These easy Christmas sugar cookies without eggs are soft, buttery, keep their shape when baked, and taste amazing! Includes a simple sugar cookie icing that is also egg free!
No matter if you have an egg allergy or have run out of eggs in the fridge, these eggless sugar cookies are the perfect recipe to satisfy any sweet tooth. They are delicious Christmas cookies that are perfect the whole holiday season.
At Christmas time I love making huge batches of sweet sugar cookies. They are perfect for cookie swaps, filling up cookie boxes, and just having to share. I love the egg free recipe that is quick to make and super yummy.
Free from: dairy (optional), casein (optional), eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, and more
These cookies taste just like the regular sugar cookies with eggs. Bake them a little less for a soft and chewy sugar cookie, or, keep them in the oven for an extra minute for a cookie sturdy enough for frosting.
Plus, these cookies can easily be made vegan and dairy free by swapping the butter for your favorite non-dairy butter.
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Why You’ll Love these Sugar Cookies
- Easy to make cookies that taste just like traditional
- No spread - they hold their shape
- Super yummy with lots of vanilla
- Makes 4 dozen 3-inch cookies
- Easy to make dairy free and vegan with one simple swap
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients to make these eggless sugar cookies; no flax eggs or egg replacer here!
- Powdered sugar: Using powdered sugar not only makes the sugar melt into the dough, but it also has a pinch of cornstarch in it. This helps to replace the eggs in this recipe.
- Cornstarch: A little more cornstarch to help these cookies stay soft while helping the dough keep together.
- All purpose flour: Standard all purpose flour works best in this recipe. Don’t use things like bread flour, cake flour, or self-rising flour. For a gluten free sugar cookie, see this recipe here.
- Butter: I love to use European style butter in sugar cookies. It has a slightly higher fat content which makes them taste amazing. See below if you need to substitute for a dairy free option.
- Milk: A touch of milk helps the dough to come together, while providing some fat and moisture. See below for the dairy free option.
- Baking soda and Cream of Tartar: These help the cookies to rise and stay super soft.
- You’ll also need: Vanilla extract, salt
Allergy Variations
If you are avoiding dairy, you can still have this recipe! Replace the butter with your favorite brand of vegan butter. I’ve gotten some of my best results with Earth Balance sticks and “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” margarine.
To replace the milk, use a non-dairy milk like coconut milk, soy milk, or rice milk. Just make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored so you don’t flavor the sugar cookies.
If you are avoiding corn, make sure that you purchase a corn free powdered sugar. Replace the cornstarch with either an equal amount of tapioca flour or arrowroot powder.
Want to make these gluten free? Check out my gluten-free sugar cookies recipe here!
Making the Dough
This is an in-depth review of key points for the recipe. For the full instructions with the recipe ingredient measurements, please see the recipe card below.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients of flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set this aside.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add the milk of your choice and the vanilla, scrape down the butter, and mix again until fluffy.
Now it’s time to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add them and slowly mix them together.
Don’t over mix at this point! The dough should just come together and have the ingredients fully incorporated together. Now it’s time to roll them out.
Rolling out the Cookies
Most sugar cookie recipes have you chill the dough, then roll it out, and then bake them. This recipe is different.
This egg free sugar cookie has you roll out the cookies before you chill them. Yes!
You need chilled dough so that the butter doesn’t melt in the oven and cause the cookies to spread everywhere. However, sugar cookie dough becomes like a solid brick and impossible to roll out.
Using a sheet of parchment paper and lots of flour, dust the surface with flour. Place half of the sugar cookie dough onto the lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough out to about a ¼-inch thickness.
Using your favorite cookie cutters, cut out the shapes and transfer them to a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet.
Place each filled sheet in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. Letting the dough rest helps the butter to firm back up so they don't spread in the oven.
Roll out the dough several times until no dough remains. This should make about 4 dozen 3-inch cookies.
Baking the Cookies
Place each cookie filled cookie sheet into the pre-heated oven with the cookie tray in the middle of the oven. Try to only bake one sheet at a time to get the best results.
Bake them 11 minutes for soft and chewy cookies, 13 minutes for more crispy sugar cookies.
The cookies are done when they are slightly golden brown on the edges. Remove the trays from the oven and let the cookies cool on the hot trays for about 10 minutes. Then you can transfer them to a wire rack.
Let them cool completely before icing!
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing
This sugar cookie icing isn’t anything complicated. You can keep it simple with some powdered sugar and water for the ultimate sweet and simple icing. Plus, it isn’t a royal icing because you don’t want to add eggs to the icing!
Adding a touch of light corn syrup keeps the icing glossy and helps with the viscosity when frosting. Use an offset spatula or a piping bag to decorate as you like.
I’m the first to admit I’m not the best decorator in the world when it comes to sugar cookies! But I love how they taste and the sprinkles are always fun.
The icing will set in about 24 hours at room temperature. After which you can stack them in cookie boxes or in a freezer safe container to save for Christmas.
If you are totally against using corn syrup, no problem. Just don’t add it. The cookie icing will still be delicious, it just won’t set as hard.
Recommended Sugar Cookie Tools
While you don’t need to have these tools in your kitchen to make sugar cookies, they really do help!
- Electric mixer: either handheld or a stand mixer to really cream the butter and sugars together.
- Parchment Paper: This unbleached parchment paper is fantastic.
- Sprinkles: I love vegan sprinkles from Sweetopolita!
Want to know my favorite products? I've curated a list of all my favorite cooking and baking essentials. Everything from baking sheet to corn free baking powder and more. Shop my favorites!
FAQs
It’s true that without eggs there is less risk of getting sick from a raw egg. However, there is still raw flour in this dough which also has the potential to have harmful elements. Better to skip eating this raw and wait for a finished cookie.
Top Sugar Cookie Tips
- To measure the flour, make sure you use the scoop method! Give the flour a quick stir, then using a spoon, scoop it into your measuring up. Then use a knife to level off the flour to get the most accurate results.
- Room temperature butter is essential. Cold butter won’t mix properly with the sugar resulting in a cookie with butter not fully incorporated.
- Don’t over mix the dough. Over mixing will result in tough cookies. Mix until the flour is just incorporated.
How to Store
Countertop: You can keep unfrosted and frosted cookies on the countertop for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Freezer: Store fully cooked and cooled cookies only. You can store both frosted and unfrosted. Just make sure that the frosting has fully set. Freeze layers of cookies with parchment paper in between each layer in a freezer safe container. They will keep for up to 3 months.
More Cookies to Make
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Recipe
Equipment
- Hand mixer or stand mixer, recommended
- mixing bowls
- mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- baking trays
- parchment paper
- cookie cutters
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¼ cup milk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Simple Sugar Cookie Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon water more or less depending on how thick you like your icing
- Splash vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- Food coloring if desired
Instructions
- Prep. Line 4 baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set them aside.
- Sift dry ingredients. In a medium sized bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients of flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set this aside.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes on medium speed. Add in the milk and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix together until you have a soft and tacky dough. You may need to add a spoonful of flour extra.
- Roll and cut out. Roll the dough before chilling the dough! Divide the dough in half to make it easier to work with and roll out onto a lightly floured surface. I like to use parchment paper for easy clean up. Roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and place them onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Chill. Place the cookies on the baking sheets into the fridge and chill for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. While the cookies are chilling, preheat the oven. Make sure that the rack is in the middle of the oven. I recommend baking one cookie tray at a time with the cookies in the middle of the oven for best results.
- Bake. Bake each cookie tray directly from the fridge for about 12-13 minutes depending on the size of cookies that you cut out. Smaller cookies, less than 2 inches big, may only require 10 minutes baking time. Large cookies over 4 inches big may require longer, such as 14 minutes. Please watch them carefully. Cookies are done when they turn a slightly golden brown color on the sides and bottoms. Remove from the oven and let them cool before decorating.
- Decorate. In a large bowl, mix together the frosting. Divide it up into as many colors as you like and add food coloring as desired. Using a knife, offset spatula, or icing tools of your choice, decorate the cookies. The frosting will set in about 2 hours. Make sure to sprinkle right away so the sprinkles stick. Enjoy!
Notes
- Allergy Variations
- If you are avoiding dairy, you can still have this recipe! Replace the butter with your favorite brand of vegan butter. I’ve gotten some of my best results with Earth Balance sticks and “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” margarine.
- To replace the milk, use a non-dairy milk like coconut milk, soy milk, or rice milk. Just make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored so you don’t flavor the sugar cookies.
- If you are avoiding corn, make sure that you purchase a corn free powdered sugar. Replace the cornstarch with either an equal amount of tapioca flour or arrowroot powder.
- Want to make these gluten free? Check out my gluten-free sugar cookies recipe here!
- How to Store
- Countertop: You can keep unfrosted and frosted cookies on the countertop for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Store fully cooked and cooled cookies only. You can store both frosted and unfrosted. Just make sure that the frosting has fully set. Freeze layers of cookies with parchment paper in between each layer in a freezer safe container. They will keep for up to 3 months.
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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