Learn how to make the best easy Vegan Gluten-free Sugar Cookies that are also oil-free, yet so buttery, sweet, soft and delicious! Just 8 ingredients!
VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE SUGAR COOKIES
When a cookie is so good, it’s hard to believe there is no oil, butter or gluten in them! These are absolutely delicious vegan sugar cookies! Gluten-free and oil-free! They have slight crispy edges and soft, chewy centers.
These cookies are delicious as is, but if you want a festive decoration, feel free to sprinkle raw sugar or sprinkling sugar on top and add a simple glaze on top after they bake.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
First, you’ll need to gather these 8 ingredients (+salt):
- Coconut Sugar: You will powder this sugar first in a Vitamix or coffee grinder so that it is superfine. This will yield a better color and texture to the cookies. Otherwise, you can use regular white sugar if you like.
- Maple syrup
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Raw Cashew butter: It is crucial to use a raw cashew butter so the texture of these cookies turn out right. Since this can be hard to find in stores and quite expensive. I always make my own in my food processor.
- Blanched Almond Flour: This is where the cookies get the majority of moisture from and a nice chew to the cookie. I use either the “Superfine” Bob’s Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour, Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour or Nature’s Eats Almond Flour are all good.
- White Rice Flour: This adds a slight crispness to the exterior of the cookies and also helps to bind them.
- Potato Starch: This gives lightness and softness.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN FREE SUGAR COOKIES
Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk very well.
Step 2: Add the syrup, cashew butter and vanilla and stir until a thick, cohesive batter forms.
Step 3: Roll into 16 balls (heaping tablespoon each) and place on the 2 pans, spaced about 2 inches apart.
Step 4: Press down each ball down to 1/4 inch thickness, using a patting circular motion with your fingers and form into a round shape. Sprinkle raw or sparkling sugar on them before baking if desired.
Step 5: Bake for about 8-9 minutes until puffed up and golden, with a crackled effect. Do not overbake these. I found past 9 minutes made them dry out quickly. Cool completely before eating.
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Almond Butter Blossoms
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Thin Mints
- Best Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Coconut Butter Gingersnaps
The Best Vegan Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (40g) coconut sugar, powdered (see directions)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (128g) superfine blanched almond flour
- 7 tablespoons (70g) potato starch (SEE NOTES below for sub) I order mine here and it's very cheap.
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (60g) white rice flour
- 3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons (120g) pure maple syrup OR agave
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (96g) raw cashew butter I make my own here
- 2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract
- Optional: organic sprinkling sugar for topping if desired.
NOTE
- Of course, as always, I recommend highly to use a scale to prevent room for error. You don't need cups or to compare the weights to cups, just simply follow the weights listed, as this is exactly how the recipes are tested and made. Make sure to zero out before adding each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- First, you will need to blend up your coconut sugar down to a fine powder. I did this in my Vitamix in about 15 seconds. This gives better distribution of sweetness, and visual, to the cookies since coconut sugar granules are very gritty. It did not work in my food processor, so use a high-powered blender or coffee grinder.
- Add the ground up sugar, almond flour, potato starch, rice flour, baking powder and salt to a large bowl. Whisk very well.
- Make sure your cashew butter is very smooth and flowy and not stiff, or the cookies will be dry. Add the syrup, cashew butter and vanilla to the dry and stir until the batter comes together into a thick sticky ball (as pictured in post).
- Using a tablespoon, scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into 16 balls and place on the 2 pans, spaced about 2 inches apart. Press down each ball down to 1/4 inch thickness, using a patting circular motion with your fingers and form into a round shape. See photo in post for how they should look. Sprinkle with sprinkling sugar, if desired.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes. Mine are perfect at 9 minutes in my humid/hot weather, but drier or cold weather, 8 minutes will probably be better. Going over 9 made mine too dry, but keep in mind ovens vary. They should have puffed up and be golden and a slight crackled effect.
- Cool for 10 minutes on the pan, as they will be too delicate to remove right away. Use a thin spatula to transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. They are too gooey immediately but will fluff out as they cool. These are best the first day and start to dry out by the next day, so make sure to store in a sealed container. If you want to decorate some with icing like I have in the photos, follow the "Classic Icing" from these oatmeal cookies and use only half of the recipe.
Notes
- POTATO STARCH: If you do not have or cannot find potato starch, then you can sub with cornstarch and it works just as well! The mouthfeel is slightly more starchy, but still delicious. You will use 70 grams (same weight amount) which is equivalent to 9 tablespoons. The tablespoon measurements are different than potato starch because they weigh differently, which is why you'll need 2 more tablespoons of cornstarch. For best results, I always recommend weighing for baking.
- CASHEW BUTTER: It is crucial to use a raw cashew butter (with no added oil/sugar) so the texture of these cookies turn out right. Since this can be hard to find in stores and quite expensive. I always make my own in my food processor.
- SUGAR: If you prefer, you can sub regular white granulated sugar for the coconut sugar (not powdered white sugar, just regular). I have not tested this personally, but it should work fine. Due to the difference in sweetness and flavor though, it will change some. Coconut sugar has more of a deep caramel flavor.
- ALMOND FLOUR: This is where the cookies get the majority of moisture from and a nice chew to the cookie. It replaces butter, so it cannot be subbed. I use either the "Superfine" Bob's Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour, "Superfine" Bob's Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour or "Superfine" Bob's Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour are all good.
- White Rice Flour: This adds a slight crispness to the exterior of the cookies and also helps to bind them.
Nutrition
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These cookies are great! Thanks to your recipes for sweet treats, my kids want me to only make the healthy treats. Yay! 🙂
Aww thank you so much Eva! Wow, such a compliment! Thank you for the feedback and I loved your pic on Facebook, they looked just perfect!
I would love to try these!! Do you think they could be made with Bob Red Mill’s all purpose gluten-free flour in place of the white rice flour? I have almond flour, but not the white rice flour. Also, would it be best to combine both the almond and all purpose or just use all purpose? Would the potato starch be necessary if using all-purpose flour??
Hi Zakiya! I wouldn’t recommend subbing all of that because I tested this recipe multiple times and can only vouch for what is written above. Using a gluten-free blend could totally alter the texture, taste and liquid ratios and without testing it with Bob’s blend, I have no idea if it would work out or not. It would be better to just buy the rice flour so you don’t take a chance at ruining the recipe by trying Bob’s blend. Rice flour is one of the least expensive flours and I use it a lot in my recipes. I do know that Bob’s blend has gum in it and that alone can change the texture of the cookies. You definitely don’t want to omit the almond flour as that is crucial for the buttery moisture flavor and texture, since I don’t use any oil. If you were to try it, I would sub the GF blend for all of the rice flour and starch, but again, I have no idea how it would work successfully or not.
OMG! These just came out of the oven and the were delicious! I wanted to eat the whole pan! I’m so happy to have found this recipe.
Yay! So very happy to hear that Alicia! Thank you for the feedback!
I’m not one to comment on recipes unless they are worth it, and this one is most certainly worth it! SO GOOD! Thanks for all your trial and error. You really knocked it outta the park!
Thank you very much Ollie for taking the time to leave feedback, I just am so glad you loved these!
Hi! Can I use this batter with a cookie press? Please say yes!
Hi Eva! I honestly have no idea because I’ve never used a cookie press, so I’m not sure of the type of dough requirements in order to use one. This dough is sticky, but is able to be rolled into balls. I guess you could always give it a shot and see!
Thanks! There’s no Earth Balance where I live, so I was looking for a recipe with oil. I’ll get back to you then!
I made these again and it still amazes me that there is no butter in these sugar cookies. They totally remind me of a true sugar cookie, very soft and buttery tasting. I can’t keep them in the house or make them fast enough.
So awesome to hear Estee, thank you so much for the wonderful review!
Hi- My grand daughter cannot have nuts. What can I substitute for nut butters?
thank you
Hi Michelle, unfortunately since this recipe is based on a large amount of nuts, both in the almond flour and cashew butter, it will not work without them. The texture, taste and moisture all come from the nuts because it is the fat in the recipe. Subs will not work in place. You would do better to just find a basic vegan sugar cookie made with regular vegan butter if your granddaughter can’t have nuts since this one uses so much.
These cookies are amazing, thank you so much for sharing such a detailed recipe. Ive made them 3 times and they always turn out perfectly.
Thrilled!!! All my cookie recipes have butter. Sooo looking forward to this year’s Christmas cookies – sugar, gingersnaps, cardamom pecan cookies. Thanks so much for your persistence in getting these cookies right.
Hi Bri, no, the potato starch is crucial to the texture of these cookies. It performs very differently than other starches, especially in larger amounts. They would be very wet and almost too thin or uncooked without it. I do have another sugar cookie recipe that does not use potato starch though here: https://thevegan8.com/gluten-free-vegan-sugar-cookies-oil-free/
Would this work with raw almond butter? (My kid is allergic to cashews but can have almonds.)
Hi Maggie! Yes, it should, but a couple of things to keep in mind. Almond butter is runnier/more oily, so the batter will end up more wet/sticky and probably not as easy to roll into balls, so you may need to use a cookie scoop to plop them on the pan and then use a small piece of parchment paper to flatten them as noted in the directions. Also, the sugar cookie flavor won’t be as classic since cashew butter leaves a vanilla taste and of course, almonds are much stronger. The texture will change a bit too. Let me know if you try them!
So delicious! I made your older version, which I still loved, but I enjoy this one a bit more because it is a little less sweet! Thank you for always providing such delicious vegan, gluten-free, and wholesome recipes!
That is so wonderful to hear Aly! Yes, I’ve found that some recipes I wrote years back were a bit sweetener than they needed to be. I still found these plenty sweet, thank you for making them!
OMG I can’t believe I made those cookies!! They are soooo delicious, perfectly sweet soft just a dream please don ‘t wake me up lol WOW I’ll have to make them a lot and for everyone I know, first, they’ll never believe I made them actually they’ll probably think they come from a bakery lol thanks again for a full proof guarantee success cookies recipe. You’re a Angel and we love you xxoo
So so happy to hear this, thank you so much Diane! You are too sweet!
Hey Brandi, it’s me again I was wondering if I could add Cocoa powder to bake them chocolate this way I could satisfy whoever feels like having one of each flavor, or how about a swirl of chocolate on the top before baking, would that work? I know you’re going to come with the best suggestions 😉 can’t wait to see what you suggest. .
Hi Diane! I wouldn’t add cocoa powder because that will be adding a dry ingredient and will likely dry them out. You could add a square of chocolate to the tops of each before baking or after they’ve done baking and cooled, dip half of them in melted chocolate and let them cool on wax paper. That way it would have a nice chocolatey taste to them. Or, I also have some chocolate cookies on the blog as well. These https://thevegan8.com/vegan-double-chocolate-espresso-almond-cookies/ or these https://thevegan8.com/grain-free-chocolate-coconut-cookies/
Did you ever try a Starbucks vanilla scone before you went vegan and think to yourself, “Man, I really miss those, but now I’m vegan…”? Well guess what? LOOK NO FURTHER. These taste like an even BETTER version of those! And they are healthier! My daughter loves these so much she told me not to make them for a while because she can’t stop eating them. That’s how good they are.
These are SOOOO decadent & delicious!!! I subbed white rice flour for brown rice flour, used 7 Tbs cornstarch instead of 7 Tbs potato starch & used all natural peanut butter because I was out of both cashew butter & almond butter. Even with the substitutions, I was astounded at how “buttery” and rich they came out. Cooked 1st batch 8 minutes and it had perfectly crispy edges and soft inside. 2nd batch cooked 9 minutes and was a bit more crispy throughout. This recipe really needs doubled or tripled because these won’t last! lol Thanks so much for such a satisfying treat!
I’ve made these several times over the past couple of weeks and they always come out delicious! They’re crispy on the outside and perfectly moist on the inside. I’ve tried several variations and can’t seem to mess them up. First time, I subbed brown rice flour for white rice flour, powdered the coconut sugar in Vitamix & used 7 Tbs cornstarch instead of potato starch.. On subsequent batches, I used oat flour instead of rice flour & didn’t blend the coconut sugar. I’ve had success with both almond butter & peanut butter instead of cashew butter. I scoop 18-19 balls onto parchment and press wax paper onto them to flatten. I know with all the variations it probably doesn’t seem like the same cookie but I can’t believe how much they taste like a true sugar cookie and I want to encourage others to make them because they are so easy. Thank you for a foolproof cookie that come out perfect every time.