Buttery Vegan Almond Cookies

You won't be able to keep your hand out of the cookie jar with these buttery vegan almond cookies!

These vegan almond cookies are exquisitely crispy and melt-in-the-mouth and a sure hit with anyone you feed them to. They are also easy to make and shape. The fluffy, light dough comes together in one bowl and you scoop them out on a baking sheet with a cookie scoop or a spoon. A shower of colored sugar or sprinkles gives a festive look. It's a great project to work on with kids!

I have a ton of vegan cookie recipes on the blog but I like to share a few new ones with you each holiday season. I already have a great gluten-free and naturally sweetened vegan almond flour shortbread recipe on the blog that goes from scratch to done in 20 minutes, and a vegan amaretti cookie as well as a gluten-free vegan amaretti cookie. This tasty vegan Almond Cookie is as different as can be from those goodies, but it is just as good.

There is a ton of almond flavor in these cookies. But above all they are so crispy and tender and oh so delicate: in fact, the amazing texture is almost impossible to describe. You will just have to bake them and eat them to know what I'm talking about.

Why you'll love these Buttery Vegan Almond Cookies

• They are delicious. These cookies taste like the holidays! They are chock-full of almond flavor from both almond flour and almond extract, and the texture is simply wow.
• They are easy to make. This is a one-bowl cookie dough and there's no need to separately mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. The dough takes minutes to put together using simple ingredients. There's no shaping of the cookies involved--just scoop them out into a baking sheet, shower with a snowfall of colored sugar if you like, and bake. Voila, cookies!
• You get a ton of cookies. This dough makes about 32 large cookies, each about 2 ½ inches in diameter. You can make smaller cookies and get many more.
• The recipe is tweakable. I like these cookies thin so they are crispy, but if you like thicker, fluffier cookies, or if you simply want to use less butter, I have some tweaks for you.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks Vegan Butter. Use any brand you like. Make sure the butter is soft and at room temperature, but not melted.
• ¾ cup sugar.
• ¼ cup aquafaba or chickpea brine. This replaces eggs in the recipe, and it helps create the wonderful texture.
• 2 teaspoons almond extract. I like lots of almond flavor in these cookies, but if you want to cut down you can do 1 teaspoon.
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
• 1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour.
• ¾ cup almond flour. Use superfine or finely ground almond flour.

How to make Buttery Vegan Almond Cookies

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugar for two minutes or until light and fluffy. You will need to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times. (If you don't have a mixer you can use a bowl and a whisk and put your muscles to work to get everything nicely incorporated).

• Add the aquafaba and almond and vanilla extracts and mix in.
• Mix in the flours one after the other, beating about 20 seconds after each addition. Make sure you scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and incorporate everything thoroughly.

• Using a cookie scoop of spoon, scoop out rounds of the dough on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving two inches between each cookie as they will spread quite a bit while baking. Flatten the tops slightly and decorate with colored sugar or sprinkles at this time, if desired.
• Bake 11 minutes or until the edges are browned.
• Remove from the oven and wait 5-7 minutes for the cookies to firm, then, using a thin spatula, transfer them to a wire cooling rack and cool thoroughly.

Tips and tweaks

• To make the cookies thicker, increase the amount of all purpose flour to two cups and decrease almond flour to ¼ cup.
• You can decrease the amount of butter in the cookies to 1 ½ sticks and use another quarter of a cup of aquafaba. This will also result in thicker cookies.
• There is no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe. But if you want cookies that rise a bit you can add a teaspoon of baking powder with the flours while making the cookie dough.

Storing the cookies

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. They will keep a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

You can make the cookie dough beforehand and freeze. Thaw and shape into cookies before baking.

More delicious vegan cookie recipes

• Vegan Shortbread Cookies
• The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies
• Vegan Gingersnap Cookies
• Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Vegan Banana Cookies