Whether you’re thinking ahead for Christmas-time or you just want to snack on a sweet treat today – these dairy free sugar cookies are a delicious snack! They’re easy to make, and you can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters for fun shapes.
How to make dairy free sugar cookies
These are probably one of the easiest dairy free dessert recipes you could find. I guarantee almost all of these ingredients are probably already in your kitchen:
- Earth Balance dairy/soy-free spread (or another dairy free butter of your choice)
- Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Flour
- Baking Powder
You’ll mix the ingredients together and then you’ll need to refrigerate the dough prior to rolling. This helps the butter spread to firm up, so when you roll it out, it doesn’t get too mushy.
After you refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, you can roll it out on a floured surface and use cookie cutters to make your shapes.
PS – How stinkin’ adorable are these cookie cutters I used?! I found these on clearance at Target for 90% off in the Christmas clearance section. They were Hearth & Hand with Magnolia brand and came in these fun shapes like goats, hammers, houses, etc. Any other Fixer Upper fans in the house?!
Allergens in this recipe
These dairy free sugar cookies are naturally free of dairy, soy, and nuts. If you’re soy-free, be sure to choose the red container of Earth Balance as that is the one that does not contain soy.
These cookies do contain egg and wheat (gluten). If you need modifications for those, you can try one of the options below – though I have not tested these yet.
Gluten free: Use a gluten-free flour blend rather than all-purpose flour. Most good quality blend should work.
Egg free: I’ve seen some recipes utilize the following combo for an egg-free version – 1 tbsp milk alternative + 1/2 tbsp cornstarch + 1/4 tsp extra baking powder. Again, I haven’t tried it in this recipe, so if you test this as egg free – let me know what works for you!
Can you freeze the sugar cookie dough?
Yes! My favorite way to do this is to make the dough and then instead of shaping into a disc, shape into a log. You can wrap this in plastic wrap and then store it in a zip top bag in the freezer.
When it comes time to bake the cookies, just defrost for a little bit in the fridge (ideally you want it still fairly firm when you are ready to bake). Then slice into cookie rounds and bake. It’s not quite as cute as the cutout ones but it’s easy and quick!
Is there a dairy free icing for these sugar cookies?
Are we the only weirdos that don’t usually bother with icing on our sugar cookies?! LOL. Don’t get me wrong, I love making frosting for my sugar cookie bars – but for cut out cookies I usually skip over it.
Clearly I’m in the minority though based on some opinions from friends, haha – so if you want to make icing to go with these, go for it!
All you need to do to make icing is mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1/2 tsp vanilla. Then add non-dairy milk 1 teaspoon at a time until the icing reaches the texture you like (I generally go with around 1 tbsp per cup of powdered sugar).
One more tip – wait until your cookies cool completely prior to icing them, otherwise it tends to slide off and not look as pretty.
I hope you enjoy these dairy free sugar cookies! If you get a chance to try them, please let me know in the comments how you liked them.
Dairy Free Sugar Cookies
These dairy free sugar cookies are perfect for cookie cutters! Enjoy at Christmas time - or really anytime!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance dairy-free soy-free spread (or another vegan butter)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
-
Cream Earth Balance and granulated sugar using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisking well. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
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Add in salt, flour, and baking powder, and stir until everything is combined.
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Flatten dough into an eight-inch disc, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Place on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat (or parchment paper). Bake for 9-10 minutes.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- I prefer using my KitchenAid for combining all the ingredients, but you can certainly do this by hand as well.
- This recipe makes approximately 20 cookies, but the specific yield will depend on the size of your cookie cutters. Smaller cookie cutters = more cookies; larger cookie cutters = fewer cookies.
Nutrition analysis (approximate per cookie):
98 calories, 5 g fat, 1 saturated fat, 89 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 1 g protein, Vitamin A: 0%, Vitamin C: 0%, Calcium: 1%, Iron: 3%
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I’m allergic to dairy so I was excited to see a simple recipe to try! My husband and I made these cookies and they are so yummy 😋! Thanks for posting!! Daryl Hearn
Woohoo – I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!! <3
Hi! This recipe looks awesome. I want to try it, but was wondering if I could use powdered instead of granulated sugar? I love the classic sugar cookie taste it has
Hi Luma! I haven’t tried using powdered sugar in this recipe, so I wouldn’t personally recommend it simply because I can’t guarantee it will work. The texture of powdered sugar is finer and it also contains added cornstarch. However, if you’d like to try substituting, I would recommend using 3/4 cups powdered sugar instead of 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and see if that works. If you do give it a whirl, feel free to let me know how it came out.
Have you ever used vegetable shortening instead of non dairy butter?
I haven’t in this recipe, though I have used shortening in my pie crust recipe. I find shortening doesn’t have as rich of a ‘buttery’ flavor (in my opinion) so I prefer the non-dairy butters in things like cookies. That said, I’m sure you could give it a whirl – if you do, let me know how they come out!
This recipe is really great! It just wouldn’t have been Christmas without cutout cookies. My husband couldn’t tell the difference between these and regular cutout cookies. Thanks!
Yay, so glad you enjoyed them!
What would you use for some sort of frosting for these cookies
You could definitely use frosting! Many store bought frostings are actually dairy-free. If you want to make your own, you could whip up a thick “butter”cream with dairy free butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a splash of dairy free milk.
I love that you have dairy free alternative
Could you please post the measurements for the dairy free frosting. Ones from the store make me very sick .
Hi there – you can actually find the instructions for icing in the post under “Is there a dairy free icing for these sugar cookies?”. You can also find frosting recipes (if you want a thicker frosting and not a glaze-like icing) in some of my other posts – vanilla frosting in these sugar cookie bars (https://dairyfreeforbaby.com/dairy-free-sugar-cookie-bars/) or cream cheese frosting in this pumpkin cookie post (https://dairyfreeforbaby.com/dairy-free-pumpkin-cookies/). Enjoy!
Hello! Keen to make these for my lactose intolerant niece. Just wondering if you know the measurements by weight? Many thanks!
Hi Olivia! Unfortunately I’m in the US so I don’t typically measure in weight – I’m not sure of the measurements off the top of my head, but I bet if you search for a conversion chart, you might be able to find some estimates you could use. Sorry I don’t have exact weight measurements for you!
The dough was delicious but way too sticky to flatten and make cutouts. Ruined my Easter decorating plans. I tried adding more flour but didn’t want to add any more for taking away from the sweetness.
Sorry to hear it didn’t work for you! We’ve tested this multiple times and haven’t had problems, but results could certainly vary based on the brand of dairy free butter used (we’ve always had success with Earth Balance) and how the flour is measured. If it were me, there are a few options if they were too sticky: like you mentioned, add more flour, but see if the sweetness needs to be adjusted at all with some extra sugar too, or b) make drop cookies (not ideal, but still delish if running into problems!). I hope you found a way to have a lovely Easter regardless! 🙂
It is a really soft dough but I’ve just been super gentle and found less intricate cookie cutters work better. I use Nuttalex buttery as that’s what my dairy/soy free daughter can have.
Are these cookies soft or crispy?
If you roll the dough thin and use cookie cutters, they’ll be a bit crisp around the edges with a slightly soft center. (You can also leave the dough a little thicker and use a circular cutter, which would make them a bit softer.)
Lovely receipe, very easy to follow and the cookies are delicious.
Thanks! Glad to hear you enjoyed them 🙂
I have made sugar cookies for a long time,and always use the same recipe, but I needed one that was whey free,so I found your recipe. I was concerned if they would be good,or if they would spread. Well let me say,that they were amazing! I dont even like sugar cookies, but oh my goodness, I love them. Thankyou for this recipe the cookies are wonderful! I will definitely be making these from now on!
Aw, thanks so much for the kind words Lori! I’m glad you enjoyed them. This is definitely a favorite around our house as well 🙂
Is there a way to also make these sugar free?
Hi Lesia – You could certainly try using a sugar substitute like allulose in place of the regular sugar; however I have not personally tried it in this recipe so I can’t guarantee that it would work.
Very good recipe! I replaced the vegan butter with 1/3 cup of olive oil and it worked just fine. I’ll be making it again!
Thanks Blanca! I appreciate you sharing your substitution idea so others can try it that way too if they’d like. 🙂
Good egg substitute is a whole banana. Or Apple sauce
Hi there!
Will this recipe work with gluten free flour? I have the Bob’s Red Mill brand 🙂
The only tough part with gluten free flour is that depending on the blend, some don’t hold shape as well as regular flour for being cut out cookies. They’ll definitely work for drop sugar cookies but I’m not sure about rolling out. If you do try, please do leave a comment again sharing if it worked.
Just made these for a baby shower. I needed a recipe I could make without a mixer (staying at my son’s house!) and could be made dairy free and also dairy free/gluten free. I made them both ways and they turned out great! For the gluten free I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour and added 1 tsp potato starch and reduced the cook time to 8 min. They held their shape perfectly 😊
Hi Susan! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed them and that you were able to successfully make a gluten free batch. 🙂
I’m always looking for ways to make my son (cows milk allergy) not feel left out so this was perfect this morning, he is farm obsessed so luckily we recently bought tractor and lorry cutters…. He managed to steal a tractor cookie from. The bunker before they cooled (boy takes after his mum)… And now running around shouting tractor biscuit love ooo mummy!!
Thank you so much xx
Aw I’m so glad he enjoyed them!! I love that kiddos are able to enjoy their favorites even with allergies.
Hi there!
In order to cream the dairy free butter, do you need to leave it out to soften like regular butter? This is my first time baking with DF butter!
Hi Shannon! It’s a good idea to leave it out for a little bit beforehand to soften, but it does vary based on the type of dairy free butter. Some are fairly soft as-is and will cream together without softening. I generally use Country Crock plant butter sticks and find that leaving them about about 20 min before I plan to make the cookies is enough time to soften. Hope that helps! 🙂
Followed your recipe to the letter and they were still super super sticky. Added an extra cup of flour and that solved it!
Hi Kaitlyn – So glad you figured out a modification that worked!
I’m not sure why they were so sticky – I’m wondering if it’s maybe the choice of dairy free butter (some have different water content, so if you used another type it could contribute to that)? Another thought – is there any chance you used a half cup of flour to start, and not one and a half cups (I’ve personally made that mistake before when making a recipe, haha!)? Or any chance you used another flour (like GF rather than all purpose)?
We’ve tested this recipe multiple times successfully but I’m always trying to figure out why occasionally others have an issue (which helps me work to improve the directions, ingredients, etc). Regardless, I’m so glad you took the time to make it and shared your easy modification! 🙂
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I found that my batter was also sticky but I just added extra flour and a bit of brown sugar and it was perfectly fine. This recipe is great for making for dairy-free diets, my mum didn’t even notice that I used margarine not butter. Thank you!
Glad your enjoyed it! 🙂 I still can’t figure out why some batters seem to be stickier than others after chilling (we make this all the time and I can’t seem to replicate it on my end) – maybe the types of DF butter? But a little extra flour definitely solves that problem if you run into it. Great thinking!!
Created a super sticky dough for me unfortunately. I think the vegan butter really matters because I ended up having to add more flour + freezing the dough to get it firm enough to roll. They just didn’t taste like sugar cookies since the extra flour made them have a different texture.
Hi Lindsay! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, and I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you exactly as expected. Can you share what type of butter you used so that perhaps I can test with that type and see what’s going on? I’ve had good luck with Earth Balance or Country Crock Plant Butter sticks, but I agree that it may be the dairy free butter choice may affect it, and I’d love to test with some other common options so I can determine what’s going on and provide advice.
I am going to try this recipe today. My first batch cookies. I’m going to use a cookie gun rather than cutters. I’m assuming it’ll be better to skip the refrigeration time. Have you even used one?
Also do you happen to have tried baking these on a halogen oven? Any adjustments to temperature or time?
Many thanks
Hi there! Unfortunately I’ve never used a cookie gun, but I would think a short refrigeration time would still help the cookie hold shape best. I’ve never used a halogen oven at all, so I can’t speak to how to adjust for that. Please feel free to leave any adjustments you end up making for the halogen oven and cookie press so people can learn from your experience. 🙂
Wow! It’s been a long road in my dairy free journey. I cannot believe how delicious these were. I like almond extract so I added 1/2 tsp of almond extract. I have made cut outs with this recipe and also dropped and rolled in sprinkles as well! AMAZING! My lucky number was 10 in a half mins in the oven but I have an electric stove. Merry Christmas!
Yum! Love the addition of almond extract and sprinkles. 🙂
Can I freeze or refrigerate the unbaked dough for a couple of days before baking?
Hi Mary – you should be able to refrigerate it for a day or so. If you plan to bake the cookies more than 2 days later, I would freeze rather than refrigerate for food safety reasons. Hope that helps!
Questions before I make these:
1) Is there a reason for making the 8inch disc as opposed to a ball before refrigeration?
2) How thick (or thin) should the dough be rolled out to?
I haven’t made cut-out sugar cookies for a few years, looking forward to making these!
Hi Anna! Great questions
1) Helps the dough cool more uniformly during a short chill period.
2) Between 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.
A few other tips as you get ready to make them: Be sure to roll out the dough on a floured surface AND also flour the top of the dough when rolling. It’s normal for the dough to be a bit sticky but it shouldn’t be overly loose or wet. I can only recommend Earth Balance or Country Crock plant butter sticks for this recipe as I know both of those work. Also, 1 1/2 cups flour = 1.5 cups – there’s been some confusion about that from past readers.
Good luck and I hope you love them! 🙂
Curious how you measure your flour? Do you sift it first & then spoon in to the measuring cup, or do you scoop it straight out of the bag with the measuring cup? That might be why there’s a discrepancy with the flour
I don’t sift (most commercial flours don’t require it these days) but I do spoon and level off. 🙂
Easy. Delicious. Fun to make.
These turned out so well. We made Dinosaur cut outs for Santa and the reindeer. Of course, we had to taste them to make sure they are good to go. My LO is now trying to negotiate less cookies needed for Santa, which equates with more for us! Lol
Haha you gotta love the negotiation skills of kids! 🙂 I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed these.
how long do these cookies stay good for?
Hi there – they should stay good for up to a week in an air tight container at room temp.
Finally a recipe that holds perfectly the cookies’ shape. We made them for Halloween with cookie cutters that have patterns on top of the cookies, and they came out perfectly.
Yay! I’m so glad to hear you had success with these cookies. They’re definitely a favorite around our house too. 🙂
Newly dairy free Mom who was so worried about finding a good sugar cookie recipe to make our holiday cookies. These were perfect! Just refrigerated the dough a bit longer to firm up. The whole family loved them.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂
Tried to make this but it was so sticky I tossed it. I used Country Crock, not Earth Balance, and am now seeing the tried and true ‘add more flour’ comments.
It smelled and test-tasted great, just couldnt even get it in my hands, let alone rolled out, with how sticky it was.
Will try again with Earth Balance though 🙂
I’m so sorry it was too sticky for you! I’m honestly perplexed as I’ve made this a bunch of times with both Earth Balance and Country Crock Sticks and have never had any issues. Mine is usually a little sticky but chilling the dough in plastic wrap (spooning it in the wrap) makes mine rollable on a well-floured surface. Just to double check — you’re using 1 and a half cups of flour and 1 stick of the Country Crock, yes? I know someone else thought I meant one half cup (instead of 1.5 cups) of flour, which was the reason they had problems. Also, are you using any kind of flour sub aside from all-purpose? Just trying to think through all the possible troubleshooting points here! I def want it to work for you. 🙂
Thank you so much for your quick response! I was surprised too – I’m in Florida, so that adds a little extra humidity challenge, but even after a few hours in the freezer, it was still softer than I expected.
Yup, regular King Arther AP flour, and country crock spread from a tub (though it seems to have the same fat ratio as the sticks).
I suppose its entirely possible I used the wrong ratios! Will report back after my second batch.
Also, should this be made with room temperature butter and egg per most cookie recipes, or does the butter need chilled?
Strike my earlier comment from the record, this is an amazing recipe that makes great DF cookies. Used Earth Balance sticks and paid more attention to the ratios, and it was PERFECT the second time around. I immediately made another batch of dough to freeze for Christmas Eve when we do our proper cutout decorating.
Thanks for posting, and thanks x100 for responding and troubleshooting my comment. I’ll be back for more dairy free recipes (I’m also dairy free for baby!)
Ahhh, I’m SO glad it worked better the second time around! Sorry I didn’t answer your comment from two days ago – a bit hectic over in my house getting ready for the holidays, haha – but it sounds like you got it all figured out and it worked great with the Earth Balance sticks. YAY!! Merry Christmas!
Great simple recipe that is “just like mom used to make”. I used Miyoko’s vegan butter and added a half teaspoon of cream of tartar because my mom’s recipe when I was a kid had it so I thought I’d try it. They baked up light and just barely crispy at 9 minutes. I doubled the batch and got about 60 cookies. I also chilled it in a ball and it was great. Thanks so much for this new “go to” Christmas baking recipe!!
I’m so glad to hear this was a great Christmas baking recipe for you! 🙂 Happy holidays!
I made these and added orange zest!! So delicious!! Thank you!
Oooh that sounds delicious! I need to try adding a little zest next time.
Can I double this recipe?
Yep!
I made these last weekend for a bachelorette weekend (dinosaur-themed!) and they were perfect! The cookies held their shape beautifully for heart and dinosaur cutters. I used the Country Crock sticks and doubled the recipe. I also left the dough in the fridge for several hours before baking since I had errands to run, and I refrigerated the cut cookies for a few minutes before baking. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe – and I have to say, I’m super intrigued by a dinosaur-themed bachelorette weekend. I feel like there’s a story to tell there, lol! 🙂
Once these are baked biscuits do they freeze like ordinary dairy type sugar cookies can ?
Yep, you can feel free to freeze them as dough or fully baked cookies.
Do you use the tub of Earth Balance spread or do you use the sticks? Just wondering if one performs or tastes better than the other. Thank you
I’ve used both, as well as the Country Crock avocado oil plant butter sticks in this recipe. I think they all work well! 🙂
hey how long can i store these cookies for? before they go bad?
Sugar cookies are best enjoyed within 4-5 days of making them when stored at room temperature in an airtight bag. They may stay safe a bit longer than this, but will start to go stale. If you want to keep them longer than 4-5 days, freeze them and defrost when ready to enjoy again.
I made them using the yellow tub of Earth Balance spread. Everybody loves them even people who had no idea they were dairy-free. Fantastic recipe!
Thank you
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
These worked out so well for Christmas cookies! Thank you!
Yay! So glad to hear that. 🙂
These came out so perfect and delicious!!
So glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
I used the recipe today. Was prepared for sticky dough after reading the posts. I had already purchased my butter and it wasn’t the kind you suggest. I used Miyokos Creamery vegan butter. I used 1 teaspoon extra flour and it was perfect.
Haven’t tasted a cookie, but the dough tasted yummy.
Perfect, so glad it worked out for you! 🙂
I can’t be the only person to have done this recipe and had it turn out bad. Sorry but I did this recipe the exact way it is written and I did it adding things as necessary to make it resemble cookie dough and both ways were horrible. The ingredients volumes were completely off, the bake time was not correct, and I even chilled my dough for multiple hours and it was so soft i couldn’t cut shapes out and have them keep shape. Dough did not taste very good raw or cooked. Recommend finding another dairy free recipe for sugar cookies.
Hi Nick! I’m so sorry you had that experience. We make these cookies often and have great results, so I’d love to help you troubleshoot.:) The most common issues I can think of:
1. Did you use either Earth Balance or Country Crock plant butter sticks? Those work really well for baking. I don’t recommend other options like nut-based butters or margarine, as the water content is different and can greatly affect baking results.
2. Did you use softened (not melted) butter?
3. Did you use 1 and 1/2 cups of flour? I know once in the past someone had trouble because they glanced quickly and read that as just a 1/2 cup.
4. You mentioned adjusting ingredients to get it to resemble cookie dough — if something additional was added or ingredient proportions were changed, that could have changed the taste, but hard to know exactly what happened without knowing what was added.
Those are just a few quick things off the top of my head. Happy to help you troubleshoot more if you’d like! Happy holidays.