Cherry Heart Sugar Cookies (Vegan)
These cherry heart sugar cookies are delightfully soft and buttery, bursting with cherry flavor and finished with a sweet almond glaze. The base is a simple roll-and-cut sugar cookie elevated with tart cherry powder. Topped with a simple glaze unfused with a hint of almond, every bite delivers tart cherry and sweet almond all wrapped up in a tender heart shaped cookie. An incredibly easy, dairy and egg-free bake that could not be more perfect for the Valentines Day holiday. Whether you are gifting, bringing or self-indulging, these cookies need to be on your to-do baking list.
What you will need:
This is an easy roll-and-cut sugar cookie recipe topped with a simple glaze. The decorating part is all up to you! I used a mix of Whole Foods Vegan White Nonpareils and Pure Food by Estee Vegan Sanding Sugar in white and pink, but feel free to choose your favorite sprinkles. Both brands of sprinkles can be ordered online from Amazon. The cherry powder is probably not something you will find at the grocery store; I was able to order it from Amazon as well. All the other ingredients are pantry staples.
Cherry Sugar Cookies
- all-purpose flour
- plant based butter with salt – I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
- cane sugar – I used Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
- vanilla extract
- plant based yogurt – I used Silk Vanilla Almond Milk Yogurt
- cherry powder – Beleon Good Foods for Life Tart Cherry Powder
Almond Glaze
- powdered sugar – Zulka Powdered Pure Cane Sugar
- aqua faba – I used the liquid from a can of cannellini beans (I had it on hand)
- plant based milk – I used Planet Oat Original Oat Milk
- almond extract
- plant based red food coloring – I used Whole Foods Plant Based Food Coloring
- decorations – vegan white nonpareils and vegan white and pink sanding sugar
How too:
Start by making the sugar cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugar together with a handheld mixer on high speed for about 2 minutes. Mix in the yogurt, cherry powder, and vanilla extract, blending on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Add the flour to the wet mixture and blend on low speed until everything is well combined and the dough comes together.
Divide the dough into two equal parts, shape each into a disc, and wrap them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or let them chill overnight if you like.
When you’re ready to cut out the cookies, line 1 to 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. The size of the cookie sheets will determine how many you will need. Take one portion of dough from the fridge at a time and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness and begin cutting out the cookies. Reroll the dough as needed but try to avoid handling it too much. If it gets too warm or soft, just pop it back in the fridge to firm up before continuing. I used a single heart shaped cutter that is 3 inches x 2.5 inches in size.
Place the cut cookies on the prepared pan(s). Once they are all cut out, chill them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. I was able to cut out 16 cookies. Once the cookies are done chilling, preheat the oven to 350F. Transfer the cookies to a room temperature cookie sheet; baking them on a cold pan will affect the bake. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes – mine baked perfectly at 11 minutes. They should be set and just beginning to brown. Let the baked cookies rest on the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
The cookies are ready to be glazed and decorated once they have cooled to room temperature. I glazed and decorated my cookies 4 different ways – white glaze with pink sanding sugar, pink glaze with white sanding sugar, dark pink glaze with white nonpareils and red and white marbled glaze with white nonpareils.
I used Whole Foods plant-based red food coloring to create the pink, dark pink and marbled coloring. I decorated with Pure Food by Estee Vegan white and pink sanding sugar and Whole Foods Vegan White Nonpareils Sprinkles.
To make the glaze, add all of the glaze ingredients to a small bowl – powdered sugar, aquafaba, milk and almond extract. Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of beans. I used the liquid from a can of cannellini beans; the liquid from a can of chickpeas will work as well. Stir the ingredients until well combined and smooth. Divide the glaze among 4 bowls. Make sure the bowls are large enough so you can easily dip the tops of the cookies into them.
In Bowl #1, make a dark pink to red glaze by adding red food coloring until you get the desired shade. Bowl #2 will be the plain white glaze with no coloring. For Bowl #3, create a marbled glaze by adding 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring and swirling it with a toothpick. Bowl #4 will be a light pink glaze—add 3 to 4 drops of red food coloring and stir until you reach a soft pink hue.
I dipped 4 cookies per bowl. Holding each cookie, dip the top into the glaze, slowly lift it out, let the excess drip off, and place it on a parchment-lined pan. Once all 4 cookies are glazed, decorate with sanding sugar and/or nonpareils. Repeat the process with the remaining cookies.
Once the cookies are glazed and decorated, arrange them in a single layer in an airtight container and let them dry for a few hours. Be sure the glaze is completely set before stacking. Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.
Alright, let’s get started. Please make, bake and enjoy!
Cherry Heart Sugar Cookies (Vegan)
Ingredients
Cherry Sugar Cookies
- ½ cup (1 stick) plant based butter with salt – cool room temperature
- ½ cup (100 grams) cane sugar
- 1¾ cup (210 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (30 grams) plant based yogurt – cool room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp cherry powder
Almond Glaze
- 1½ cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp aqua faba (mine came from a can of cannellini beans)
- 4 tsp plant based milk (Oat milk)
- 8 drops almond extract
- plant based red food coloring
- Vegan White Nonpareils Sprinkles (Whole Foods Brand)
- Vegan Sanding Sugar – white and pink (Pure Food by Estee Brand)
Instructions
Cherry Sugar Cookies
- Place the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a handheld mixer, blend the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until light and creamy – about 2 minutes.
- Add the yogurt, vanilla extract and cherry powder to the butter mixture. Continue with the handheld mixer, blending at medium speed for about 1 minute.
- Add the flour to the wet ingredients, blending at low speed until all of the flour is incorporated.
- Divide the dough into 2 portions, form each portion into a disc and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to overnight.
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove one portion of dough from the refrigerator at a time. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a ¼ inch thickness. Begin cutting out the heart shaped cookies. Reroll the dough as many times as you need to; use as much of the dough as you can but try to handle the dough as little as possible. Place the cut-out cookies on one of the lined baking sheets. Repeat with the other disc of dough.*** I used a heart shaped cookie cutter measuring 3 inches x 2½ inches.
- Cover and place the cut cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, leaving the second tray of cookies in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them.***I placed the cookies coming out of the refrigerator, on a new room temperature tray, I do not bake them on the cold tray.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until set and the edges are just starting to brown. Allow them to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating them. ***The cookies can be baked on one day, stored in an airtight container and decorated the next day.
Almond Glaze
- Combine the powdered sugar, aquafaba, milk and almond extract in a bowl. Stir until smooth and well combined.
- Divide the glaze evenly among 4 bowls. Bowl 1: I added red food coloring until I achieved a desired dark pink to red color. Bowl 2: I left it white. Bowl 3: I added 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring and swirled with a toothpick to get a marbled look. Bowl 4: I added a few drops of red food coloring to get a light pink color.
- To decorate, dip the tops of the cookies into your chosen glaze, let the excess drip off, and set them back on the parchment-lined pan. Finish by adding sprinkles or sanding sugar for a fun touch.*** I decorated 4 cookies with each bowl of glaze.
- The cookies will need a few hours to dry before they’re ready to be stacked.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Such a creative vegan treat! The heart shapes are adorable, and I appreciate the tip about using a room-temperature tray for the second batch. Can’t wait to try these!
Thank you, Betty! They are super easy and super yummy. I hope you enjoy them.