Its almost that time of year! And by that "time of year" I obviously mean holiday cookie season. I love cookies. My mom and I made cookies ALL the time when I was little. Mostly chocolate chip because those are our favorite. But around the holidays we always made cut-out sugar cookies, decorated them and left them by the fireplace on Christmas Eve for Santa. Or Dad. Whoever. So, I decided veganize these classic, and ubiquitous holiday cookie. Without further ado, here are my Vegan Cut-Out Holiday Cookies.
These cookies are the thin and crisp variety. You can decorate them with a sprinkle of sugar before baking, or as we used to do, a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg! Today, though, I whipped up some royal icing to decorate. This is more time consuming, but if you like baking projects, I'll drop a royal icing recipe card at the bottom of this recipe.
These cookies are so easy to make! They use simple pantry ingredients and take 10-15 minutes to whip together. I have some cute little cookie cutters that I found at Homegoods that I used. They are all about 3 inches. If your cookie cutters are larger than that, you may need to adjust the bake time just a bit. Here is a set from Williams-Sonoma that is similar to what I have, if you don't have cookie cutters already.
These Vegan Cut-Out Holiday Cookies are meant to be thin and crispy, so be sure to roll them out to approximately ⅛ of an inch. If they are too thick they don't turn into a nice soft cookie. Rather, they get a chewy. But not a good chewy- a chewy that tells you that you should have baked them longer.
Also, don't substitute the powdered sugar for granulated sugar. The powdered sugar helps keep these cookies light tender and crisp which is crucial here. No one wants a hard cookie!
The dough for these Vegan Cut-Out Holiday Cookies can also be made ahead of time. Up to 3 days! Prepping the dough streamlines the process, especially if you are decorating with kids. Because as a former kid baker, I can tell you that the hour chill time feels like an eternity.
Decorate these Vegan Cut-Out Holiday Cookies any way you please. But, do be sure to save a few for Santa.
Vegan Cut-Out Holiday Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon Non-Dairy Butter
- ⅓ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 tablespoon Powdered Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Plant Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
To decorate (optional)
- 1 Recipe Royal Icing Recipe is below!
- Turbinado Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Colored Sugar
Instructions
- In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment OR in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, cream the butter and granulated sugar.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Then add the vanilla and plant milk and mix well to combine.
- Now add the flour and baking powder and mix until it forms a dough. If you need a teaspoon or 2 more plant milk to form a dough, add it here.
- Form the dough into a flat disc, wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour, but it can chill for up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 375* F. Line a baking tray with parchment.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour your work surface as well as the rolling pin.
- Roll dough out to about ⅛ of an inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut cookies out and transfer the cookies to the baking sheet leaving about 1 inch of space between each cookie.
- Press the cookie dough scraps back into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and place back into the refrigerator.
- If you want to decorate with colored sugar, cinnamon or turbinado sugar, sprinkle the cookies with them now. If you want to ice the cookies with royal icing, leave them plain. Bake the cookies in a 375* oven for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Cool completely before decorating. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
Here is the royal icing recipe for your holiday baking fun. The trick to this recipe is the texture. It needs to be loose enough to pipe but stiff enough to hold its shape when piped. This recipe should be enough to frost all of your cookies. Happy cookie decorating!
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 tablespoon Plant Milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients together until a smooth but thick icing forms. If it looks too thick to pipe, add ½ teaspoon more plant milk at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
- Color as desired with food coloring.
- Pipe onto completely cool cookies.
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