These quick easy sugar cookies are absolute chewy perfection.
Plus, they are dairy-free and take no egg or fancy egg replacer. Just use applesauce.
No chilling, no waiting, no rolling. Simply drop, bake, and enjoy in about an hour.
See cookie and frosting recipes along with sprinkle suggestions below.
Wow, I’m having some mom guilt over this cookie recipe.
I only wish it hadn’t taken me sixteen years to give these a try!
Mistakenly, I assumed once we had a cut-out sugar cookie recipe for Christmas, we were good to go.
But I was wrong.
When my boys were little, they loved decorating cut-out sugar cookies with me.
However, this Christmas, I found myself doing all the cookie decorating myself. Boooooo.
Not wanting to nix sugar cookies altogether but also not wanting to be stuck with all the work of making them…
I started dreaming of the possibilities of a quicker and easier sugar cookie option.
A cookie that would be fast and easy, but that would still wow my hubby and teens.
Then thanks to our cookie challenge inside MAM membership, I was inspired to try a drop sugar cookie instead.
Even if Christmas was already over, ha!
But hey, a drop sugar cookie seemed like something you could enjoy year-round. Not too late!
What if there was no chilling, no waiting, no rolling, no cookie cutters…
what if we could just plop cookie dough on a baking sheet like we do with our chocolate chip cookies…
what if my kiddo with food allergies could experience a copycat Loft House recipe without his allergens?
Dairy-free and nut-free. Plus egg-free for our food allergy friends.
So I had get to work. The possibilities were enticing!
First, I made drop sugar cookies dairy-free. Super easy with our favorite dairy-free butter.
Then I attempted the double-whammy…no dairy and no egg.
BAM! Totally worked.
Plus nut-free? That was a shew in.
CAN I MAKE SUGAR COOKIES EGG-FREE WITH APPLESAUCE?
Halleluiah, yes! No fancy egg replacer needed in this sugar cookie recipe.
Not even a flax egg needed. Although, I’m sure that would work, too, because this recipe only calls for one egg.
With just applesauce, the cookies bind together beautifully. Not crumbly at all.
On the other hand, don’t worry, these sugar cookies won’t taste anything like applesauce.
Just like with our banana bread recipe, applesauce works discreetly in this sugar cookie recipe.
You’re gonna love the ease!
CAN I MAKE THESE SUGAR COOKIES GLUTEN-FREE?
Yes! Here’s a fun review. This food allergy mama successfully made these sugar cookies dairy, egg, nut, soy, and gluten free!
“We just made the sugar cookies!! Couldn’t even get the icing made!!! Took the first dozen out of the oven and 7 were gobbled up quickly!! These are so good, I love them! We did double butter (no coconut oil) and gluten free!!! The kids were super excited and loved them!! Hubby loves them because they are soft!! Big hit here!!” Jennifer
Before getting this post made,
we asked our Facebook community who wanted the recipe.
You all crack me up because even without a recipe link,
this beauty was shared and liked and loved way beyond our expectations.
Turns out, easy sugar cookies that are dairy-free and eggless are a dream for many!
And I’m about to make your dreams come true. I can’t wait!
SUGAR COOKIE HOLIDAY DECORATING
Since it’s January at publication, we used cute Valentine sprinkles for these cookies.
What I most love about this easy recipe is that the sprinkles make the cookies!
Not cookie cutters, not colored icing, not piping.
Just easy peasy sprinkles.
And we can find our favorite sprinkles for each holiday and enjoy making these cookies year-round!
No more waiting for Christmas to make sugar cookies.No ma’am.
This recipe is a game changer.
Here’s a post you may find helpful with these cookies, our favorite dairy-free sprinkles.
Think of the sprinkle possibilities!
FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES IN AN HOUR
Truly, even with homemade icing…these frosted and sprinkled cookies can be made so quickly.
In half the time it takes to chill roll-out sugar cookie dough, you’ll be nibbling on these finished cookies!
Making the cookie dough takes about 15 minutes tops.
Baking time is about 10 minutes.
When the cookies come out, let them cool about 15-20 minutes on a rack.
While cooling, take 10 minutes to make your homemade buttercream frosting.
And in the last 5 minutes of your hour, frost the cookies and add sprinkles while the frosting is still wet.
The frosting will set if you let them sit a little longer, but at that point…hands will be grabbing for the cookies.
Sprinkles are hard to resist!
I bet your kiddos won’t even ask why no shapes.
Circle sugar cookies more than pass the test with sweet icing and fun, festive sprinkles.
Not to mention, these are going to be softer and chewier than roll-out cookies.
Pretty much cookie perfection.
Cookie and frosting recipe below!
SUGAR COOKIE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING DAIRY-FREE
1/3 cup dairy-free butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
dash of salt
1/4 cup dairy-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whip ingredients together in your mixer. We love using our Kitchen Aid Mixer (affiliate).
This frosting can be made ahead of time. Store in refrigerator and bring to room temp before frosting cookies.
See sugar cookie recipe below.
DROP & NO-ROLL SUGAR COOKIES DAIRY-FREE & NO EGG
Makes approximately 32 cookies large cookies.
COOKIE INGREDIENTS
2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dairy-free butter
1/2 cup solid coconut oil (or more dairy-free butter)
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 tablespoons applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (affiliate)
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted dairy-free butter)
COOKIE DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl: whisk together 2 and 3/4 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. baking powder.
In your mixer: cream together 1/2 c. dairy-free butter, 1/2 c. solid coconut oil or more dairy-free butter, 1.5 c. sugar.
Beat 4 tbs. applesauce and 1 tsp. vanilla into the butter, oil, sugar mixture.
Mix in 1/4 tsp. salt if using unsalted dairy-free butter.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix until combined.
Place dough onto a cookie sheet using a cookie scoop (affiliate). Or drop dough by the spoonful and roll into 1″ balls with the palm of your hand.
Bake about 10 minutes on 375 degrees until golden brown on the edges and no longer glossy wet in the center.
Let cookies sit on cookie sheet 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.
While the cookies are cooling, start making your dairy-free buttercream frosting.
DAIRY-FREE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1/3 cup dairy-free butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
dash of salt
1/4 cup dairy-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix ingredients together until smooth.
HOW TO FROST SUGAR COOKIES
Frosting your sugar cookies is so easy. Much easier than decorating rolled, cookie cutter cookies.
First, make sure your cookies are cooled.
Have your dairy-free buttercream frosting made (recipe above).
Then choose your sprinkles! See our favorite sprinkles in a post linked above.
To frost, simply spread the buttercream on each cookie.
I like to leave about 1/4 inch of the edges of the cookie showing, but I spread it on thick!
After frosting a cookie, add sprinkles. Repeat until all the cookies are decorated.
The frosting will set fairly quickly and the sprinkles won’t stick if you wait too long.
Add sprinkles as you are frosting, don’t wait to add sprinkles after frosting.
HOW TO STORE FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES
Since this sugar cookie recipe uses buttercream frosting and not royal icing,
the icing is not going to set as hard and solid.
While it’s a nice creamy frosting…it’s not 100% fool-proof for stacking.
When I store our frosted drop sugar cookies, I store them in a single layer in a large, shallow airtight container.
This way the icing and sprinkles don’t get messy.
Stored this way, your cookies will taste fresh and delicious for at least a few days.
DO YOU HAVE TO FROST THE SUGAR COOKIES?
You sure don’t.
I’ve made these cookies a few different ways.
One, with no icing or sprinkles.
Two, with just sprinkles. Simply add the sprinkles BEFORE baking by gently pressing the cookie dough balls a little flat (to about 1/2 inch) on your cookie sheet so the sprinkles stay on while baking.
Three, the frosting and sprinkles are a huge hit at our house. But truly, frosting and or sprinkles are totally up to you.
These dairy-free and eggless sugar cookies will be delicious no matter what.
Hope you love them as much as we do!
You can save these cookies on Pinterest for later.
And see more dairy-free cookie recipes here!
