Dairy-Free Sugar Cookies

These Dairy-Free Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy, and easy to make. They don't require any chilling, making them perfect for busy holiday baking!

For your next holiday cookie recipe, try these 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies! They're healthy and SO easy to make.

I also think these Puff Pastry Jam Tarts look so festive for Christmas! They're made with store-bought puff pastry dough and berry jam, baked to perfection, and, right before serving, sprinkled with powdered sugar!

Jump to:

• ❤️Why You'll Love this Recipe
• 📝Ingredient Notes
• 🧁Substitutions/ Variations
• 🥣Equipment
• 🔪How to Make Dairy-Free Sugar Cookies
• 🧊Storing
• ✅Pro Tips
• ⁉️Frequently Asked Question
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️Why You'll Love this Recipe

• Delicious: These dairy-free sugar cookies have the perfect texture. They're crispy and sugary on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside!
• No chilling required: Chilling the dough isn't necessary for this recipe. But you certainly can if you want a slightly thicker cookie or live in a warmer climate.
• Perfect for easy holiday baking

📝Ingredient Notes

• Flour: This recipe calls for all-purpose flour, be sure not to use self-rising flour. You also want to make sure you measure the flour properly for this recipe. You should either weigh the ingredients using a kitchen scale (the most accurate method) or use the spoon and level method. You can read about the spoon and level method here, or read below under the ✅Pro Tips heading in this post.
• Sugar: To make sugar cookies, you need to use granulated sugar!
• Egg: Make sure your egg is at room temperature. If you don't have time to wait for it to get to room temperature, place it in a bowl of hot water from the faucet. Let it sit for about 10 minutes under the water. You may need to change out the water after a few minutes.
• Baking powder: NOT baking soda! Baking powder actually has baking soda in it. For this recipe, you just need baking powder to give the cookies a little rise and to help make them fluffy.
• Corn starch: The addition of corn starch in cookie dough batter helps produce a cookie that is soft and chewy. You only need a tablespoon to do the job.

🧁Substitutions/ Variations

• Flour: For a gluten-free sugar cookie, I always recommend swapping out the flour with Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour. I haven't tried it specifically for this recipe, but I've used it many times with other baking recipes and I always get the same results that I do with regular flour.
• Frosting: While you can't roll these cookies out and cut them into shapes, you can still make a buttercream and frost them. You'll just need some softened non-dairy butter (I recommend Country Crock with Olive Oil stick butter), powdered sugar, and a little vanilla extract. Use a hand mixer to beat the butter, slowly add the powdered sugar, then add the vanilla extract. You can also add food coloring to decorate for the holidays.
• Sprinkles/Jimmies/holiday jimmies: You can add up to ½ cup of sprinkles into the batter. Use a spatula to fold them into the batter, and bake. Or, if you make a frosting, just sprinkle them on top of the frosted cookies.

🥣Equipment

• Large and medium-sized mixing bowls
• Hand mixer or stand mixer
• Light-colored baking pan
• Parchment paper
• Cookie scoop: I use a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop.
• Wire rack

🔪How to Make Dairy-Free Sugar Cookies

7. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies should be slightly under-baked. This is because cookies finish cooking as they cool down to room temperature. Let them cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy!

🧊Storing

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. If the cookies harden, place a piece of bread in the container to soften the cookies.

You can also freeze the cookies after they've been baked. Let them cool down and come to room temperature, then transfer them to a freezer-safe ziplock or freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 2 months.

✅Pro Tips

• Measure the flour and sugar correctly: If you want to get these exact results, measure your flour and sugar using the spoon and level method or, better yet, weigh the ingredients with a kitchen scale. As an American, I was taught to scoop the measuring cup straight into the flour and sugar. But the problem with that is that it packs much more flour and sugar into the cup, and can yield different results each time. Using different measuring methods will produce different results. So for this recipe, use the spoon and level method or weigh the ingredients. The spoon and level method is where you mix the flour and sugar in its container with a spoon, then you spoon the flour or sugar into the measuring cup. Lastly, you'll take a butter knife to level it off and knock off the excess.
• Make sure your baking powder isn't expired: Yes. Baking powder, just like baking soda, can expire. If this happens, it can make your cookies flat and spread out on the pan. Test to see if your baking powder is still good by mixing ½ teaspoon of baking powder with ¼ cup of hot water. If it bubbles, it's still good.
• Use cool room temperature butter: If your butter is too soft, it will cause the cookies to spread. The stick of butter should slightly give when pressed with your finger but still hold its shape. Ideally, the butter should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cream the butter and sugar: Creaming the butter and sugar aerates it. This just means that air is incorporated into the mixture, giving you cookies that are light and fluffy.
• Chill the dough if you want slightly thicker cookies or live in a warmer climate area: If you decide to chill the dough, chill for a minimum of 30 minutes before scooping out and baking.

⁉️Frequently Asked Question

⭐️Before you go! If you enjoyed this recipe for Dairy-Free Sugar Cookies, leave a review and share it with me! I love to hear from you!

📖 Recipe

Note: The nutrition label is only an estimate.