I ate two of these healthy sugar cookies, straight from the oven!
It’s officially December now, which means you have a great excuse to make cookies. Why not go ahead and bake a batch of these to find out if your self-restraint is better than mine?
(As if anyone needed an excuse to bake cookies.)
The perfect sugar cookie should be soft, buttery, and so incredibly delicious it makes you want to polish off the entire batch in a single sitting.
This healthy sugar cookie recipe fulfills all of the above requirements… and yet these cookies are whole-grain, lower in sugar, and cholesterol-free at the same time.
Yes, healthy sugar cookies!
Do you bake cookies during the holidays? My grandmother loved baking Christmas cookies more than anyone else I know. Each year, she’d make at least ten different kinds of cookies. Michelle and I liked to help: she helped by rolling out the dough… and I helped by eating all the finished cookies! My grandfather nicknamed me “Cookie Monster” because, even before my head was tall enough to reach the table, I was stealing cookies off the tray.
Some things haven’t changed much.
Healthy Sugar Cookies
Healthy Sugar Cookies!
Print This Recipe
[mrp_rating_result show_count="false" show_rich_snippets="false"]
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup spelt, ww pastry, or all-purpose flour (Update! Click for Grain Free Sugar Cookies.)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt (just under level)
- 1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup white sugar, or sucanat, coconut sugar, or evaporated cane juice (or xylitol for a sugar-free version)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons milk of choice
- 1/4 cup butter-type spread, such as Earth Balance (Some readers say you can use coconut oil, but I haven't tried it. I wouldn't recommend using a low-fat buttery spread.)
Instructions
Healthy Sugar Cookies Recipe: Combine dry ingredients and mix very, very well. In a separate bowl, melt the vegan butter, then stir in vanilla and milk. Pour dry into wet and mix again. Form balls or roll out (not too thin), then use a cookie cutter to make shapes. If you want soft cookies, you’ll need to get the dough very cold. (So roll the balls first, then fridge until cold.) Cook in a 325F preheated oven for 9 minutes. They will look very underdone when you take them out, but that’s ok!! Just let them cool for 5 minutes before touching. (I know it’s hard!) These cookies will keep at least four days, in a lidded plastic container. As a general rule, you should store soft cookies in plastic containers and crispy cookies in glass ones.
These are the same vegan sugar cookies I decorated as baby animals and brought to the football party.
More Healthy Cookie Ideas:
Megan says
I found myself desperately craving a sweet treat tonight, so I cut this recipe in half and turned it into one big whole wheat cookie! I like soft cookies, so I refrigerated it for about 30 minutes and then gave it almost 15 minutes in the oven because of the larger size. It was a perfect way to satisfy my late-night sweet tooth without feeling like I overindulged!
Angie auyeung says
can you use i can’t believe it’s not butter light spread for the earth balance spread?
Angie auyeung says
also are the nutrition facts anywhere?
Stephanie says
Made these today with my daughter and they turned out great. We added in some vegan sprinkles and they were a hit!
Kaitlyn says
Can you use maple syrup as a sweetener in these? I know they are sugar cookies but thought I would ask!
Jason Sanford says
We haven’t tried so honestly have no idea! It sounds like a fun experiment, but I’d think you would probably have to play around with the liquid ratio.
Jason (media relations)
Anthony says
How long should you leave the dough in the fridge?
Jason Sanford says
Anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight (covered) is fine!
Sis W. says
This was delicious! I did not cool the dough and put them straight in the oven and they still came out all nice and soft. I only got to try one cookie since my son ate them all…
Laura says
Has anyone tried these with oat flour?
Kathy S says
Has anyone substituted almond, coconut or oat flour for the spelt flour?
CCK Media Team says
This is a similar recipe with oat flour as an option: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/vegan-sugar-cookies/
Or her keto cookies use almond flour (and can be made with real sugar if you don’t want them to be keto): https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/keto-cookies-recipe/
Palyn says
What size should the cookie dough balls be and do I flatten them before baking? I’ve never made sugar cookies before from ball forms so I’m clueless. If I missed these details when reading the recipe, my apologies!
Summer says
Hi! Can these be used to cut out shapes? Seems like a silly question but I’ve made some that really didn’t work for that.
Thank you!
Lauren says
Can you freeze them before icing if you want them to last more than a few days? I’d like to make them a week before
CCK Media Team says
Hmm, we would think so but honestly have never tried it.
KT says
We iced ours with royal icing the same day we made them, and then I froze them all, and it worked perfectly. My kids actually ate them straight from the freezer!
Joyce says
Chocolate Covered Katie,
I love these cookies. I made them with red and green MnMs in them for Christmas. They were great! And I used cacao butter (also cocoa butter would work) instead of a butter spread, and for the record, it worked amazingly. FYI!
Thank you,
Joyce
CCK Media Team says
Your version sounds completely amazing!
Alix says
These worked so well! Made them with sprouted spelt flour, coconut sugar, homemade oat milk and melted coconut oil. Thank you for the recipe!
tori says
These are so easy and so great. I subbed 3 tbsp olive oil for the 1/4 earth balance, and I think it worked well.