Coconut Sugar Cookies (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

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These coconut sugar cookies are vegan and gluten-free. They are soft and chewy cut-out cookies that are easy to make and great for Christmas!

One of my favourite things about holidays is making delicious cut-out sugar cookies! I love having sugar cookies for Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s day.

When I switched to a healthy plant-based diet, I tried to eliminate refined sugar as much as possible. I usually use maple syrup or dates to sweeten my recipes, but I decided to use coconut sugar for this recipe!

I went with coconut sugar because I needed a granulated sugar, otherwise these cookies wouldn’t hold up well.

These vegan coconut sugar cookies are still healthier than most typical sugar cookies. There is no oil and no vegan butter.

What is in these coconut sugar cookies?

Here is what you will need to make these vegan cut-out sugar cookies:

• Gluten-free all-purpose flour
• Coconut sugar
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Cashew butter
• Coconut butter
• Vanilla extract
• Unsweetened applesauce
• Maple syrup

All of these ingredients are vegan and gluten-free. To ensure that they are all oil-free, make sure you check the label on the coconut butter and cashew butter if you are buying them. You could alternatively make your own!

Tips for making these cookies

• Before you measure out your coconut butter and cashew butter, make sure you mix it in the jar thoroughly. Oil separation occurs naturally, so you will want to mix it so that all of the oil is not sitting on top. If you want to make sure there is no extra oil added in, check the ingredients on store-bought products. You could also make your own coconut butter and make your own cashew butter, but you will need a very good food processor to make it nice and smooth without any added oil.

• To reduce sugar and avoid refined sugar that may not be vegan, ensure that you use applesauce that is unsweetened.

• When mixing the dough together, it will be a bit crumbly at first. Use your hands to knead the dough until it has all come together. Keep going until there are no small pieces left in the bowl.

• Make sure you roll the dough to be about ¼ inch thick. If you roll it out to be thinner, the cookies will be a bit too hard with some crunch. Any thicker and they may not cook fully. ¼ inch thickness is ideal for this recipe.

Substitutions

I always eat gluten-free, so for this recipe I used a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend. So if you aren’t gluten-free, it should be fine if you use a regular wheat flour instead, but I have not tried this.

If you don’t want to use coconut sugar, I think that another granulated sugar would work fine. You could try cane sugar or date sugar, but I haven’t tried anything other than coconut sugar.

Instead of maple syrup, you could use blackstrap molasses.

Frosting for coconut sugar cookies

Sugar cookies are usually frosted, but these coconut sugar cookies are delicious with or without frosting.

I love them without frosting, however, any vanilla frosting of your choice would likely taste great on these.

If you want to try them with chocolate frosting, you could use this 3-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Frosting.

More vegan Christmas recipes

Here are some other recipes that you may enjoy during the Christmas season:

• Plant-Based Mushroom Gravy
• Hearty Vegan Lentil Stew
• Chocolate Sweet Potato Pie
• Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes
• 30+ Vegan Christmas Desserts

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Coconut Sugar Cookies (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

These coconut sugar cookies are vegan and gluten-free. They are soft and chewy cut-out cookies that are easy to make and great for holidays!

Prep Time40 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time50 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Vegan

Servings: 14 cookies

Calories: 100kcal

Author: Bree Sheree

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose gluten-free flour blend
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder

Wet Ingredients

• ¼ cup cashew butter
• ¼ cup coconut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons applesauce unsweetened
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix.
• In a separate bowl, microwave the cashew butter and coconut butter for 30 seconds. Then add all other wet ingredients and mix.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix it all together. Use your hands to mix the dough throroughly. It will seem a bit dry and crumbly at first, but it will come together.
• Next, roll out the dough to be appproximately ¼ inch thick. I recommend rolling half the dough at a time, and ensure it is being rolled onto something that it won’t stick to. I use parchment paper.
• Use cookie cutters to shape your cookies, then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.
• After removing the cookies from the oven, place them on a cooling rack. Once cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container. They will keep for at least a week.

Notes

Makes 14-16 large cut-out cookies.

If you want your cookies to be oil-free, make sure that you are using oil-free coconut butter and cashew butter. Check the ingredients if store-bought, or make your own.

Nutrition

Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 46mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg