Sweet. chewy, molasses-y Vegan Brown Sugar Cookies are an essential holiday treat. The molasses in the brown sugar gives them a lovely, complex flavor!
What can I say about these Vegan Brown Sugar Cookies? They're tender and chewy, packed with cinnamon and brown sugar goodness. Make them for your next holiday party or cookie swap!
More Vegan Cookie Recipes: Easy Vegan Sugar Crinkle Cookies, Cashew Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Brown Sugar Cookies
These cookies are super simple to make, and you don't need any special ingredients. Best of all: instead of white flour, you make them with white wheat flour, so they are a whole grain treat that actually tastes amazing!
Start by mixing a few dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
These cookies use a mixture of baking soda and baking powder. Do not try to eliminate either or replace one with more of the other.
This combination is a big part of how these cookies get their perfect texture.
Mix those up, and then, in a separate bowl, mix up the wet ingredients. You are going to dissolve the brown sugar in a mixture of oil, vanilla extract, and water.
The wet ingredients also include flax meal, which will help bind your cookies and give them the amazing texture you're going for.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix them up until you a cohesive dough. You shouldn't see any flour left at this point.
Now, it's time to form your cookies!
Form the dough into 12 balls that are around 1" in diameter, and arrange them on a lined baking sheet.
These cookies spread a lot during baking, so spacing is key. As you can see in the photos below, I spaced mine generously, and they still ended up sticking together a bit.
Once you have them arranged and spaced out, it's time to flatten them out. Use your hand to flatten them into 1/4" thick disks.
After you flatten all of the cookies, bake them for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes, and you're ready to serve!
How to Store Them
These cookies will keep for about three days in an airtight container in your pantry.
Make sure that you cool them completely before you store them. If you put warm cookies into an airtight container, condensation will collect on the inside of the container. That moisture could make your cookies get moldy!
Vegan Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup white wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
- 2/3 cup loosely packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sunflower oil or other light oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.
- In a smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients, until the brown sugar dissolves.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and mix well.
- Form the dough into 12 1" balls and arrange them on a lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" of space between the cookies. Use your hand to flatten them out, so they're about 1/8" thick.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, then cool for 5 minutes before moving them off of the baking sheet.
Bree Sanders
I substituted the flax meal for ground chia seed & they turned out wonderfully! The flavour is perfect and the cookies were lightly crispy on the edges and chewy inside. Will definitely be making again in the future!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Bree! It's good to know that chia will work as the egg replacer in these cookies, too!
Lindsay
I use coconut oil a a table spoon of cinnamon and a bit more vanilla tray was gone in two sittings
Becky Striepe
Oh I bet coconut oil gave it a lovely flavor!
Arin
I love the simplicity of this recipe. Do you have other flavour ideas to change this up, with the base recipe staying the same ? Chocolate chips or seeds/nuts? No cinnamon, instead something else? I’m not a baker, so lack experience in changing recipes up.
Becky Striepe
That's a great question! Honestly, I wouldn't add too much to it. The brown sugar gives these such a lovely, complex flavor. I think adding chocolate chips wouldn't work well. Walnuts would be nice, though. I have also used pumpkin spice mix instead of the cinnamon. I hope that helps!
Rachel B
I have now made these as-is and today adapted for a Derby party by adding half a teaspoon mint and replacing the water with bourbon for mint julep cookies! They were still delicious. Thanks so much for posting this recipe to keep coming back to!
Becky Striepe
OMG mint julep cookies!!!!