Vegan Christmas Sugar Cookies

These vegan Christmas sugar cookies are soft, sweet, and such a fun holiday baking tradition! They’re made with just 5 healthy ingredients, gluten free and fruit sweetened.

Friends, it’s time.

Now that thanksgiving is over, it’s time for CHRISTMAS-ING ALL THE THINGS, which of course, means Christmas cookies.

Christmas is absolutely my favorite time of the year, and I have so many memories that are synonymous with Christmas – the decorating, the music, the movies. But the Christmas baking has to be my favorite part of the entire season. My mom used to (and still does, really) go all out with her baking trays for our friends and neighbors. We’re talking peanut butter kiss cookies, toffee, chocolate nut clusters, gingerbread, and so much more.

As the Christmas-obsessed lady I am, I definitely plan on eventually making some impressive trays of my own. But before I start, I want to make sure I have go to, beloved recipes that I’ll look forward to baking and enjoying every Christmas. As a food blogger, obviously I love trying new recipes, but Christmas is different. I love the idea of baking the same things every year, so that they hold those special, Christmasy vibes.

When I picture my future gifting of Christmas goodies, I immediately think cut out, decorated sugar cookies. Honestly, I always think gingerbread or something super chocolatey when it comes to Christmas treats. But I feel like a good cookie tray CANNOT be good without a sweet, simple, cut out sugar cookie. Plus, the experience of cutting out the dough and decorating cookies is essential for the holiday season, right?

So, as my first Christmas cookie recipe of the year, I’m gifting you these vegan Christmas sugar cookies. So fun to bake, and obviously, more fun to eat.

Ingredients for vegan Christmas sugar cookies

• Almond flour: almond flour keeps the cookies really soft and gives a great chewy texture.
• Rolled oats: you’ll blend the oats into flour, which gives the cookies a little more structure so they can stand up to cutting into shapes.
• Date sugar: date sugar is simply dried dates that have been ground up, and it gives the cookies natural sweetness all from fruit.
• Applesauce: unsweetened applesauce helps the cookies maintain a soft, moist texture.
• Vanilla extract: vanilla helps flavor the cookie dough.
• Vegan chocolate chips or yogurt to decorate: I like the PASCHA unsweetened or Lily’s stevia-sweetened chips, but use any vegan chocolate chips you like. I used the Kite Hill unsweetened vegan yogurt, thinned out with a bit of water to decorate.

Tips for making vegan Christmas sugar cookies

• Mix the dry ingredients first. Depending on the almond flour and date sugar you use, there may be lumps to work out with a fork before mixing in the other ingredients to make sure everything in the cookie dough is incorporated.
• Roll and re-roll the dough as many times as you can. You’ll press the dough out into an even layer on a piece of parchment paper, and cut out as many Christmasy shapes as you can! I used candy canes, trees, snowflakes, and Christmas light cutters. The dough is still a bit wet and delicate, so just use gentle hands when pressing the dough out from the cutter onto the pan. Continue re-forming the dough into a ball and an even layer to cut out as many cookies as you can. The number you will get will depend on your cookie cutters, I got about 16 cookies.
• The baking time may vary depending on the cookie cutters you use. If you use all very small cookie cutters to make your shapes, the cookies won’t need as long as the oven. Just keep an eye on them so that they don’t get too dark!
• Let the cookies cool before decorating. After baking, let the cookies cool completely before adding any decorations.
• Have fun with the decorating! I like to melt PASCHA unsweetened or Lily’s stevia-sweetened chips. I also used the Kite Hill unsweetened vegan yogurt, thinned out with a bit of water. I just put whatever I’m using in a little squeeze bottle or a piping bag (or a ziplock with the corner cut off) for easy decorating.

Traditionally, sugar cookies are often decorated with royal icing which is essentially pure sugar. Obviously we aren’t going that route, but we can still have fun decorating! You could definitely use some type of frosting, like this bright cream cheese or this rich chocolate fudge frosting, then add mixed nuts or chocolate or vegan sprinkles.

I kept it really simple with some melted chocolate and a drizzle of yogurt, and they were an absolute dream. For my next batch, though, I am FOR SURE making a batch of that chocolate frosting, because I’m obsessed with it and it would pair perfectly with these sweet lil cookies.

These vegan Christmas sugar cookies are soft, sweet, and a new favorite Christmas tradition at our house. Nothing makes me happier than recreating fun holiday traditions in a healthy, vegan version, and I’m SO happy with how these came out. Hope you guys love them and are having fun with all your Christmas baking so far!

Xo,

Sara