Healthy, light in sugar, gluten-free and grain-free vegan Christmas cookies! A buttery cashew and almond sugar cookie for this holiday season or any day of the year.
These are the healthiest, most delicious Christmas treat, made with cashews and almond meal instead of flour. Love holiday baking? Try my Healthy Christmas Sugar Cookies too.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 1 ½ hours, including a 30 minute cashew soak and 1 hour chill
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F
- ⏳ Total Time: about 1 hour 50 minutes, plus icing time
- 🍽️ Serving: about 15 large cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 234kcal per cookie, per the recipe card
- 🥣 Ingredients: raw cashews, almond meal, tapioca flour, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, arrowroot, confectioners sugar and plant-based milk
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery, creamy and lightly sweet, with a crisp, crunchy bite
- ✋ Difficulty: Blend, chill, roll, cut out, bake, ice
Quick Answer
Soak 2 cups raw cashews in water for 30 minutes and drain. Blend them in a food processor with 1 cup almond meal, 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla and 3 tablespoons plant-based milk until smooth, then mix in ½ cup tapioca flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon arrowroot and ½ cup confectioners sugar until a dough forms. Wrap and chill 1 hour. Roll it ¼ to ½ inch thick between wax paper, cut out shapes, and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely, then ice with 1 cup confectioners sugar mixed with 2 to 3 tablespoons milk. It makes about 15 large cookies.
Jump to:
- Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why These Vegan Sugar Cookies Work
- Why You'll Love These Christmas Cookies
- Key Ingredients
- A Christmas Cookie Memory
- How to Make Vegan Christmas Cookies
- Expert Tips
- More Healthy Christmas Cookies
- Vegan Christmas Cookie FAQs
- More Vegan Christmas Cookies
- Vegan Christmas Cookies (Grain Free)
I am starting to have an obsession over vegan desserts lately. And yes, you read that correctly! Healthy, light in sugar, grain-free, gluten-free, vegan, AND hardly any sugar in these cashew and almond meal cookies!
During the holidays my mom was endless in the kitchen, and that for sure is a trait that has been passed down to me. At Christmas our house was filled with the smells of chocolate crinkle cookies, buttery chocolate chip cookies, spritz Christmas tree cookies, and Pizzelles (I think I need this Pizzelle maker in the near future so I can make my own!).
Why These Vegan Sugar Cookies Work
Click to see why it works
- Soaked cashews make the dough creamy. A 30 minute soak blends them smooth and buttery.
- Nut oils keep them from sticking. Even with no flour, the cookies release from the cutters with a little shake and press.
- Tapioca and arrowroot bind the dough. They hold the cutout shapes without grains.
- Chilling firms the dough. An hour in the fridge helps it slightly harden for rolling.
- Thicker is better. Rolling them ¼ to ½ inch thick gives crisp edges and a satisfying crunch.
- Naturally sweet. Cashews and tapioca add sweetness, so not much sugar is needed.
Why You'll Love These Christmas Cookies
- Vegan, gluten-free and grain-free.
- Light in sugar, with a sugar-free option using monk fruit powdered sweetener.
- Buttery and crunchy, just like a classic cutout sugar cookie.
- Perfect for decorating with icing and sprinkles.
- A holiday tradition the kids will sneak, just like I did!
Key Ingredients
- Raw cashews - 2 cups, soaked 30 minutes for a creamy dough.
- Almond meal - 1 cup. See how many ounces are in a cup you need for any recipe.
- Tapioca flour and arrowroot - bind the dough and keep it grain-free.
- Coconut oil - melted, for a buttery flavor.
- Vanilla and Himalayan salt - for classic sugar cookie flavor.
- Confectioners sugar - or a monk fruit powdered sweetener for a sugar-free version.
- Plant-based milk - cashew or almond milk, for the dough and the icing.
See recipe card for quantities.
A Christmas Cookie Memory
After my mama's warm Christmas cookies came out of the oven, each was carefully wrapped in wax paper, packed into a large tin and stored in our cool garage until Christmas. My siblings and I would sit in the freezing cold garage sneaking those cookies until our bellies were round and plump!
Now that I have children, karma has hit, and they do the same exact thing to me! My boys ask for a "mama healthy cookie" a lot, and these vegan sugar cookies fit right into that category. Let's try to save them for snack time or dessert, boys.
At a friend's dinner party I made this paleo pie crust with extra cashews in place of some of the almond meal, and it tasted just like a sugar cookie. So I tweaked it into these vegan sugar cookies!
How to Make Vegan Christmas Cookies
1Soak the cashews. Soak the cashews in water for about 30 minutes, then drain.
2Make the dough. In a food processor, blend the cashews, almond meal, melted coconut oil, vanilla and milk until smooth, adding a bit more milk if needed. Transfer to a large bowl, add the tapioca flour, salt, arrowroot and confectioners sugar, and mix until it forms a dough.
3Chill. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap to form a ball and refrigerate about 1 hour to slightly harden.
4Roll and cut. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll the dough between two sheets of wax paper to ¼ to ½ inch thick, remove the top sheet and cut out shapes. If it sticks, dip the cutter in tapioca flour. Reroll the scraps until all the dough is used.
5Bake. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until slightly browned. Let the cookies cool completely.
6Ice and decorate. Mix 1 cup confectioners sugar with 2 to 3 tablespoons milk, put it in a plastic bag, snip a corner and decorate. Add sprinkles right away and let the icing harden about 30 minutes.
As always, be sure to check out the full recipe details in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips
- Don't skip the soak. Soaked cashews blend into the creamiest dough.
- Roll between wax paper so the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin.
- Dip cutters in tapioca flour if the dough feels sticky.
- Cool completely before icing, or the icing will melt.
- Careful with the dough. It is so creamy you will want to eat it all before baking!
More Healthy Christmas Cookies
Fill the cookie tin with my Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies, Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, Vegan Beet Sugar Cookies and Christmas Crinkle Cookies.
More holiday treats: Gluten-Free Almond Butter Cookies, Frozen Hot Chocolate Smoothie, Healthy Holiday Sugar Cookies and Avocado Crust Pesto Pizza.
Happy Holidays, friends! xo
Vegan Christmas Cookie FAQs
Yes. They are made with cashews, almond meal, tapioca flour and arrowroot, with coconut oil and plant-based milk, so they are vegan, gluten-free and grain-free.
Yes. Use a monk fruit powdered sweetener in place of the confectioners sugar in both the cookies and the icing.
Roll the dough between wax paper, and dip the cookie cutter in tapioca flour if it feels sticky. The oils from the nuts help the cookies release.
About ¼ to ½ inch thick. Thicker cookies come out crisp and crunchy.
Yes. Soaking them about 30 minutes helps them blend into a smooth, creamy dough.
About 15 large cookies, depending on the size of your cutters.
More Vegan Christmas Cookies
Keep the holiday baking going with Vegan Beet Sugar Cookies, Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies and Christmas Crinkle Cookies. Happy Holidays, friends! Follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for a feature and more recipe inspiration! And don't forget to leave a comment below!
Vegan Christmas Cookies (Grain Free)
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Ingredients
Christmas Cookies
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup almond meal flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
- ½ cup confectioners sugar (or Swerve powdered sugar made of monk fruit for a sugar-free version)
- 3 tablespoons milk or any plant based milk
Cookie icing
- 1 cup confectioners sugar (or Swerve powdered sugar made of monk fruit for a sugar-free version)
- 2-3 tablespoons milk cashew milk or almond milk
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Soak the cashew nuts in water for about 30 minutes. Drain the water.
- In a food processor add the cashews, almond meal, melted coconut oil, vanilla and cashew milk. Blend until smooth. If needed add a bit more milk till the mixture is smooth but thick. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the tapioca flour, salt, arrowroot flour and confectioners sugar. Blend until it forms a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap to form a ball. Refrigerate for about 1 hour to seal the flavors together and slightly harden.
- Meanwhile make the icing by mixing together 1 cup of confectioners sugar with 2-3 Tablespoons of milk. Put in a plastic baggy and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using wax paper place the dough on one sheet and then add another large piece of wax paper on top. Roll out the dough )in-between the wax paper) to form about ¼-1/2 inch thick. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and cut out into desired shapes. If sticky at all just dip the cutter into tapioca flour before cutting out shapes for easy removal. Roll extra dough into a ball and repeat rolling out and cutting out until all the dough is used.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until slightly browned. Let cool completely before adding the icing.
- Once cookies are cooled cut a slight slit in the corner of the icing baggy and decorate the cookies. Add sprinkles immediately. Let the icing harden about 30 minutes before serving.
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