A new recipe I’m so excited to share it with you! Batches of experimentation – playing with flour and delicious cocoa powder amounts and finally, a vegan chocolate sugar cookie recipe!
Made with sugar, flour, cocoa powder, ground flax seed, water, vanilla extract and Crisco vegetable shortening, I’m thrilled to finally offer a vegan cut-out cookie that I love. The cookies are easy to make, they hold their shape well and taste so delicious! Thank you so much Crisco, for sponsoring this post! Reader, please know that I only work with products I love and sincerely recommend! If you’d like to make these the recipe and notes are below. Enjoy!
I have a few notes to share with you about baking cookies in general as well:
Notes:
- One of the reasons I experimented with this recipe so much, is that I wanted to find the best ratio of fat to flour etc., to create the perfect cut out cookie which holds its shape. This one definitely does, but no matter what recipe you use, these tips on how to prevent cookies from spreading are important to know.
- Use the best quality ingredients you can. The cocoa powder will make a big difference in the final taste of your cookies. Generally, cheaper cocoa powder has a lower fat content so the dough will end up being drier. I used Callebaut cocoa powder.
Enjoy baking and nibbling on decorating these!
xo,
Marian
Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
- 3 tbsp water
- 3/4 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax and water, and let sit to thicken, for approximately 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder and salt, and set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and Crisco vegetable shortening on low speed for about 3 minutes. You may need to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the flax seed mixture and vanilla extract to the mixer bowl and mix.
- Pour the dry ingredients (flour etc.) into the mixer bowl, cover the bowl loosely with tea towel at first (to prevent the flour from spraying outwards), and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the wet ingredients. It may take a few minutes to all be incorporated. You're looking for the dough to peel away from the walls of the mixer and to clump together onto the paddle attachment.
- Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, place on a baking sheet, and into the fridge for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celcius).
- Cut out cookie shapes as desired and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of cookies.
- Enjoy as is or decorate with icing and serve!
Lix says
Thanks for the recipe! I was thinking for a while that it was a pity I couldn’t make personalized cookies for one of my vegan friends, and you just solved the problem! Now I just have to figure out the Spanish equivalent of a couple things xD
marian says
Hi Lix,
Besides the many requests I’ve gotten on Sweetopia for vegan versions of my recipes, my dearest friend is vegan too, so I’ll be sharing more vegan versions in 2017. Hope your friend enjoys the cookies! xo
Maria Theresia says
Hi Marian, interesting! I need to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge!
Happy New Year!
ML
Lisa says
Thank you so much Marian…….. I am excited to try this new recipe. Do you think the cookies can be stored in the freezer for a short time before icing them? I like to make my cookies ahead of time to reduce stress. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year! š
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi Lisa,
Absolutely. Just make sure they’re thawed before decorating. Here’s a post on thawing if you like; https://sweetopia.net/2015/07/how-to-thaw-frozen-undecorated-cut-out-cookies/
Laura says
Hi Marion,
thank you for this amazing vegan cookie recipe…..do you have a vegan recipe for Royal Icing? or a substitute for merengue powder?
Thanks
Laura
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi Laura,
Here’s a post on substitutes for meringue powder in royal icing; https://sweetopia.net/2012/10/can-you-use-anything-besides-egg-whites-or-meringue-powder-in-royal-icing/
Happy decorating! xo
Jennifer says
OMG, you are fantastic! Thank you for this amazing recipe. Is it possible to change the ingredients to get vegan vanilla cookies? Maybe no cocoa powder but 2 1/4 flour? What do you think? š
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi Jennifer!
I’m going to experiment with just that and a few other ideas and will know for sure soon! I’ll post my results. š Happy baking!
Chrisitine says
looking forwardo to making these. What brand of cocoa powder do you recommend? Thanks so much!
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi Chrisitine,
I used Callebaut. It really does make a difference in the taste and outcome of the dough. Happy baking!
christine says
Hi Marian:
I live in Canada and cannot seem to find Callebaut cocoa powder. Would you be able to let me know where you purchase it from? I can find Cocao Barry Extra Brute Cocoa Powder which I think is dutch -processed (not sure if it is sweetened or not) – do you know if this is the same as Callebaut?
Also, do you use Callebaut in your original chocolate sugar cookie recipe?
Thanks and sorry for all the question.
Pamela says
Is there a substitute for the flax seed since I don’t have it on hand? I don’t care about the cookies necessarily being vegan, just that they taste good. Flax seed is not an ingredient I usually keep on hand. thanks
dezi says
Hi Marian, I need to ask you a question. When I decorate cookies they look beautiful…….and then, they dry dull looking. I use Americolor gels and sometimes Wilton, but it is maddening to create something so pretty only to have it look faded. I have tried using a fan/dehydrator, but I am still getting the same effect. How are you preventing this with your cookies? Thank you.
Jenny says
Hi there,
Were you able to make a vanilla version of this cookie? The dark color seems to be off putting for my toddler.
Thank you so much!
rohan says
hi Marian, can you please provide the metric equivalent of the recipe.
Jocelyn SIlverman says
Hi,
Thank you so much for this recipe. Can you just clarify these two questions for me?
1. Should the vegetable shortening be at room temp or chilled? I use it for pie crust and I keep it chilled but for cookies butter/margarine is better at room temp.
2. In Step 6 you write,”Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, place on a baking sheet, and into the fridge for about an hour”- Is that better than using plastic wrap? Or is that so it is already rolled and saves you an extra step?
3. If someone is allergic to chocolate (which is such a shame) is there a way to make these as a sugar cookie?
Thank you.
marian says
Hi Jocelyn,
No problem:
1. Room temp.
2. I like it because parchment is great to roll the dough out between and because I can just put it right in the fridge after that. And yes, exactly, then the dough is already rolled out and ready to go after it’s chilled.
3. Yes, I have a sugar cookie version of this in the recipe section of the blog.
Nitzia Espino says
I wanna use this recipe for some cookies. How far in advance would you say I can make these?
marian says
Hello Nitzia,
Here is a post for you; https://sweetopia.net/2012/02/how-long-do-decorated-cookies-stay-fresh-what-is-the-shelf-life-of-decorated-cookies/
marian says
Hi Nitzia,
Here is a post for you:
https://sweetopia.net/2012/02/how-long-do-decorated-cookies-stay-fresh-what-is-the-shelf-life-of-decorated-cookies/
Clair says
Hello!
Wonderful for you to share your recipes with the baking community .
By chance do you have a non vegan version of this chocolate cookie?
Thank you too!
Clair
Marian says
Hi Clair,
Thank you, and yes, I do, here it is:
https://sweetopia.net/2013/12/chocolate-sugar-cookie-recipe-cut-out-cookies/
April Wilcox says
anyone use GF flour with the vegan cookie recipes? if so what brand works best?