Vegan Rainbow Cookies

Vegan Rainbow Cookies Recipe

Welcome to the colorful world of Vegan Rainbow Cookies! If you’re looking for a fun and easy dessert option that is perfect for parties and gatherings, then you’ve come to the right place! These cookies are not only vegan-friendly but also incredibly easy to make with just four ingredients. They are a crowd-pleaser and are sure to be a hit at any gathering, from birthday parties to baby showers and potlucks.

Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

So I haven’t tried this before quarantine, but I became obsessed with making cookies at home, especially because at one point we weren’t even supposed to be going to the grocery store to get ingredients. This made cookie dough a special commodity, and I craved it more and more. The few times during quarantine that I was able to go get groceries, I ordered packs of Betty Crocker cookie dough – chocolate chip and sugar cookie!

So I had a pack of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix and I didn’t want to use the egg yolk, egg whites or butter it stated on the back of the package. I decided to try using vegan butter, making a flax egg, and adding sprinkles. VOILA these cookies actually turned out AMAZING! They were SO GOOD that I couldn’t NOT share it, even if it is a simple replacement to a pre-made cookie mix. You can try the same with any of her pre-made cookie mixes (the ones that don’t contain milk powder), but the sprinkles taste the best in this one because it makes it taste like birthday cake in cookie form!

So all you need is a pre-made sugar cookie mix, vegan butter, flax meal, and vegan sprinkles. Simply mix the ingredients together, roll the dough into balls, and add sprinkles before baking. They are so simple to make that even those who are not experienced bakers can whip up a batch in no time.

Why You’ll Love These Vegan Rainbow Cookies

Party Snack: Whip up these cookies with minimal hassle as the perfect treat to bring along to a potluck or a party. Rainbow cookies are always a crowd pleaser! One of the best things about these cookies is their flavor. They taste just like cake batter, with the addition of sprinkles giving them that popular classic birthday cake flavor and look.

The texture is soft and chewy, making them the perfect snack or dessert. They are also easy to customize by using different colors of sprinkles to match the theme of any party.

Colorful Cookies: These cookies are not only delicious, but they are also visually stunning. The sprinkles studded in a sugar cookie dough creates a beautiful, eye-catching effect that is sure to impress your guests. Their colorful, bright, and playful appearance makes them perfect for all kinds of occasions, from casual gatherings to formal events.

Dietary Restrictions: These cookies are a great option for those with dietary restrictions. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, lactose intolerant, or simply looking to cut back on animal products, these cookies are a fantastic alternative to traditional sugar cookies.

Substitutions: Dry Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Mix: The Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix is accidentally vegan. This means that it does not contain any animal-derived ingredients. However, the mix calls for two key ingredients of butter and eggs, which are not vegan.

So to make this mix vegan-friendly, we simply substitute vegan butter for regular butter and make a homemade flax egg as an egg replacement. The result is a delicious sugar cookie base that is ready to be transformed into a rainbow delight with the addition of sprinkles!

Sprinkles: Not all sprinkles are vegan-friendly. Some brands use coatings that contain insect-derived shellac, which is not vegan. It’s important to check the ingredients list before buying. PETA has a handy guide on vegan sprinkles, which you can find here.

Substitutions: Wet Ingredients

Vegan Butter: Melt Organics makes great vegan butter sticks. Vegan butter is a crucial ingredient in these cookies. It is a plant-based alternative to regular butter, which is made from cow’s milk. For this recipe, I recommend using salted vegan butter sticks from either Melt Organics or Earth Balance.

These brands are widely available in most grocery stores and have a creamy and delicious taste, just like regular butter.

Coconut oil has been used in replacement of butter in baking for certain recipes, but I don’t recommend to substitute any oils here. The buttery flavor is important to the sugar cookie flavor, because sugar cookies are essentially butter, sugar, vanilla extract and all purpose flour.

Flaxmeal: Flaxmeal is the vegan version of an egg – it makes flax eggs! This is used as an egg replacement in vegan baking. It is made from ground flax seeds and has a nutty and slightly sweet taste.

To make a flax egg, mix one tablespoon of flaxmeal with three tablespoons of water. Then let it sit for around fifteen minutes until it thickens. The flax egg helps to bind the ingredients together and gives the cookies a chewy texture. If you don’t have flaxmeal, you can also use ground chia seeds (chia meal) as a substitute.

Vegan Rainbow Cookies Notes

• You’ll love eating these cookies when they’re warm and gooey straight out of the oven! They firm up quite a bit the next day.
• The great thing about using a basic Sugar Cookie Mix is that it’s versatile! You can add different extracts to the dough. For example, a little bit of almond paste or vanilla extract will give the cookies a different flavor. Or swap out the sprinkles for chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit to create your own unique cookie recipe.
• Looking for a recipe to add to the Christmas cookie tray? Divide the cookie dough into different parts and color each with natural, vegan food coloring. This way you can make different colors to put together, rather than using sprinkles. These would be perfect for the holiday season too. One regular batch, one with red and one with green food coloring for tricolor cookies!
• Divide up the cookie dough to add all the colors of the rainbow in each separated dough section. Then put together individual cookies with one color from each of the dyed dough parts. This can make rainbow colors for pride month!
• Make these sugar cookies into a sea salt chocolate chip cookies flavor by mixing dark chocolate chips into the dough, then dipping half of each baked cookie in melted chocolate, topped with sea salt!

More Recipes You’ll Love

Easy Vegan Sugar Cookies (From Scratch): An easy vegan sugar cookie recipe that was inspired by Betty Crocker’s Sugar Cookie Mix, and tastes just like the store-bought version!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies: This soft and chewy gluten free and dairy free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe is made with chickpea and almond flour as the base!

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies: A simple vegan cookie recipe is like a chocolate haystack with easy to find ingredients, full of chocolate and oats and don’t require an oven!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies using browned butter for an amazing caramelized toffee flavor in this classic cookie!

Graham Cracker Toffee Bark: Triple layered Toffee Pecan Chocolate Bark Recipe with graham crackers as a crunchy base with chocolate pecan topping!

Nut-Free Snowball Cookies

If you make these Vegan Rainbow Cookies, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!