Soft roll-out sugar cookies with a touch of lemon and cinnamon make a perfect base for festive Easter treats. These cookies are topped with a vanilla vegan “butter”cream and are designed to be allergy-friendly. The Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies here are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, and tree nuts — top-8-free — with an easy vegan option.
I usually avoid rolling out sugar cookies because of the mess and time involved, which is why I often make sugar cookie bars instead. But when I spotted this bunny design I had to try it — the kids needed a spring break project and the lemon-cinnamon hint made these extra fun to bake.
I’m not a professional baker and I prefer quick, simple decorating. I kept the design basic: a swipe of frosting and a few store-bought decorations. It’s straightforward, real-life decorating that busy parents will appreciate.
True kitchen life: while I was finishing frosting, my kids discovered a mud puddle and came back soaked from the elbows down. If you follow my Instagram stories, you might have seen them happily drying outside while enjoying cookies. That’s the reality behind the scenes — kids, messes, and sweet treats.
This roll-out sugar cookie recipe should be your go-to for holidays. The cookies brown on the bottom, stay soft inside, and hold their shape well. The recipe was shared by a fellow allergy-conscious mom, and I found it outperforms other tried recipes that can turn out flat and overly crisp. When an allergy-friendly recipe fails, it’s especially frustrating because the ingredients can be costly and time-consuming to prepare.
This version uses applesauce as an egg replacer, making it affordable and simple to prepare. It’s great when you need an easy swap for eggs and want reliable results. Big thanks to Julie for the recipe!
You can frost these cookies, add Easter sprinkles, or enjoy them plain — I sampled all three! I hope these bring a sweet, allergy-friendly option to your Easter celebrations.
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Vegan Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies
16 cookies
1 hour 15 minutes
8 minutes
1 hour 23 minutes
Soft roll-out sugar cookies flavored with lemon and cinnamon, decorated with vanilla vegan buttercream. These cookies are crafted to be top-8-allergen free with a vegan option.
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup shortening (use dairy-free, soy-free if needed)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup applesauce (plain or cinnamon)
- 1 recipe vegan buttercream
- Candy eyeballs
- Large marshmallows (use vegan marshmallows if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon, salt, and sugar.
- Turn off the mixer and add the wet ingredients: lemon zest, shortening, vanilla, and applesauce.
- Mix until the dough forms a single ball.
- Cover and chill the dough for one hour.
- On a clean surface, dust generously with powdered sugar. Place the dough on the surface, dust the rolling pin, and roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes.
- Place shapes on the greased cookie sheet and bake 6–8 minutes. The cookies will brown on the bottom; watch for them to be set but not overbaked. Remove while still soft, transfer to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- TO ASSEMBLE THE BUNNIES:
- While cookies cool, prepare the vegan buttercream. Reserve a small portion of white frosting in a baggie and color the rest pink.
- Spread pink frosting on each cookie. Add two candy eyeballs and use a third eye, inverted, for the nose so they touch.
- Snip the corner of the baggie with the reserved white frosting and pipe a small mouth.
- Cut marshmallows into halves or quarters for ears and place them on top. Use vegan marshmallows if needed.
- Keep cookies covered when not serving to preserve freshness.
Idea adapted from: Frugal Momeh
Don’t forget to pin it so you don’t lose it.
Looking for more allergy-friendly cookie ideas? Here are a few favorites from the same collection:
Allergy-friendly Homemade Oreos (gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nut free; top 8 free; vegan)
Black and White Cookies (gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nut free; top 8 free; vegan)
Cherry Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies (gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nut free; top 8 free; vegan)
