Five healthy ingredients is all it takes to make these delicious vegan oat flour sugar cookies–ready to be cut-out & frosted into any festive holiday form! Gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free.
Almost known as Easy Vegan CUT-OAT Sugar Cookies. Because they are cut-out cookies…but made with oat flour…see what I did there? Yeah, I think the backspace button was the right decision on that idea. It always sounds more clever in my head then it does out loud. Anyways, moving on…
After rambling on about my childhood gingerbread cookie house tradition, I’m not even going to start telling you about our sugar cookie decorating tradition.
I’m not going to mention how we would make them by the double double batch. Or the part where I would purposely put too much glaze on the cookies just so it would run off the sides and I could go through and “clean-up” the drips later like it was my job. I won’t say how many December dinners were eaten in the living room because the entire dining table was taken over by a red and green blanket of glaze-shiny drying cookies.
I won’t tell you about all the cookie snowflakes, ornaments, trees, and snowmen. Or about the lazy later years where we simply stuck with circles and left the festive vibes to the frosting. About the cracked or headless or hit-the-floor cookies that were instantly snagged and snacked, still warm, which was almost as precious a prize as the stolen floury bits of dough.
I won’t tell you about my favorite part: the unspoken, graceful cooking-creating rhythm. Roll, cookie-cutter cut, on the pan, into the oven, wait for the timer, check for golden brown edges, off the pan, stacked, sorted, ready for frosting. After dozens and dozens of cookies it became like a harmonious dance. No one needed to say which pan went in first or came out next, these things were just known between my mom, my sister (when she would take part), and I. Still to this day that is the most vivid memory the word “baking” evokes for me.
But I’m not going to ramble on for 3 paragraphs about that or you are going to start to think I was born in a crazy cookie cottage and raised by Keebler Elves or something.
Times change and tastebuds change and honestly those cookies are so sugary-sweet and buttery-rich to me now I don’t know how I used to eat 3 or 4 in a day and make it out stomachache-free?? Or perhaps all the frosting-eating, cookie-fun memories have just crowded the stomachache memories right out of my head.
So this year I wanted to make a vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and stomachache-free sugar cookie, and that’s exactly what these sparkly sweet stars are! They use completely different ingredients–oat flour instead of wheat, maple syrup instead of sugar, coconut butter instead of butter butter–but are still sweet and holiday-perfect and ready to be rolled, cut, and decorated into any festive form.
The thing that surprised me most with this cookie makeover mission was that even with all those ingredient swaps, the aroma was still SO reminiscent of my moms original recipe. I don’t know why or how, most likely it’s the Christmas cookie magic!
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Five healthy ingredients is all it takes to make these delicious vegan oat flour sugar cookies–ready to be cut-out & frosted into any festive holiday form!
Ingredients
Cookie
- 1 ½ cup oat flour
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut butter*
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Optional: pinch of salt
Frosting
- 1/2 cup coconut butter
- 2–3 tbsp maple syrup
- 4–5 tbsp non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Combine the oat flour, baking powder, maple syrup, salt (if using) and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
- Melt the coconut butter until it is liquid. Add to the bowl.
- Mix well to form a ball of dough. Hands work better than utensils here.
- Divide the dough into two, and roll out one of the halves between two pieces of lightly floured wax paper.
- Cut into whatever shapes you like. Carefully use a spatula to transfer to a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough and scraps.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350F or until the edges are just golden.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting. (If you want to skip the frosting you could alternatively sprinkle on coarse sugar before baking for a sparkly look!)
- For the frosting: Melt the coconut butter. Add the maple syrup and stir. Add the non-dairy milk 1 tbsp at a time until it is a thick, smooth consistency.
- Frost your cookies, add sprinkles, share and enjoy!
Notes
*You can sub applesauce for a fat-free option, but it will make for a much more moist dough that is not suited to rolling and cutting out. Adding more flour will just dry them out, so they would have to be drop cookies. I highly recommend sticking with the coconut butter or even cashew butter here.
AW you have some amazing childhood Christmas memories <3
I really love it when you make a recipe I've been wanting to make hehe especially because your ingredient listss are always the best. So simple and so wholesome! I also laughed out loud at the first paragraph.
Hehe I feel the same way–our choice of ingredients is always so in line I love it 🙂
Cut oat?? LOLOL. Love it! Or do I Loatve it?? Okay, that totally didn’t work. But I still think these cookie are toatally awesome!! <– Second tries are the best, right? 😉 Um, I now have this solidly heartwarming vision of my Natalie growing up in a Keebler elves-esque village and no one can take that away from me. No one!!! 😉 I'm astounded by how amazingly free-from these cookies are!! But yet… what else would I expect from a bonafide born-to-cookie bestie? 🙂 Yay for Christmas cookie magic!! Now… when should I expect these in the mail?? xo
“Loatve”–hahahaha? Let’s just put “oa” in place of every vowel now, that wouldn’t be at all weird or confusing. What is it with us and getting all grammatical/wordy today…must be the bestie connection at work again! Well I wouldn’t say no to one of those really chic tree houses you see on pinterest sometimes though for a house, so maybe there is a touch of Keebler elf in me? “…bonafide born-to-cookie bestie”–okay that is too good!! They will arrive the exact same day my almond butter fudge cups do? xoxo
With all your cookie making skills, it may be logical to assume your part keebler elf haha! Love love love that these are made with oat flour! Never knew that was possible. Your recipes continue to amaze me 🙂
Hahaha, I would be honored to be related to those productive little tree-dwelling bakers 😀 I wasn’t sure the oat flour would work either, I almost went with almond, but it totally did! Thank you Rachel <3
These are just too cute for words Natalie! I want a whole box delivered to my house, hahaha! I’m so glad you are now on the coconut butter train like I am. 🙂 I’ve been using coconut butter for years now in my baking and I love the stuff. This is how I make my gluten-free oat gingersnap version and the coconut butter really does work so much better than nut butter in them. I love sugar cookies, and well, cookies in general, lol! I could eat a ton of these I’m sure. They are just so pretty in that star shape and the icing on top. So darn festive and just screams holiday! I can’t believe you broke away from your ginger kick, haha! You would crack up…my husband told me yesterday that I use so much ginger, that he is renaming me Ginger!
I started slow with the coconut butter, just a couple of tablespoons, but OMG it made them sooooo much richer it was incredible!! So much like a traditional butter-filled cookie dough too. Much more than any nut butter I’ve ever baked with before, I am so happy you got me into this stuff. Of course I’ve already gotten a bunch of substitution questions, but I just want to tell everyone please just try the coconut butter and I know you will fall in love with it too! 😀 Ha yes, it was time to finally put the spices down for a minute…although I have a ginger cookie coming later this week so I’m not done for good lol. Thanks Brandi!
I wish I didn’t have an oat intolerance . What might be a good substitute? Thanks
Almond flour would be awesome here, although you may want to add some tapioca starch to help bind. Or quinoa or buckwheat would work too!
Oh, I totally think you were born in a cookie cottage and raised by Keebler Elves 😉 I love reading about the early days of Natalie baking!! Sugar cookies were made in massive batches when I was a kid and the decorating supplies seemed endless then! There wasn’t anything better than a sugar cookie piled high in frosting and even more sugary toppings. I think these look absolutely wonderful! And the simple frosting is perfect. Gosh, I remember eating large quantities of sugar cookies and clearly my stomach was made of steel back then because talk about sugar overload! Haha! And obviously back then it was refined sugar, butter, and eggs…goodness. I’m so impressed that you nailed this with just five simple ingredients! I’ll have to give these a try for Willow…speaking of Willow, I apologize if there are typos here or added letters where they shouldn’t be…she thought it would be funny to type with me 😉 I did try to erase her additions! <3
Doesn’t a sugar cookie loaded with colorful frosting and sprinkles and toppings just scream Christmas somehow!?! Your Christmas baking memories sound quite similar to mine, the smell is almost as “Christmas” to me as peppermint 🙂 Seriously could we get those stomaches of steel back though somehow please? Haha that’s so cute, no worries at all, I love the little touch of Willow added in 🙂 Hope you are well! xo
They look so so good! I love sugar cookies, especially when Christmas is coming! In Germany we call them “Mürbeteigplätzchen”, but I’m not exactly sure if there’s an English translation for this word! 😀
I hope you have a great day, Natalie! 🙂
I have no clue what the translation would be for that either haha, but if it’s just a simple sweet cookie than I think we can guess they are pretty similar 😀 And yes, so very Christmas-y to me too! Thank you Mara, happy Tuesday!
I’ve been hooked on youtube video recipes..an some recipes I’ve relied on google translate to tell me ingreds..your cookie translates to…….*shortbread biscuits* =^)
Yes, that’s pretty accurate! Google is good, they are rather shortbread cookie like 🙂
how do you think swapping out the coconut butter for vegan butter would work.?
That would be absolutely fine! Just make sure you mix it really well so there aren’t any butter lumps hiding in there 🙂
They look absolutely delicious and I can’t get over how cute they look 😀 Love the frosting on top and the cute sprinkles!
Thank you Nadia! My sprinkles are a little more Easter colored now that I think about it lol, I need some sparkly silver ones like you have on your trees 🙂
Such a great and easy recipe. Your cookies look great. Love your blog Nat! 🙂
Hi Ela!! Oh thank you <3 And thanks for hopping over to check them out!
Hey Natalie, would Coconut Oil work in place of the Coconut Butter?
Hi Nikki! Just tested it, and no the oil really doesn’t work as well. Similar to the applesauce version, the dough is too sticky to roll out with the coconut oil. A nut butter like almond or cashew would be a better substitute here, but nothing is quite as good as the coconut butter. Hope that helps!
Hey Natalie! Awesome, thank you for trialling it before I made a complete mess of it!
These have got to be the cutest star cookies ever. I love the cut-oat personally, though I hear ya — doesn’t quite roll off the tongue 😉 I love your baking memories. My family never baked cookies (I didn’t even know one could, that’s how bad things had been ? — just thought cookies came in packages. End of story). But I could picture how it would have been through your story had my mom been a baker.
Oh my, no homemade cookies at all??? With how skilled you are with the sweet things now you could pass as being Keebler Elf raised too–baking all along! Although being self-taught as opposed to raised in it is kinda awesome too 🙂
Do you have to Chill the dough?
Nope! As long as you follow the recipe and use the coconut butter you do not need to chill it, it will be easy to roll out as is. If you were to swap in coconut oil you would have to chill it. Happy baking!
I just made these, and they are AMAZING!!! I used cashew butter and you can barely taste any cashew, although I did increase the vanilla. I made a buttercream frosting using cashew butter, almond milk, and powdered raw turbinado sugar with a little vanilla. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!
These look awesome and I can’t wait to try them! Thank you to Brandi for tweeting them out so I could discover them. 🙂 I was wondering if reviewer Maddie wouldn’t mind sharing the amounts for making her buttercream frosting? It sounds fantastic!
Well I am so happy you found them (thanks Brandi!), and I hope you try them out! I would love to know that too, perhaps she will share with us because it sounds delicious and healthier than the vegan butter kind 🙂
I sure did make them and they are now on the top of our list of favorites!! I made extra-fine oat flour and also decided to brush the tops with a bit of almond extract mixed with a tad of water so the sugar crystals would stick to the top. (I opted not to use icing.) FANTASTIC! Since the dough was a bit sticky, I put it in the fridge while the oven preheated. They rolled out beautifully! My daughter has snacked on so many I need to quickly make more before our Christmas company shows up tomorrow! 🙂 Thank you again, Natalie, and happy holidays!
Hi Colleen! That sounds absolutely lovely, I bet the slight almond flavor tasted fantastic on top 🙂 I like just the sugar sparkly look without icing a lot too, that’s my favorite way to eat them. I am so glad you and your daughter liked them, thanks so much for the wonderful feedback. Wishing you an amazing holiday!!
YAY!! I am so very happy to hear it! Yep, I love cashew butter for baking, it is one of the most subtle nut butters especially if you use the raw stuff. And your frosting combination sounds delicious, I’d love to try that sometime myself. You are so welcome, thank you Maddie for the great feedback 🙂 Happy holidays!
Impossibly sticky! Had so much trouble with the dough…
So sorry to hear that, did you use the coconut butter?
We made 9 different types of vegan Christmas cookies for our holiday cookie plates, to be distributed to family and friends, this year. Your Vegan Sugar Cookie recipe made the best cookies among the group. Everyone loved them! We didn’t use frosting but placed colorful sprinkles directly on before baking, They were adorable and delicious. Healthy sugar cookies seemed an impossibility, but you created a wonderful holiday cookie. Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Hi Charity! That is absolutely wonderful to hear, thank you so much for the feedback!! And I love the idea to baked the rainbow sprinkles right in, that sounds so cute. I am really happy everyone loved them and I hope you had a marvelous holiday 🙂
Im sooo making these for christmas this year😍😍😍😋
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Hehe never too early to start cookie planning 🙂
No especially when i havent been baking cookies at all, since i got diagnosed with all my food allergies in 2011. So i need to research to find recipes and maybe to a test run too before christmas😉
Hey Natalie 🙂 Christmas is on the brain so,naturally,sugar cookies are too! My plan:make my meat-eating,refined sugar-loving,gluten-tolerating(Not fair btw)family LOVE these cookies.I was wondering if you may answer a couple of questions though,please? 1.Would these work with brown rice syrup instead of maple? 2.Do you think these could work with half maple/rice syrup and half plant milk? And 3.(not a question but i discovered something amazing and i have to tell somebody) I used mashed avocado in place of nut butters/oil in a cookie recipe earlier and,to my surprise/horror/holycowthisjustworked kinda feeling,it worked! they didn’t really taste like avocado much at all.Actually, the hint of avocadoness it did give was unique and oddly tasty.Oh,the recipe was from Unconventional Baker carob/ginger/cinnamon cookies.Sorry for the long message and questions!! Thank you for reading this(if you do) 🙂
Hi Renae! I’m so happy you are going to try these. I personally love them, so hopefully they pass the family test 🙂 So the questions…
1) Yes brown rice syrup will work. It’s a little thicker though so you may need more coconut butter (an extra 2 tbsps or so) to get the right dough texture. It’s also less sweet so just know the cookies will be too.
2) No I don’t recommend reducing the sweetener, they already aren’t overly sweet they will be bland if you do.
3) Omg avocado cookies–how cool with that be! I love that idea (and all of Audrey’s ideas tbh, she’s amazing!) I wonder if it would work here, although the color would be…interesting. I have an avocado muffin recipe that I love actually, it does work well in baking! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I hope that helps and good luck with the cookies!
Hi again Natalie. I just made these cookies and they are delicious 🙂 I did make some changes that i know we discussed earlier,but i didn’t expect they’d work! I used not even 1/3 cup of homemade date syrup and just filled the rest of the 1/3 cup measure with rice milk.And only 1/2 tablespoon(Not a typo!) of cashew butter plus maybe a tablespoon or two of water when the dough got too dry.They were crispy and soft in all the right places.I ate nearly the whole batch already and don’t feel guilty one bit(practically fatfree!) Oh,and they were sweet enough,especially after i frosted them too 🙂 I have yet to try with rice syrup,but will let you know.Sorry i have to type this again- only 1/2 TABLESPOON CASHEW BUTTER!!!! Also gonna try a carob version too.Let you know! Thank you for reading my ramblings 😛
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I am so so happy they turned out so delicious…and also a little shocked!! Wow that is amazing to know that just a little bit of cashew butter worked, this is why I love hearing about your experiments too 🙂 Thank you for sharing and a carob version sounds deelish. Happy monday Renae!
Thanks so much Natalie!
Hey there Natalie.I discovered something that i hope might be useful to you and other hclf bakers.It worked so well in this recipe and i’m hoping it will work with cakes and cupcakes too.I’ve been experimenting with cashew butter(as you know 🙂 and found that if a recipe call for 1/4 cup of nut butter,then only use 1/2-1 tablespoon and mix it with enough water to make a 1/4 cup.It works sort of like melted butter! With these cookies i tried it on,they turned really crunchy because of it.Also,sort of a request/demand please,please,please make a hclf christmas fruit cake.I’m dying for one!!
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That is so interesting and a great little trick! I will have to try it out because you have me intrigued now. Plus I just adore cashew butter, so any reason to bake with it 🙂 Thanks for sharing! I really wanted to make a fruit cake this year, but I just don’t think I will have time at this point with travel etc. Sorry!
I gotta admit, these did not turn out like I wanted them to.
Maybe it was the melted Earth Balance Coconut spread (instead of coconut butter), but they turned out like sweet biscuits–fluffy and round, never formed a dough-like mixture, therefore not able to roll-out or cut-out for Christmas cookies.
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Melted earth balance will not work the same as coconut butter, that’s why it never formed a roll-able dough. Coconut butter is much thicker and solidifies as it cools which is essential for the dough to be thick enough to roll and cut. Hopefully you can find or order coconut butter and give them another shot with the ingredients as called for 🙂
Hi.. as i can’t have oil, can “Mayvers” Peanut butter (oil free) be used instead of coconut butter?
Hmm I’ve never tried baking with that, but you could certainly give it a shot!
Hi… Can i substitute the cashew butter with tahini or Nutlex butter. Also will date syrup work?
Yes other nut butters will work, just add a different flavor. And date syrup will work, but date paste will not here. Hope that helps!
I made this and it didnt quite turn out the same colour as your photo. And the taste was about bland? Would this be because I used Tahni instead of coconut butter and date syrup instead of maple syrup?
Hmm the coconut butter is a bit richer than tahini in baking, and will definitely result in a different color. And maple syrup is sweeter than date syrup too, so yes I do think it’s those swaps that did it. Also if you want a richer sugar cookie, this one is actually my favorite: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/almond-flour-sugar-cookies/
Are these suppose to be crunchy? As they were omly cruncy when taken out of oven, then i stored them.in a sealed container and now they are soft?
They are supposed to be soft, not crunchy. But if you seal them up before they are completely cool that can make them too soft/soggy. I have a crunchy shortbread cookie coming this week if that’s what you’re looking for!
That sounds great.. as im looking for something for Christmas to make..will they be oil free too and gluten free?
Yep! Posting on wednesday 🙂
Can you please let me know when you post it 😀
Just posted here: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/almond-shortbread-cookies/
My girls got invited to an impromptu sleepover and the mom wasn’t able to come up with vegan cookies for decorating. I offered to bring some so they’ve have something to eat and whipped these up. Except for a user error of not watching the second batch close enough, these were perfect. They were slightly crunchy on the outside and all yum. I can’t wait to see what they come up with for decorating!
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Aw yay!! I am so happy they were a success and easy enough to bake up a batch on a whim🤗 I bet they will be beautiful, cookie decorating was always one of my fave parts of xmas as a kid!
Thank you for such beautiful recipes! I am wondering what the thickness you roll these cookie out to, 1/4″ ?
Yep you got it, 1/4 inch is best! Hope you enjoy them😊
I had high hopes for this recipe for something quick, healthy and easy I could make with the kids. Unfortunately this did not deliver. The dough did not form and was just a crumbly mess. I ended up having to add way more coconut butter than what the recipe called for and some water just to get some pliable dough to roll out. Once we did get the dough to work and baked them, the cookies were tasteless. May need to add some more maple syrup or spices to give them some flavor. Also if you don’t like the taste of coconut then this recipe is not for you. I don’t mind the taste of coconut, but the frosting just tasted like eating a coconut and not really frosting.
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These are fantastic!!!! I did use regular butter as I didn’t have the coconut butter. I am so impressed with how easy, delicious, and healthy these were!
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Wow so awesome to know that they worked with real butter too, thanks for sharing! I am so happy you liked them 🙂
Hi do the extras need to be refrigerated if they have icing on them? Thanks!
Yes they will stay fresh best in the fridge, so I do recommend it!
Thank you!!! :))
These are soooo tasty. I made one batch and just did a second. I may go for the third cause i may just eat them all by myself. I made the frosting and it was enough for two batches if you dont go crazy. Thanks so much for this recipe. Def a keeper. 😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋
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Hehe that is so wonderful to hear🤗 Enjoy and happy holidays!!
Natalie, words cannot express how grateful I am for you and others like you who use your talents to develop recipes with non traditional ingredients. My sweet grandson has literally pages of food allergies ( a number of which are anaphylactic) and sensitivities. He was four before he had is first oat flour cookie. I have looked and looked for a safe cutout cookie recipe as well as sprinkles he could safely have. I was SO EXCITED when I found your recipe, but concerned about flavor. Like many allergy children on a severely limited diet introducing new textures and flavors often leads to rejection. He has typically rejected anything with coconut flavor. We just celebrated “Thanksmas” with out of state cousins and at the age of five he got to decorate his first Christmas cut out cookie and he ate every bite. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I am a very happy Nana today. Oat flour, no eggs, no banana, no nut butters. You are a genius. Hope your holidays are lovely!
Awwww!! Your comment just made my day, I am smiling so big right now😊😊 What a fun special first for your grandson, I am so incredibly happy the recipe worked despite all his allergies and you got to share that moment altogether! I am honored and touched by your beautiful message Claudia, much love to you and your family💕