These vegan Christmas cookies are what everyone needs this holiday season! They use simple ingredients, can be made in 30 minutes and most are gluten-free!
Having vegan Christmas cookie recipes for all those parties and gifts for friends and neighbors is so important. We love having a cookie making day and creating plates for our family and friends!
This post was originally published on November 2, 2020.
I love the holidays. This time of year is when I shine with hosting and gift giving! I always use my Greek Christmas recipes for holiday dinners, and finishing with something sweet is a must. But these vegan Christmas cookies are also perfect for gifts!
The season for sweet treats is here! There's nothing like an array of cookies to snack on with your morning coffee, nibble on in the afternoon, and of course nosh for dessert. This collection of recipes includes the classics and some a bit more adventurous!
Our Favorite Vegan Christmas Cookies
If you're avoiding gluten and following a plant based diet you may feel like you're missing out when it comes to holiday cookie season. While you can try to swap out ingredients in traditional recipes, it just doesn't turn out quite right.
Which is why I recreated my favorite cookies to be both vegan and gluten free!
More Vegan Holiday Desserts
I know this list is for cookie recipes, but I just couldn't leave out these tasty treats! They're all vegan and gluten free, and go well with any holiday gathering. They're also easy to give as gifts, which makes them a fun way to shake things up!
Tips and Tricks
When doing all of your holiday baking and cheer spreading, these helpful suggestions should come in handy to make the best vegan Christmas cookies ever:
- If you prefer to measure the flours without a scale, then scoop your measuring cup into the flour versus spooning it into it. This is how I measured when getting my weights.
- I suggest baking cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Parchment paper helps crisp the cookie for that perfect outer texture. Plus it makes cleanup easier!
- Substituting sugar with whole food ingredients is a great way to make desserts healthier. I love using date paste to sweeten treats, maple syrup is another fabulous option for keeping the cookies refined sugar-free.
- For a dry sweetener, I've found coconut sugar works well.
- Vanilla extract also adds sweetness to cookies and is used in a number of cookie recipes.
- Chilling cookie dough will keep the cookies from spreading as much, and can also create a more chewy texture.
- Cookies are best served fresh, but you can make your cookies ahead of time and freeze them! Just defrost them at room temp before serving or wrapping up to give as gifts.
- Most cookie dough can also be frozen before baking. Portion the dough into balls and flash freeze for 1 hour before transferring to an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- If you're bringing cookies to share at a party, arrange them on a pretty platter and cover with plastic wrap until they are served.
- To give as gifts, find cute festive holiday plates and use cellophane or plastic wrap that is holiday themed. Put two pieces of the wrap under the plate in a criss cross fashion, then bring both overhead and tie it with a holiday ribbon.
Vegan and Gluten-free Substitutes
It's best to find Christmas cookie recipes that were designed specifically to be plant-based and gluten-free. However, the following ingredients are popular to use as substitutions.
- Milk - There are a variety of dairy-free milks that are great for baking vegan cookies. Coconut cream or milk and cashew milk give the most creamy and rich results. Oat, almond, and soy milk are other options. Just make sure that it is unflavored and unsweetened.
- Butter - coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, and canola oil may all be used in place of butter. There are also store bought vegan butter alternatives that work well. Some people even use almond butter or other nut butters, although they can change the taste more.
- Eggs - Use a flax egg, applesauce, or banana as a binder.
- Flour - Many of my gluten-free cookie recipes use almond and/or oat flour instead of all purpose flour. Just make sure you select certified gluten-free oat flour. Bob's Red Mill also has a gluten-free 1-to-1 blend that works well. If you plan on baking often it's a good idea to keep a variety on hand as pantry staples.
Suggested Equipment for Cookie Making
When it comes to making the best vegan Christmas cookies, you need the necessary tools!
- At the very least you need mixing bowls, a mixing spoon, spatula, and at minimum one cookie sheet aka baking sheet.
- Two sheet pans are preferred for making larger batches of cookies so you can bake more than one sheet at a time if your oven is big enough.
- A stand mixer or hand mixer will make the process of baking Christmas cookies faster and a bit easier, but it isn't necessary.
- When making cookies, especially gluten free and vegan cookies, for the best texture you need accuracy with the flours. Which is why I include precise weights in each recipe. If you don’t have a scale, then you can purchase this fairly inexpensive one.
- A rolling pin is only necessary if you are making cut-out cookies.
Common Questions
Any cookie can be made vegan! As long as no animal products are used, then you are good to go. All of my recipes use vegan, whole food ingredients without sacrificing any flavor or texture!
Obviously this comes down to personal preference. I'd hate to influence anyone, so I suggest making each one for a taste test to decide!
Not necessarily, but it depends on the ingredients used. Homemade vegan cookies can be healthier if you use whole food ingredients and pay attention to labels so nothing extra sneaks in!
Sarah
I'm going to need a year to try all of these! I can't decide which to make first!