If you loved those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars, you are going to go ga-ga over these amazing vegan strawberry shortcake cookies! Soft, tons of strawberry flavor bursting through, and a variety of texture will make these your new favorite cookie!
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Strawberry Shortcake lovers unite! These vegan strawberry shortcake cookies are out of this world insane.
I’m talking have you screaming hallelujah from the roof top good.
These amazing vegan cookies are melt in your mouth soft, packed full of strawberry flavor, and honestly just so perfect.
So often, we have veganized so many chocolate desserts, and while this one also has chocolate in the form of white chocolate, it’s not that deep chocolate flavor that one people don’t care for.
If you are a chocolate lover though, you will still go crazy for this one!
They are perfect for Valentine’s Day but also so much more!
Tips on how to make the best Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cookies recipe:
Here’s some easy tips on making the best vegan strawberry shortcake cookies recipe:
- Preheat the oven before you start chilling your dough and let it preheat for at least 30 minutes.
- Use a cookie scoop to ensure uniform size of cookies so they bake at an even temperature.
- Don’t make substitutions unless you are aware of the changes it will make to your cookies
- Watch your cookies in the oven as all oven temperatures are different you may need to pull out your cookies earlier or leave longer
Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cookies INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the main ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this easy vegan dessert recipe:
- Flour – We are using all purpose flour for this recipe.
- Applesauce – Our egg replacer of choice here. It’s simple to use and works perfectly while being neutral in flavor.
- Vegan Butter – we need oil in cookies for moisture and the best texture. It also provides the richness we expect cookies to have
- Brown and Cane Sugar – We are using both brown and cane sugar. Obviously it’s about sweetening, but the amount of brown sugar we are adding here also helps with the softness of the cookies thanks to the presence of molasses. If you want to learn more about why your sugar may not be vegan, you can learn more by clicking on the link.
- Baking Powder and Soda– helps again with the softness and helping us get that thick texture
- Vegan White Chocolate Chips – We are using white vegan chips that you can now easily find. The Great Value Top 8 Free white chips are what we are using here as they are vegan friendly. Enjoy Life and Pascha are other brands.
- Strawberry Emulsion– in addition to vanilla extract, we’re also using strawberry emulsion to get that strawberry flavor inside our cookies. This has a stronger flavor than just extract, but also gives it a pink tint to the overall batter.
- Golden Oreos – these are the vanilla oreo cookies – both the cookies and the cream are vanilla.
- Freeze Dried Strawberries – fresh strawberries would add too much liquid, so we are using freeze dried strawberries for this recipe.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- Flours – You could also do gluten free 1:1 flour blend like King Arthur or Bob’s.
- Applesauce – You can sub with 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoon ground flac + 6 tablespoon water). That would be our first preference, but you could also sub the same amount of banana, pumpkin or sweet potato puree, or non-dairy yogurt. Some of these may alter taste and texture.
- Brown and Cane Sugar – You can try coconut or date granulated sugars, but we have not tested these.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – Try vegan semi-sweet chips or dark chocolate or a combination of them all for a different taste
- Strawberry Emulsion – you can sub this for the same amount of strawberry extract. This won’t tint the cookie dough pink though, so if you don’t have strawberry emulsion, we’d recommend adding a few drops of red food coloring if you desire the pink coloring
- Golden Oreos – other vanilla flavored cookies can also be used
Frequently Asked Questions on how to make the best Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cookies:
Can I make these Top 8 Allergen Free?
Whether you have a gluten allergy or dairy or another Top 8, you will be happy to know that you can make these completely free of top allergens.
For the vegan butter, we would recommend using a soy free vegan butter, like Earth Balance soy free in the red tub
For gluten free, we have had the best of luck with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour.
Can I make any substitutions?
Besides the substitutions above for making Top 8 Allergen free, we are frequently asked if you can make them without vegan butter or swap out the sugar for a healthy sugar source.
The answer is yes, but. Yes, you can, but the taste and texture is obviously going to differ once you start making any changes.
For the butter you could make these Vegan Cookies with applesauce by replacing in the same amount.
For the sugar, we would recommend just replacing with a coconut sugar versus something else.
Can I prep these ahead?
Yes! Let cool completely and then leave in an air tight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze the dough?
Of course. Whether you want to eat the entire batch at one time or you just need a couple here and there, you can totally roll out what you need and then freeze the remaining batter in an air tight freezer container or bag
Can I refrigerate the dough until ready to use?
Absolutely! Make the dough ahead, cover the bowl and place in the fridge up to a week.
It does take very chilled cookies longer to cook so check after the recommended baking time and you may need an additional few minutes to finish your cookies.
What is vegan sugar?
In the United States, most sugar has been processed through bone char. While there are no animal parts left in the sugar, many vegans are not okay with the practice of using animal parts in the refining process.
This refers to white sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar.
One easy way to ensure that your sugar has not been processed with bone char is to look for Organic or Non-Gmo sugars as bone char is not allowed with either of these.
Some sugar packages also say bone char free.
This is not the case in most other countries.
Can I eat this cookie dough?
Many people believe that since there’s no eggs in the dough, that they could just eat the dough; however, flour is actually more a risk for salmonella poisoning than eggs.
For that reason, we do not recommend eating this dough.
However, we do have an edible vegan chocolate chip cookie dough that you can eat. As well as a gluten free edible vegan chocolate chip cookie dough.
Are chocolate chips vegan?
Traditionally, milk chocolate chips are not vegan; however, many dark chocolate chips can be vegan.
The main ingredient that makes a cookie not vegan is either milk or whey (whey powder). If those ingredients are not included in the ingredient list, then the chocolate chips are likely vegan.
You could also make your own vegan chocolate chips by following a homemade chocolate recipe and then piping chips instead.
Where do you find vegan white chocolate chips?
If you are looking to just find vegan white chocolate chips in the store, then you can absolutely find them. They are actually getting easier and easier.
Walmart’s Great Value Top 8 Free line of chocolate chips includes white chocolate chips and they are vegan friendly and affordable. Another option is Enjoy Life or Pascha.
What are other awesome vegan cookie ideas that I should make?
Whether you are doing a cookie exchange or you just want to switch up and make a new vegan cookie recipe, we have you covered.
We have over a dozen vegan cookie recipes that you can find when you click on our best vegan cookie recipes roundup.
We have everything from the salted caramel cookies you see above, as well as things like:
- vegan snickerdoodles
- vegan classic sugar cookies
- vegan peanut butter cookies
- vegan oatmeal cookies
- and more!
Just click here.
Pin these easy Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cookies for later:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened
- ⅔ cup vegan brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup vegan cane sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon strawberry emulsion (or same amount of strawberry extract + a few drops of red dye if colored desired).
- 10 golden oreos, roughly chopped
- 0.6 oz freeze dried strawberries
- ⅔ cup vegan white chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, add the softened vegan butter and both sugar. Beat together for 4-6 minutes or until light and creamy.
- Add in applesauce and both extracts. Beat them just until combined (about 20-30 seconds).
- Pour in dry ingredients to the wet and beat just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Fold in golden oreos, freeze dried strawberries, and white chips.
- Use a large ice cream scoop or your hands to make 9 cookies and place on a baking sheet. Optional, place more cookies/chips/dried strawberries on the tops of the cookies. Chill cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes. While waiting, preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
- Bake the cookies for 10-14 mins. Remove from oven and let rest about 15 – 20 mins to set.
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container.
I just made these cookies for the first time. I doubled the recipe because I am bringing them to a get together. There was so much batter it actually made triple the cookies, even using a large ice cream scoop-I’m not mad about it. I tried one and they are incredible! These will be going into my cookie rotation for sure!
This is amazing! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try! And we definitely understand not being mad about that!
What is your favorite vegan butter?
Country Crock plant butter sticks
I really want to follow this recipe to the T but I’m worried about soy especially from the Oreo cookies , finding a vanilla soy free cookie in stores is sooo hard unless you bake them yourself. Otherwise , I can’t wait to experiment with this recipe