Vegan Halloween Sugar Cookies
These Vegan Halloween Sugar Cookies are the perfect treat for Halloween, or let’s be honest, any day in Fall with little hands helping us!
My favorite thing about this recipe is how adorable you can easily make these cookies with the simple touch of some vegan food dye, simple icing, and outlining the cookies. They also taste amazing, like a classic vegan sugar cookie!
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Other fun Halloween inspired recipes that would be fun to make with kids are these Halloween Apple Monster Mouths and Candy Corn Popsicles.
Key Ingredients for Vegan Sugar Cookies
Plant-Based Butter: Provides richness and helps create a tender cookie crumb. If you don’t have sticks of plant-based butter, you can use vegan margarine in a 1:1 ratio.
Sugar: Sweetens the cookies and aids in browning. You may be able to use coconut sugar for a less refined option, but brown sugar or powdered sugar will not work in the cookie portion of this recipe.
Vanilla Extract: Adds a delightful flavor to the cookies and icing. Almond or hazelnut extract can be used for variety.
Almond Milk: Provides moisture to the cookie dough. Any plant-based milk, like soy or oat milk, can be substituted. Also, helps to thin the icing to the desired consistency for easy spreading.
All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the cookie dough, providing structure. Unfortunately, I have not tested this recipe with oat flour, yet, as I do not believe it’ll give the desired result.
Cornstarch: Helps make the cookies tender and chewy. Arrowroot powder or tapioca starch can be alternatives.
Baking Powder: Gives the cookies a lift and helps them rise slightly.
Salt: Enhances flavor and balances sweetness. Feel free to omit.
Powdered Sugar: Forms the base of the icing, providing sweetness and structure. Adjust the amount to reach your desired consistency.
Food Dye: Used to create vibrant and spooky colors for your Halloween-themed cookies. Opt for natural food dyes if desired. Or, my favorite set of vegan food dyes can be found on Amazon.
How to Make
*Note that these instructions can be printed below
Step one: Preheat oven to 350℉, line your cookie sheet with parchment paper, or a silpat and then start by creaming together the butter and sugar, then stir in the milk and vanilla extract.
Step two: Add the rest of the cookie ingredients and stir well, the dough should get tough and you may have to press it into a ball with your hands.
Step three: Flour your work space, such as a clean counter, table, or cutting board, roll out your dough, and use Halloween cookie cutters to cut out your cookies.
Step four: Lay out the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes and allow to cool before icing.
Step five: Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Step six: To make the icing, mix together the milk, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Separate the icing into as many small bowls as colors you would like to have. Then add the food dyes to the different bowls and stir well.
Step seven: Ice the sugar cookies and enjoy!
Tips for making these (not so spooky) Halloween Cookies:
- Make sure the butter is soft, but not melted.
- Use fun Halloween cookie cutters such as these (but any Halloween cookie cutters will work).
- If you don’t have Halloween cookie cutters, feel free to use a gingerbread man cookie cutter to make zombies, mummies, skeletons, voodoo dolls, etc.
- To write actual words on the cookies, such as seen on the tombstone cookies, an edible marker is recommended, such as this one.
How to Serve
These cookies are best served with your favorite non-dairy milk or preferred ‘spooky drink’, or even by themselves!
These are one of those cookie recipes you can leave out on a serving dish for a few hours and not have to worry about them going ‘bad’. So feel free to bring them to Halloween parties, or where ever spooky, or cute, Halloween cookies are needed this year!
How to Store
Room Temperature: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days, possibly longer, but they have only been tested up to 5 days. My little goblins may devour them every time we make them within 5 days, so it’s difficult to test storing longer than that!
FAQ’s
You can use the frosting if you’d like, but the cookies will look different being frosted instead of iced. Icing generally has a thinner consistency than frosting.
No! No refrigeration required. This recipe was designed to be quick, easy, and delicious so you can have more time decorating and eating the cookies and less time in the kitchen baking!
They stay well in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days, possibly longer, but they have only been tested up to 5 days.
The best sugar to use for these cookies will be some type of white sugar, just make sure it’s vegan. Unfortunately brown sugar and other types of sugar may not work because we’re aiming towards a soft white sugar cookie.
More Halloween & Fall Recipes
- 15 Healthy Halloween Treats for Kids
- Healthy Plant-Based Halloween Snacks for Kids
- Candy Corn Popsicles
- Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Donuts
Vegan Halloween Sugar Cookies
Shawna ClapperEquipment
- bowl & spoon
- Rolling Pin
- Halloween Cookie Cutters
Ingredients
- ½ cup Plant-Based Butter softened
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 tablespoon Almond Milk
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Icing
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 6-8 tablespoons Almond Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- Preferred Colors of Food Dye recommended: black, brown, green, red & yellow OR orange, etc
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Cream together the butter and sugar, then stir in the milk and vanilla extract.
- Add the rest of the cookie ingredients and stir well, the dough should get tough and you may have to press it into a ball with your hands.
- Flour your work space, such as a clean counter, table, or cutting board, roll out your dough, and use Halloween cookie cutters to cut out your cookies.
- Lay out the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes and allow to cool before icing.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- To make the icing, mix together the milk, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Separate the icing into as many small bowls as colors you would like to have. Then add the food dyes to the different bowls and stir well.
- Ice the sugar cookies and enjoy!
Notes
Stores well at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
If trying to get a dark brown (or other darker color) icing, it might be best to mix a little black food dye in with the brown instead of simply more brown dye.
To make fine lines on the cookies, a piping bag and small round tip is recommended. *Nutrition Facts are estimated per cookie. If you need exact nutrition facts and not just a rough estimate, please do the calculation yourself with the exact ingredients you used.
