Easy Vegan Spritz Cookies Recipe
These simple and delicious vegan butter cookies are easy to make and sure to be a hit at your next family or holiday gathering. The recipe is a family favorite and fun to put together. And they’re made with a Spritz cookie press, so you can choose what variety of shapes you want and how to decorate them!
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I love, love, love my Spritz cookie press!. There’s just something so enjoyable about using it and making all the different shapes of cookies. It brings making cookies to a whole new level of fun!
Quick, fun story: I got the cookie press from a group of elderly nuns who were moving from their convent that was attached to the school where I used to teach. (They also gave us a chocolate fountain and a Vitamix!)
Anyway, these vegan butter cookies are the perfect cookie recipe for your Spritz press. And if you don’t have one, don’t worry. We’ve included instructions on how to make these cookies without one. (But you definitely will want to get one!)
Simple and delicious, these classic butter cookies will take you back to childhood memories. And you can create new memories by making these with your family or friends. But they’re not just for the Christmas season, these are perfect any time of year! “Cookie decorating party”, anyone?
Why You’ll Love This Eggless Butter Cookies Recipe
- They’re easy to make and the rewards are so delicious.
- The perfect treat for any holiday or gathering because you pick the design and decorations.
- Fun for the whole family to make and decorate together!
- They make a great holiday gift
Ingredients in No Egg No Butter Cookies
You’ll need just 8 ingredients to make these vegan butter spritz cookies!
- Vegan butter – Softened at room temperature. We like to use Country Crock plant-based butter sticks.
- Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioners sugar
- JUST Egg – Set out to reach room temperature. This is a liquid vegan egg substitute!
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract – Optional, but it adds a nice bit of extra flavor to the cookies.
- Unbleached all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder – Make sure you are using baking powder and not baking soda.
Substitution Options
If you don’t have or can’t tolerate one of the ingredients in this recipe, here are our best substitution tips. Remember though, substituting any of the listed ingredients may lead to a difference in the final product. Let us know in the comments if you try any subs and how they work out for you!
For the vegan butter: We haven’t tried it ourselves, but I’ve heard vegetable shortening can be used in place of butter at a 1:1 ratio. However, shortening instead of the vegan butter can also make the dough softer than desired for best results in the cookie press.
For the powdered sugar: Powdered or confectioners sugar is just granulated sugar ground to a smoother, finer texture. You can grind granulated sugar in your high-speed blender or processor to achieve the same result.
For the JUST egg: You can use a vegan liquid egg replacer similar to JUST Egg like Simply Eggless. I haven’t tried any of the powder egg replacers on the market in this recipe.
For the extracts: I’ve only used vanilla and almond extract, but feel free to try other flavoring extracts as well. Lemon, orange, even rum or anise extract would be nice flavor choices for some cookies. Peppermint might be a good choice for winter holiday cookies. Just remember, a little goes a long way with extract flavorings.
For the flour: We have not tried to use whole wheat or gluten-free all purpose flour. My understanding is that GF all-purpose flour can be used 1:1 substitution to make gluten-free Spritz cookies. Whole wheat flour requires more liquid than all-purpose flour, so take that into account when looking to substitute.
How to Make Dairy Free Butter Cookies
These cookies are not only delicious but fun to make! It’s a great recipe to make with family and friends. And you can even let the little ones design their own Christmas trees for traditional Christmas cookies. Or do the same with Easter egg-shaped cookies!
Step 1: Prep the ingredients
Allow the vegan butter and Just Egg to sit at room temperature for approximately one hour. When those are ready, start preheating your oven to 325°F.
Step 2: Make the Spritz cookie dough.
Place the softened butter into a large bowl and gently sieve the powdered sugar over it. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth.
Then you’ll add the Just Egg and extracts to the mixing bowl and beat with the hand mixer again to combine everything until smooth.
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a separate bowl. For the best result, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture in 2 or 3 sections until a soft dough forms. Use a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon if your hand mixer isn’t strong enough.
Step 3: Press the cookies
Turn dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form two or three “loaves” that will fit into the barrel of the Spritz cookie press according to manufacturer’s directions.
Load one cookie loaf into your Spritz press with the design plate of your choice. Place the remaining cookie dough in the refrigerator until ready for use.
Press cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet. If topping with sugar or sprinkles, do so after pressing the cookies and before placing them in the oven. (More on this below)
Step 4: Bake the cookies.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes until just turning slightly golden on the bottom.
Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before attempting to remove them from the sheet pans.
How to Make Spritz Cookies Without a Cookie Press
- To make these cookies without a Spritz cookie press, simply divide the dough into 3 or 4 “logs” and slice them into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.
- You can also set the dough in a piping bag with a star tip and squeeze the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. You can also use this piped cookies method to attain the shapes for those classic Danish butter cookies.
- I have not tried this one, but I feel like you could also roll the dough on the ungreased cookie sheet to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to design the cookies then gently pull away the excess dough.
Decorating Spritz Cookies
Do you decorate Spritz cookies before baking? That depends. You want to decorate your cookies with sprinkles or colored sugar before baking if making sugar cookies. If you are using squeezable cookie icing from a pastry bag, put that on after baking the cookies and they have cooled. I also like to dip some of my cookies in a little melted chocolate after they’re baked.
You can use colored decorating sugar or “sprinkles” to decorate your cookies. These are often found in the baking aisle near the other cake and cookie decorations. Be careful though, as many brands contain confectioners glaze or shellac in them. Be sure to read the ingredients list fully.
You can also make your own colored sugar with some raw sugar and a little food coloring. (That’s what I did!)
How to Store Dairy-Free Butter Cookies
Depending on which shapes you use, this vegan spritz cookies recipe makes about 4-5 dozen cookies. I wouldn’t expect these cookies to stick around very long, but if you do need to store them…
Store leftover cookies in an air-tight container in the fridge or on the counter. Spritz cookies will stay fresh for up to 5 days when sealed well.
How to freeze: Cool cookies completely before freezing. Place in an airtight container or freezer safe Ziploc bag and freeze for up to one month for best freshness
Vegan Spritz Cookies FAQ
We’ll attempt to answer some of the more common questions in this segment. If you have a question that isn’t answered here, don’t hesitate to ask in the comment section below the recipe card.
If your dough isn’t coming out of the spritz cookie press it’s probably because the dough is too stiff. This could be because the dough is too cold or because there is too much flour in the dough. Try letting the dough rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes and try again.
If your cookies are tough you may have added too much flour to the dough or they were overcooked.
Spritz cookie dough should be a little sticky but not overly so and definitely not wet. The slight bit of stickiness helps it adhere to the cookie sheet when being pressed. If your dough is overly soft or tacky, try adding a little flour to the dough a teaspoon at a time until the correct consistency. You could also try placing your dough in the fridge for about 7-10 minutes so it firms up a little bit.
If your cookies are flat and didn’t rise it could be one of two things, both of which are common mistakes. One, you accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder and there’s no acid in the recipe to activate it. Two, your baking powder is old and has lost its effectiveness.
No. Do not use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat for this recipe. Spritz cookies are meant to be baked directly on an ungreased cookie sheet.
More Vegan Desserts
- Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Classic Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Pie
- Dairy-Free Key Lime Pie
Don’t wait for the next holiday season to make these vegan spritz cookies!
We’d love to hear what you think of them, and we’d really love to see your cookie decorations!
Please leave a comment and star rating below. It helps more people find our vegan recipes!
To show us your decorated cookies, tag us in your photos on Instagram. We can be found at @theplantpowercouple with the “the”.
Vegan Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened vegan butter*
- 2/3 cup powder sugar
- 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp JUST Egg
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract optional
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Allow the vegan butter and Just Egg to sit at room temperature for approximately one hour. When ready, start preheating your oven to 325°F.
- Place the softened butter into a large mixing bowl and sieve the powdered sugar over it.
- Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Add Just Egg and extracts and beat with the hand mixer to combine until smooth.
- Add sifted flour, salt, and baking powder in sections until dough forms.
- Turn dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form two or three “loaves” that will fit into the barrel of the Spritz cookie press.
- Load one cookie loaf into your Spritz press with the design plate of your choice. Press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If topping with sugar or sprinkles, do so after pressing the cookies and before placing them in the oven
- Place the remaining cookie dough in the refrigerator until ready for use.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes until just turning slightly golden on the bottom.
- Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before attempting to remove them from the cookie sheet.
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