookie recipes and other baked goods and sweet treats the tricky part usually is replacing the egg. You need to find something to hold the cookie together and give it a nice rise and rich flavor. These vegan soft sugar cookies, just like these vegan cut out cookies use the same basic veganized recipe with a few adjustments for texture.

The sugar cookie backstory

The cookie recipe I’m talking about was my sister’s sugar cookie recipe. She probably “got” it from somewhere or someone. But for our family this was her signature cookie recipe. The one she made for every special event… and holiday…and birthday…and for no reason at all – other than it was cookie time.

When sadly she died a few years ago, unfortunately her cookie recipe left with her. But I never stopped looking for it. Asking anyone who knew her if they had her recipe. Sending emails and DMs far and wide. You see, I knew it would mean so much to all of us to have that special recipe again. And then one day out of the blue I received an email reply with her recipe attached. And so I veganized it!

Enough of the backstory – Let’s make these delicious melt-in-your-mouth vegan soft sugar cookies!

Ingredients needed to make soft vegan sugar cookies

• ground flax and water to make a flax egg
• all purpose flour measured correctly to avoid a heavy dry cookie – see the blog post below
• baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt 
•  powdered sugar – That’s right, use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for this recipe! If you are a sugar vegan then use organic powdered sugar.
• vegan butter – Use stick butter with a high fat content
•  agave nectar for the flavor and for the added moisture
• vanilla extract and almond extract – The almond extract really does add to the unique flavor. Please use it! You can find it near the vanilla extract at the grocery store.
• You all need sturdy cookie sheets, parchment paper, a mixer
• AND while these cookies are tasty enough without the frosting, why would you? The frosting is the BEST part! Depending on your mood and tastebuds you might prefer vegan cream cheese frosting, or my personal favorite, vegan buttercream frosting.

How to make vegan soft sugar cookies

The exact ingredients with measurements can be found in the recipe card below along with more concise abbreviated instructions. Read on for more details, tips, and tricks so that you will feel confident making this recipe.

Step 1: Soften the vegN butter

You don’t want the vegan butter to be rock hard and cold straight from the refrigerator, nor do you want it to be warm, soft, and mushy. When the vegan butter is softened enough it should be cool to the touch. When you press your finger into it, it should go in a tiny bit before you feel resistance. If it pushes in all the way then it is too soft. If you have to press hard to make an ident then it needs further sofening.

If you have forgotten to take your butter out to soften then cut it into small cubes or slices. Set it on your counter and it should be softened in less than ten minutes.

Step 2: Make the flax egg

Replacing a traditional egg is one of the main challenges in vegan baking. A flax egg is a vegan substitute for a traditional (chicken) egg in recipes, especially in baking. To make a flax egg, you mix ground flaxseeds with water and let the mixture sit until it becomes gelatinous, resembling the texture of a raw egg. Kind of.

This process is based on the water-absorbing and gel-forming properties of flaxseeds. When mixed with water, the soluble fiber in flaxseeds forms a thick, gooey substance that mimics the binding and emulsifying functions of eggs in recipes. This helps provide structure, moisture, and stability to baked goods. The flax egg is not only a plant-based alternative for those following a vegan diet but also serves as an effective binding agent in various recipes, making it a versatile option for egg replacement.

After you make the flax egg by whisking together the ground flax seed and the water set it aside while you are mixing the other ingredients. It needs to sit for about five minutes.

Step 3: The dry ingredients and properly measuring the flour

Measure out the flour by “lightening” or sifting. Add the measured flour along with the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt to a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix together.

How to accurately measure flour without a scale

Using a scale to weigh the flour is the gold standard amongst professional bakers – and those in many countries other than the USA. Most of us don’t use a scale to measure flour and risk adding too much flour by cramming the measuring cup in the flour and compacting the flour. This results in heavy dry baked goods.

My grandmother taught me the “lighten, measure, and swipe” method. Start by stirring the flour around to aerate or to lighten the flour. Then with a small scoop or spoon, carefully remove the flour a small amount at a time and shake it into the measuring cup your are using. Fill the measuring cup just past the top level. Then with a knife or other flat surface, cut or chop the top and then with one swift movement, swipe the excess away.

After you’ve properly measured the flour and placed the measured amount in a small bowl, add the other dry ingredients and mix well so that it is ready to add to the wet ingredients. Now set the dry ingredients aside while you mix the fat, sugar, and wet ingredients.

Step 4: The fat, sugar, and wet ingredients

In another larger bowl cream together the softened vegan butter with the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the agave nectar, vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flax egg and mix until everything is incorporated.

Start by adding half of the powdered sugar and getting the mixing going and then adding the remaining powdered sugar or you will end up with a powdered sugar cloud in your kitchen!

Steps 5 and 6: Mixing it all together and chilling

Sprinkle the flour mixture on top as you are mixing. You don’t want to over mix your cookie dough. Mix just enough so that the flour mixture has been incorporated. You might need to mix by hand at the end and fully incorporate the dry ingredients. Remember to mix and incorporate gently though – especially by hand. You are not kneading the cookie dough, simply mixing. Kneading the dough might lead to overdeveloped gluten and a tough cookie.

When everything has been mixed well, cover with plastic wrap and set the dough in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes or up to an hour. If you need to make this recipe ahead of time and chill longer then remove it from the fridge and let it sit on the counter if necessary. The chilled dough should not be rock hard.

Time to bake the cookies!

After the cookie dough has chilled it’s time to preheat the oven to 350℉. Prepare at two baking sheets with parchment paper – this way you’ll have a nice cool baking sheet ready to pop in the oven with the second batch of cookies as soon as the first batch is done. If you have only one baking sheet then make sure it cools thoroughly before baking the second batch.

Use a cookie scoop or a large soup spoon and scoop out the individual coolies. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spaced accordingly. These cookies will spread. I use a half-sheet sized baking pan and place 12 cookies on the pan.

Bake at 350℉ for 9-11 minutes. The sides and bottom of the cookies will be lightly golden. If this is your first time cooking this recipe then definitely check at nine minutes to make sure they don’t overcook.

Remove the pan of baked cookies from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for about ten minutes. Use a spatula to remove the cooled cookies to a wire cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Repeat until all of the dough has been used and the cookies baked. I use two cookie sheets and have my second batch ready to pop in the oven as soon as my first batch is done.

These cookies are tasty enough to eat without frosting. But honestly I don’t know why anyone would choose to do that!

Let’s frost those soft vegan sugar cookies!

Open a can of frosting if you’d like OR make the most delicious vegan buttercream frosting ever! This is the same frosting I use for my cut out vegan sugar cookies – also delicious! If you like cream cheese frosting then you might want to try this vegan cream cheese frosting recipe. That would also be delicious. Or you could frost your vegan sugar cookies with a variety of vegan icings and glazes. Just don’t skip the frosting!

The printable recipe card