It has been a while since I thought of this recipe and truly it came to me in a dream! A few months ago, I was thinking of the best way to provide sugar cookies for my old office without wasting tons of time individually frosting 50 cookies. I absolutely LOVE sugar cookies and so does my husband, but there is no hiding they are time consuming to make!
Focusing on Flavor
I wanted this recipe to be so easy you could toss it together after a long day at work, or for your kids school activities without the hesitation of time. Traditional sugar cookies need to be chilled in the fridge for at least 4 hours before your shape the dough. This recipe has none of that! Goodbye chill time and hello eating time! Vanilla is key to delicious sugar cookies. I have been on an adventure with making my own vanilla extract. I was inspired by Claire Saffitz to make my own. I am surprising how easy it is to make, but it takes some patient waiting if you don’t use Claire’s recipe. I had some time on my hands and am letting the vanilla beans soak for 6 months.
I recently used my homemade vanilla in this recipe and I can honestly say that the flavor of vanilla is key for this recipe. The flavor shines not only in the cookie but in the frosting as well. To me, there is nothing better than thick, fluffy, vanilla vegan buttercream.
Sugar cookies are a weekly staple in our family. My husband can crush a plate of sugar cookies and they are so fun to make. When I was testing this recipe, we both were really happy with how easy they were to make, and honestly eat! You know when you make cookies with frosting and can’t stack them on a plate? There is no problem with that here. I make these in a 9×9″ square pan like a pan of brownies. My specific pan here makes this recipe that much easier because it comes with a lid that is great for transportation.
Let’s start baking
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Gluten Free & Vegan Sugar Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookie bars 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
Description
The best part of sweet sugar cookies made in bar form. These gluten-free and vegan sugar cookie bars are full of sweet vanilla flavor, soft crumb and rich fluffy vegan buttercream. An easy and delicious recipe for everyday or special occasions.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of vegan butter
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp of water
- 1 tbsp of flax meal
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/4 cups of dairy free milk
- 3 cups of gluten-free flour
Frosting:
- 5 tbsp of vegan butter
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 5 cups of powdered sugar
- 3–4 tbsp of dairy free milk or water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°f and lightly grease your 8×8″ baking pan
- In a bowl cream your vegan butter with your sugar until combined and fluffy
- While your sugar is creaming with your butter, in a small bowl whisk your 1 tbsp of flax meal with your 4 tbsp of water to form the flax egg – let this sit for at least 4 minutes
- Next, add your vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt to your sugar and butter mixture
- Once that is combined, add your flax egg to your dough along with your 1/4 cup of dairy free milk
- Finally, add in your gluten free flour until the dough forms, but don’t over mix your dough too much – the majority will stick together and some will look dry
- Pour your batter into your prepared pan, using your fingers or the back of a measuring cup, evenly distribute the dough evenly in the pan pressing down slightly to compress the dough slightly
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until it looks puffed and cooked through
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting
- In your mixing bowl using a whisk attachment, whisk your vegan butter, vanilla extract, dairy free milk until the butter is fluffy
- Next add in your 5 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time
- If the frosting looks dry add in dairy free milk 1 tsp at a time while mixing on medium
- Once your cookie has fully cooled, layer a thick layer of frosting over the top of your cookie
- Top with your favorite sprinkles and enjoy!
I love to make this recipe for a little sweet treat for any BBQ or just because. I love how this recipe has all the most delicious flavors of sugar cookies without thee time spend chilling, rolling, cutting and frosting individual cookies!
Let’s talk sprinkles!
I never was a sprinkle person until recently. I think they just add such a fun brightness to any recipe! I really love to use rainbow nonpareils sprinkles because they add such a fun look to the white frosting, and a nice little texture. The thing is, you can use any sprinkles you want to, because that is what makes personalizing recipes fun! Sanding sugar works super well, and the fun pastel colors are perfect for summer.
If you try this recipe make sure to tag me! I would love to see your sugar cookie creations!
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3 Comments
Paige Bakes - Gluten-Free and Vegan Lemon Cookies
July 20, 2022 at 3:13 pm[…] in fact, I think sugar cookies are one of the best cookies out there. I developed a recipe for sugar cookie bars simply because there was a while back in 2019 when I made sugar cookies almost every week for my […]
Sonya
December 24, 2022 at 11:34 pmIt’s so hard finding gluten free recipes that my whole family can enjoy, but I made these for my family yesterday morning and everyone loved them! My family had eaten all of them by the time I went for seconds, which never happens when I bake gluten free! I’m going to make them again today or tomorrow, and was wondering if I made a double batch if I could freeze some of the batter? These are definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!
Paige
December 25, 2022 at 7:23 amHi! Aww I’m so glad your family is enjoying the cookies! I actually made a double batch today and made them into cookies not bars. I would recommend freeing the dough balls rather than the frosted cookies because frosting can be funky when frozen some times. But! If you try freezing them frosted and finished let me know how it goes! Happy baking, Paige