These Vegan Strawberry Sugar Cookies are soft & chewy on the inside with the perfect crinkle texture and vanilla icing on top! Plus, they are speckled with the prettiest natural pink color thanks to the freeze-dried strawberries mixed throughout the dough.
Here at SGTO, we sort of have a thing for sugar cookies. It all started with my Vegan Lemon Cookies and has slowly turned into a whole lot of flavors including Vegan Matcha Cookies, Vegan Chamomile Cookies, and even Vegan Orange Cardamom Cookies
Now that it's Summer, it's time for a brand new sugar cookie flavor to celebrate strawberry season!
Ingredients & notes:
- Vegan butter: I love using Earth Balance, Flora plant butter, or Miyokos
- Freeze dried strawberries: I used Natierra Dried Strawberries and highly recommend them! Very high quality and the best strawberry flavor.
- Flax egg : Is the vegan egg substitute we are using. It is ground flaxseed meal mixed with water
- Powdered Sugar: Not pictured below because it is optional. You only need it if you are making the vanilla icing to drizzle onto the finished cookies.
Steps to make vegan strawberry cookies
First, cream butter, sugar, and dried strawberries
The first step to making these cookies is to cream together the vegan butter (room temperature), organic sugar, and freeze dried strawberries. Creaming the butter and sugar together helps to add air into the dough leading to that ideal soft cookie texture. Blending the strawberries into the fat (aka the butter) is also the best way to incorporate the flavor throughout the dough.
Just make sure to set aside a few larger chunks of dried strawberries to crush up and sprinkle on the cookies at the end!
Add in flax egg & vanilla
Next, mix in the flax egg and vanilla and whip together another 30 seconds until incorporated.
Add in dry ingredients & mix
Did I mention these cookies can be made in one bowl?! Just add the flour in first, followed by the baking powder, baking soda, and salt on top. Then, mix into a thick dough.
Add dough to fridge to chill
The dough will be semi sticky at this point- but that's okay! This is why we add it to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes-1 hour. This step not only makes the dough easier to scoop, but it actually makes the cookies sweeter as the sugar will absorb moisture in the dough while it rests.
Roll in sugar & bake
After the dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and scoop out cookie dough with a cookie scoop. Then, roll each dough ball between your palms into a circular ball.
Roll each strawberry cookie dough ball into a small bowl of sugar, place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, gently press down with your palm, and bake for 12-14 minutes.
Make sure not to over-bake the cookies for the best chewy texture! These vegan strawberry cookies should be barely cooked in the center once you remove them from the oven.
Bang the pan & shape the cookies
As soon as the strawberry cookies are out of the oven, gently bang/tap the pan on a flat surface. This helps to deflate the cookies.
For perfectly round cookies, use a large mug or biscuit cutter and swirl the cookies inside while they are still warm.
Top with vanilla glaze & more dried strawberries
As a final step, I like to top these strawberry sugar cookies with a simple vanilla icing made out of powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and any plant-based milk/water. Then, crumble a few extra dried strawberries on top for the prettiest strawberry sugar cookies!
FAQ & Substitutions:
Can I make strawberry cookies gluten-free?
Yes, but you will need to use a 1:1 Gluten-Free flour made for baking like Bob's Red Mill. Substituting almond flour, coconut flour, or other flour alternatives will NOT work in this recipe as it is not an even 1:1 substitution.
Can I make vegan sugar cookies refined sugar-free?
For this recipe, I don't recommend it. It alters the spreadability of the cookies (the moisture in cane sugar helps them spread, whereas other sugars tend to be drier).
If you do try them with coconut sugar or maple sugar, just keep in mind the cookies will be fluffier and will not be as sweet.
Can I freeze cookie dough before baking?
Yes! To do this, you'll want to chill the dough for the same 30 minutes-1 hour. Then, remove the dough from the fridge, scoop into balls, roll in sugar, and place on a parchment-lined plate or baking tray.
Add the tray of cookie dough balls to the freezer until they have frozen through. Then, remove them and store in a freezer safe bag. Frozen cookies will need an extra 1-3 minutes of baking time.
How do I store strawberry sugar cookies?
Leftover cookies can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. I like to store them between layers of parchment paper so they do not stick together.
I can't wait to see you bake these eggless & Vegan Strawberry Sugar Cookies! They are the perfect fruit-filled sugar cookie for Summer & the best way to ring in strawberry season. Enjoy!
More Vegan Strawberry & Berry Dessert Recipes:
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Vegan Strawberry Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Strawberry Cookies
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp organic sugar ½ cup for dough, 2 Tbsp for rolling before baking
- ½ cup + 2 Tbsp dried strawberries save 1 Tbsp to sprinkle on finished cookies
- 1 flax egg 1 Tbsp(8 grams) ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Vanilla icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/ vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon plant-based milk or water
Instructions
- First add the butter, ½ cup of the sugar, and the dried strawberry pieces to a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Then, add in the flax egg and vanilla bean paste/extract and whip together about 30 more seconds to combine.
- Next, add in sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the mixing bowl. Mix until a thick, yet slightly sticky, cookie batter forms. Do not overmix or else you will form too much gluten and the cookies will not spread as much and will be tough.
- Cover the mixing bowl of dough with plastic wrap or a similar material and add to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes- 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet in parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350F. Next, remove the dough from the fridge and use a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop to form your cookie dough (about 45 grams of dough per cookie). Roll into balls between your palms and then roll in the 2 Tbsp of sugar that was set aside so that each dough ball is coated in sugar.
- Place the strawberry cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet. Then, slightly press each dough ball down with your palm. Make sure that each cookie is kept about 2 inches apart since they will spread slightly while baking.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned and the cookie is cooked, but still has soft centers. The cookies will continue baking after they are removed from the oven so the centers should be soft and slightly under-cooked, but not glossy or raw, when they are removed from the oven. Please be careful not to overcook these cookies as they will still be soft but will lose their "chewy" texture if overcooked.
- Remove the cookie tray from the oven and immediately tap the tray on the counter to produce a more “wrinkly” cookie. Then, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
- Once the cookies have cooled, make the vanilla icing. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla paste/extract, and plant milk/water to a bowl and mix until a thick icing forms. The icing should be very thick or else it will not hold it's shape.
- Drizzle the icing over the cookies with a spoon and then top each cookie with additional dried strawberry crumbles. Serve and enjoy!
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