Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Chocolatey, buttery, and fun to make! These Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing are the perfect Valentine's Day treat.
Happy Valentine's Day from us at Kitchen Potatoes!
As we said last week in our Vegan Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Meringues recipe release, our next few treats are completely focused on Valentine's Day! Of course, these goodies can all be enjoyed throughout the year. But if you are like us, it is so exciting to have every holiday filled with festive themed foods!
Sometimes people get the misconception that Valentine's Day is just for those in romantic relationships. However, I strongly disagree with this! While I do love to celebrate Valentine's Day with my fiancé, Devin, back when I was single I still celebrated every year!
Taylor and I used to go on date nights together every Valentine's Day! Thinking back to the first couple years of dating Devin; sure I would go on dates with him to celebrate Valentine's Day, but Taylor and I still made an effort to enjoy Valentine's Day together.
These cookies have a slight crunch on the outside and are soft in the middle like a truly perfect sugar cookie. Originally I was worried that after a couple days the cookies would harden and lose that soft chocolatey texture. However, these cookies are so delicious even days after they have been baked!
Now, if you are anything like me, you might be wondering why I am even suggesting that these cookies would last a couple days! Trust me, Devin and I devoured these in one day!
Our Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing make for an incredibly thoughtful gift for anyone this month. However, if you just want to make a batch for yourself, I respect and understand you! February is the month for self love too!
If you're looking for any other tasty desserts to make this Valentine's Day check out these recipes:
~ Tessa
Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Yield: approximately 18 cookies
Prep time: 10 minutes (plus an additional 20 minutes to make the icing)
Bake time: 12 minutes per batch
Author: Kitchen Potatoes
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· ½ cup cocoa powder
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· ¼ cup cornstarch
· 1 tsp vanilla
· 1 cup vegan butter
· ¼ cup cold water
Royal Icing
· ½ cup aquafaba
· ½ tsp cream of tartar
· ½ tsp vanilla
· 3 cups icing sugar + an additional 1 cup if needed
· Vegan food coloring of your choice
Method
Vegan Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder and cornstarch and stir with a whisk.
Add butter in large chunks and thoroughly blend with a pastry cutter or your fingers.
While stirring with a fork, slowly add the cold water to the mixture. If your mixture is crumbly, add more water, ½ a tablespoon at a time, until a dough is formed.
Form dough into a ball and place between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll dough between approximately ½ to ¼ inch in thickness. With cookie cutters or a cup, cut out cookies, reworking the scrap dough back together and rerolling it out until you have used all of the dough.
Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes. Remove cookies from oven once the cookies are set.
After removing them from the oven, transfer cookies onto a wire rack to cool. Then begin your Royal Icing or, if you are looking for a quicker alternative, try topping these cookies with our Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting.
Vegan Royal Icing
Once cookies have cooled, begin making the royal icing by placing aquafaba and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer.
With the whisk attachment, begin to beat on high speed, stopping every minute to add icing sugar, a cup at a time until the icing resembles the consistency of liquid glue.
Once the icing resembles the consistency of liquid glue, sprinkle cream of tartar onto the icing and beat icing on high for 18 minutes.
If dying your icing, separate the icing into bowls and mix in the dyes of your choice.
Transfer some of your icing to a piping bag with a small tip, seal (I use a rubber band) and set aside. This icing would be firm and best for piping borders and details.
Transfer some of your remaining icing to a bowl and thin with cold water, ½ a teaspoon at a time until you have reach the desired consistency for flooding,* then transfer this icing to a piping bag with a slightly larger tip. Place remaining icing into a container, cover, and set in the fridge until you are ready to use.
Frost cookies and add any sprinkles of your choice. Let the icing set before serving the cookies. Enjoy!
Notes:
* To cover a cookie with royal icing, outline the cookie with the firmer icing (see reference photo A). Then fill this area with the thinned icing, also known as flooding (see reference photo B). Use a toothpick to spread the icing evenly. Let the icing set and dry out until layering more icing details.
Photo A:
Photo B:
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