These vegan Christmas cookie recipes are full of nostalgia, holiday cheer, and lots of sugar! Whether you're looking for traditional cookies or a twist on classic recipes, you're sure to find something to adorn your dessert table.
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Sugar cookies, gingerbread, and gluten free, oh my! Vegans, people with egg or dairy allergies, and gluten free folk have every right to indulge in vegan cookies this holiday season.
My favorite types of desserts are "accidentally vegan". Have you ever had a cookie tht tasted stereotypically "vegan"? Yeah, me too, and we have none of those here. I've compiled some of my favorite types of vegan Christmas cookies that no one will know are vegan. Some are quick and easy, while others require a bit more effort, but you and yours are sure to enjoy them all!
Looking for more vegan Christmas recipes to round out your dessert table? Pour a glass of Vegan Eggnog with Coconut Milk, or prepare a loaf of Vegan Stollen with Marzipan Filling, which is a better version of fruitcake.
🥚 Egg Replacers
If you'd like to veganize one of your family's traditional Christmas cookie recipes, you can do so with many recipes.
While butter and milk can easily be replaced 1:1 with vegan butter and any kind of non-dairy milk, eggs aren't as simple. You have to consider the purpose of the egg in the recipe. Is it there for moisture, binding, or leavening?
It gets a little more complicated if the recipe involves whipping up egg whites and using the yolks separately, but here are a few rules of thumb for replacing 1 egg in most cookie recipes:
- For chewy cookies, use ¼ cup aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- For cake-like cookies, use ¼ cup applesauce
- For crispy and crunchy cookies, use 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed whisked with 3 tablespoons water
🍪 Rolled Cookies
Rolled cookies are your sugar cookies, gingerbread people, and anything other recipe that involves a rolling pin and cookie cutters.
If you only make one kind of vegan Christmas cookie this year, sugar cookies are the way to go! There are endless options for shapes, decorations, and icings (I like to use my Royal Icing made with aquafaba).
Gingerbread cookies are another classic! These Vegan Gingerbread Cookies from Plant.Well are too delicious to simply hang on your Christmas tree.
How gorgeous are these Vegan Linzer Cookies from Domestic Gothess?! Each sandwich cookie is handcrafted with two dainty shortbread cookies with jam peeking out of the little shape cut out of the center.
🥄 Drop & Molded Cookies
Drop cookies and molded cookies are super easy to make. They're your chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, and any type you roll between your hands and press onto a cookie sheet.
Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
These double chocolate cookies are bursting with chocolatey goodness with the chocolate dough and chocolate chips, and they have a hint of seasonal peppermint flavor from the peppermint extract.
A classic Italian cookie, these Italian Anisette Cookies melt in your mouth and are topped with an anise glaze and rainbow sprinkles.
This cookie recipe comes from the paperback edition of my cookbook, The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur: Over 120 Scrumptious Recipes Made with Natural and Simple Ingredients.
Another recipe that utilizes an underutilized flavor, these Vegan Anise Pizzelles from The Fresh Fig are a vegan take on the traditional Italian recipe.
You need a pizzelle maker (kind of like a waffle iron, but these cookies are thin and crispy) to make these cookies.
Vegan Molasses Cookies with Cashew Butter
These Vegan Molasses Cookies from Addicted to Dates call for cashew butter in place of vegan butter, which adds a nutty flavor and the same richness as butter.
While matcha is not a traditional Christmas flavor, these Vegan Matcha Cookies from Plant.Well are surely Christmassy with their bright green flavor!
🍫 Bars
Chocolate Peppermint Cream Bars
I make these Chocolate Peppermint Cream Bars every year either as a gift, for a Christmas party, or just to enjoy at home. They have a dense brownie bottom layer, minty frosting, and chocolate ganache. Enjoy them with or without crushed candy canes on top.
This is another recipe from my cookbook, The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. It's in both the original hardcover, and the paperback version.
These Italian Rainbow Cookies are a three layer cookie made with apricot jam and marzipan, and topped with chocolate ganache. Although they're called cookies, the layers are actually more like a dense cake.
In fact, quite a few people have made this recipe into a cake instead and tagged me on Instagram with their creations! Since the layers are baked just like a cake, there are no modifications required. Simply bake, assemble, and slice like a cake instead of squares.
🚫 Gluten Free
Gluten free vegans deserve to indulge during the holidays too! These vegan gluten free Christmas cookies are sure to please.
Vegan gluten free Thin Mints? Yes, please! This recipe from Cass Clay Cooking uses oat flour for that classic crunch. Is there anything oats can't do?
If you have leftover cookies, you can turn them into Thin Mint Ice Cream! Normally I'd say "what are leftover cookies?" but somehow we all end up with a mountain of Christmas cookies every year.
Vegan Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
For a complete selection of vegan gluten free Christmas cookies, we have pull from the classics. These vegan gluten free sugar cookies from Delightful Adventures are ready for your cookie cutters, sprinkles, and Vegan Royal Icing.
Gluten Free Double Chocolate Cookies
These Gluten Free Double Chocolate Cookies from Dani's Cookings are made with a mixture of coconut flour and tapioca starch, and have the added surprise of ginger and cinnamon in the flavor profile.
If you're getting started with gluten free baking, a chewy chocolate cookie is a great place to start because chocolate will smooth over anything that goes wrong during the learning process.
🧁 Icings & Toppings
Once you have your Christmas cookies, surely you'll need something to adorn them! These icings and decorations fit the bill.
This Vegan Royal Icing is a match made for Vegan Sugar Cookies! If you've never worked with royal icing before, set aside some time to practice. There are so many different royal icing techniques that can create beautiful designs.
Marzipan! Typically made with egg whites, this Vegan Marzipan is made with aquafaba. You can use it for cookies, candies, and truffles. It's also the key ingredient in Vegan Stollen, which is one of the most popular recipes on Seitan Beats Your Meat this time of year!
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