Vegan Funfetti Sugar Cookies
Soft, chewy and full of sprinkles, these vegan sugar cookies are made in one bowl and are even gluten free! They have perfectly crispy edges with a soft and fluffy center.
I’ve been on a serious funfetti kick lately. You guys have loved my vegan funfetti cupcakes and funfetti blondies so much, and cookies are one of my favorite foods, so this was a recipe I couldn’t resist. I feel like a funfetti cake should be next, yes?!
Cookies from scratch are always best, and my favorite thing about these vegan sugar cookies is that they’re great all year round.
Add lots of sprinkles for a fun birthday dessert, decorate them with icing for the Holidays, or keep them plain if that’s more your thing!
All you need is one bowl, a few simple ingredients like sugar, butter and flour and you’re ready to go! These vegan gluten free cookies are melt in your mouth delicious and I promise they’ll satisfy your sweet tooth as soon as you take a bite.
Plus, the dough is completely edible since there’s no egg! Try my vegan tahini cookies or vegan lemon blueberry cookies next!
Key ingredients
BUTTER. Since these are vegan sugar cookies, we’ll use vegan butter. I like Earth Balance butter sticks for this recipe.
APPLE SAUCE. Apple sauce will replace an egg and help bind all ingredients together.
FLOUR. These are vegan gluten free sugar cookies so we’ll use gluten free all purpose baking flour. I like Bob’s Red Mill here!
CORN STARCH. A little cornstarch will help absorb some more of the wet ingredients without drying out the dough.
SPRINKLES. I used half regular sprinkles and half non-pareils. You can use whatever you like!
How to make vegan sugar cookies
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter and sugar.
If the butter was previously in the fridge, you can add it to the microwave (without the sugar) for about 20 seconds to soften.
Beat together for about 30 seconds. Beat in the vanilla and apple sauce until combined.
Add in all remaining ingredients aside from the sprinkles and beat just until combined. Use a wooden spoon to fold in the sprinkles until well incorporated. Place the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes.
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Use a medium cookie scoop or about 1 1/2 tbsp and add the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced about 2 inches apart. about 20 minutes.
Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown (I generally do about 15-16 minutes in my oven). They will continue to harden as they cool, so take them out a bit earlier than you think is necessary.
Let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Can you make these into cut out cookies?
While I haven’t tested these as cut out cookies (yet!), I do think it would work really well!
The only thing about the recipe you will want to change is that you’ll need to omit the baking soda, because this will cause the cookies to spread. Keep the baking powder because it will keep them soft/fluffy.
What you’ll want to do is make the dough as usual, but then stick it in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes. Cold dough is much easier to work with when making cut out cookies.
Roll out the dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. It also helps to flour your rolling pin so nothing sticks.
Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out cookies and add to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for only about 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool before decorating!
Storage tips & substitutions
Once prepared, these vegan sugar cookies will store in an air tight container for about 5 days. I like to heat them up in the microwave for about 10 seconds before eating!
I do not recommend subbing the butter for oil, the butter is key for flavor! I like Earth Balance sticks. I used gluten free all purpose flour, but regular all purpose also works.
If you want to frost these cookies, try my vegan vanilla buttercream recipe! You won’t need a full batch to frost the cookies, just about 1/4 of what’s listed.
Note: The original recipe called for non-dairy milk instead of apple sauce. I have re-tested the recipe and prefer it with apple sauce, but either will work!
Try these next!
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Vegan Funfetti Sugar Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet:
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperature
- ¼ cup apple sauce see notes
- ¾ cup granulated cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry:
- 1 ¾ cups gluten free all purpose baking flour I used Bob’s Red Mill, regular AP flour works too
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4-5 tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter and sugar.
- Beat together for about 30 seconds.
- Beat in the vanilla and apple sauce until combined.
- Add in all remaining ingredients aside from the sprinkles and beat just until combined. Be sure to spoon and level the flour into the measuring cup, don’t scoop straight from the bag.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold in the sprinkles until well incorporated. Place the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or about 1 1/2 tbsp and add the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 11-15 minutes (mine are perfect at 13) or until the edges are just golden brown. They will continue to firm up as they cool, so take them out a bit earlier than you think is necessary if you want a really chewy center.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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This is our new fave recipe! We use Better Batter flour, and they turn out perfect! Kids approved, especially with the sprinkles!
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Love it! Thanks, Sara!
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I followed everything and for some reason they were soooo GRITTY. My mom took one bite and said “sand.” They also had a taste that im sure was either the flour, corn starch, or one of the baking things. They smelled heavenly and looked perfect but had to throw it all out due to the texture and weird aftertaste. Does anyone have an idea of what I could have done wrong to get this result?? Im not gonna give a bad star rating because im sure this was something on my part since the other reviews are very positive.
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Which flour did you use? Could any of the ingredients be expired? Sorry this happened!
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So good! I baked them for 12 minutes and they were perfect, I will definitely be making these again!
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Thank you, Katie! So glad you loved them.
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These are the best cookies. I am always being asked by my husband to make them for his coworkers. They are super easy to make and they taste awesome. I use Almond Milk instead of apple sauce, and vegan margarine instead of vegan butter.
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Love that! Thanks, Maureen!
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Excellent recipe. I love these cookies and so do my co workers. Keep up the good work and bring on more Vega recipes. Maureen’s husband. Dave
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Oh I loved original recipe! Can you remind me what the plant milk measurements were? I’m going to make both to see which I like! Everything else is the same right?
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It’s just 1/4 cup of milk instead of the apple sauce!
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These cookies are so good! Baked as directed for 14 min and they came out perfectly! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I have to go and drop these off to my daughter’s class. I’ll be making them again soon!
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Perfect! So glad they were a hit. Thanks, Jessica!
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I added the zest and juice of one lemon to these and it turned out great! Family loved them 🙂
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These cookies turned out amazing. Chewy and delicious!
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Thank you, Kirsten!
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What can I use in place of corn starch?
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Tapioca starch or arrowroot starch should be fine!
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I don’t have either of those. Can I just omit?
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I would probably then just add a few extra tablespoons of flour!
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Can you make the dough & store it in the fridge or freezer for a couple of days before making & baking the cookies?
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Yes, just make the dough and scoop into balls, then freeze until you’re ready to bake. Bake at 300 for a few extra minutes to account for the frozen dough.
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These are amazing! Super quick and easy to make and taste delicious. We make these in my house all the time. My boys love them!
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Thank you Sadie! So happy ya’ll are enjoying them.
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I love these cookies! I’ve made them probably ten or so times and they’re always delicious. If you want them to be chewy definitely take them out sooner than you’d think, in my opinion even a minute makes a big difference with texture. Even when I’ve “over baked” them and they’re crispy they’re still delicious. 10/10!
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Can these be frozen??
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Yes! Just let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag for up to 2 months.
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I portion out the dough and put it in freezer bags and bake the cookies, as needed. I did this for my granddaughter’s birthday party.
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Can I freeze these cookies after I bake them?
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Yes! Just let them cool and freezer in a freezer safe bag. Reheat in the oven until warm through the center.
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Made without cornstarch- turned out super good!
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Excellent for my vegan Granddaughters, and egg/nut allergy nephew.
I’m in Australia 🇦🇺 and converted all your measurements to metric and used a small size ice cream scoop made 48. Plenty for everyone. Thanks sooooo much
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