Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies

These light and fluffy easy vegan lemon cookies are the perfect combination of tangy and sweet. They come together in less than 30 minutes, and they are bursting with fresh lemony flavor. With their light and fluffy texture, no one will believe these are totally vegan!

Why I Love this Recipe

• Quick & easy – Only 8 ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes, these cookies are as easy as it gets.
• Allergy-friendly – These cookies are free of dairy and eggs and can easily be made with gluten-free flour as well.

Ingredients

• Canola Oil – Substitute with any neutral-flavored oil or vegan butter here if you prefer. If you choose to sub vegan butter, use ½ cup instead of 6 Tbsp
• White sugar – You could easily make these with brown sugar or substitute a liquid sweetener like maple syrup or agave. If you choose to substitute a liquid sweetener, reduce the amount of oat milk used to achieve the right consistency of the dough.
• Flour – I prefer all-purpose flour for most of my baking, but you could easily use whole wheat or gluten-free flour.
• Lemon extract – This is necessary for that super lemony flavor. Feel free to use more (or less) to your liking.
• Baking Soda – This helps achieve the light and fluffy texture of these cookies.
• Salt – Don’t omit this! It really highlights the lemony flavor.
• Lemon Juice – Fresh-squeezed lemon juice provides the best results, but refrigerated lemon juice works well if you don’t have fresh lemons on hand.
• Oat milk – Any plant-based milk works here. I find that oat or coconut really allow the lemon flavor to shine without adding their own flavor, but you could use almond or soy here as well.
• Optional: powdered sugar for dusting.

How to Make Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix the Wet Ingredients

Start by mixing the oil and sugar in a large bowl until they are well combined. Next, add in the lemon extract and stir.

Mix the Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Once the dry ingredients are mixed, add them to the wet ingredients.

Form the Dough

Next, add the lemon juice and plant milk 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing each time, until a dough has formed. The dough will be wet but not sticky. If you find that your dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in more flour and mix until the correct consistency is achieved (shown below).

Scoop and Bake

Next, use a spoon or cookie scoop to portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. I like my cookies a bit larger, so I got about 15 out of this recipe. You could easily get up to 24 cookies with smaller scoops.

Flatten each scoop slightly with the bottom of a measuring cup.

Place the cookies in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes. If you like softer cookies, remove them at 12 minutes. If you prefer a bit of crisp on the bottom, leave them in for the full 15 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet. This usually takes about 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar or just leave them plain.

How to Store Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies

• Room Temp: These cookies will store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
• Freezer: Freeze these fully baked cookies for up to 3 months.

More Tips for Making Easy Vegan Lemon Cookies

• Not Vegan? Use 1/2 cup of real butter instead of oil. Use dairy milk instead of plant milk.
• Gluten-free? Opt for a gluten-free flour and you’re all set!

Looking for more delicious vegan cookie recipes? Try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies or Vegan Snickerdoodles!