Chewy Vegan Birthday Cake Cookies {Gluten Free}
These vegan birthday cake cookies are soft and chewy in the center and have a nice crisp outside. Enjoy them with you family any day of the week or bring them to your next get together. Nobody will ever suspect they are gluten free or vegan!
One of the best cookies of all time in my opinion are birthday cake cookies and these certainly live up to that standard. They are even gluten free and contain no animal products like butter or eggs.
My girlfriend is obsessed with anything confetti or birthday cake flavored so naturally when I was thinking of a new vegan cookie recipe this was the first to come to mind. She loved them so much the first time I made them that It’s become a regular request. I didn’t tell her they were vegan at first because I wanted her honest opinion and she couldn’t even tell they were vegan or gluten free.
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Vegan Birthday Cake Cookie Ingredients
- Ground Flax Meal
- Water
- Vegan Butter
- White Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Gluten Free Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1)
- Vanilla Extract
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Vegan Rainbow Sprinkles
What Makes These Vegan?
These cookies are vegan because they don’t contain any animal products at all. Most cookies contain butter and eggs which are not vegan. For this recipe I replaced the egg with a flax egg and the vegan butter replaces the regular butter. They also have vegan sprinkles which you can find here. The result is a cookie that is soft and chewy in the center with a slight crisp on the outside. Honestly you can’t tell the difference between these and a regular cookie which I think is a big deal!
What Is A Flax Egg?
A flax egg is common in many vegan recipes. The purpose is just like it sounds, it replaces eggs in a recipe to make it vegan. Making a flax egg is super easy, for each egg you are replacing just combine 1 tablespoon of flax meal and 3 tablespoons of water together in a bowl. Let the flax absorb the water for about 5 minutes before adding it to the other ingredients and boom, that’s it!
Does it actually work? In many recipe flax or chia eggs can be very effective at mimicking the quality of real eggs. Sometimes these egg alternatives can give your recipes a gummy texture and make them more dense but they do a pretty good job as a binder like normal eggs. Try making these Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies vegan by replacing the egg with flax eggs, you would never know the difference!
How Do I Store These Cookies
There are couple great options for storing these cookies. First you can bake off all the cookies and simply place them in a gallon size bag or wrap them in plastic. They will stay fresh on your counter for up to 4 days or a week in the fridge.
If you prefer fresh baked cookies then the second option is your best bet. In order to get fresh cookies every time scoop out the cookies and press on them lightly to form little cookie pucks then place them into a freezer bag as pictured below. Place the bad of pre measured cookies in the freezer and viola, you have cookie dough all ready to go whenever you want it. Simply take a puck or two out of the freezer, place them onto a cookie sheet, and bake them. This way you can enjoy fresh cookies any time during the week and you don’t have to worry about the cookies getting dried out if you can’t eat them quick enough.
Gluten Free Vegan Birthday Cake Cookies
Equipment
- 2 Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- 1 whisk
- 1 Rubber Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- 2 cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Ground Flax Meal
- 3 tbsp Water
- ½ cup Vegan Butter
- ½ cup White Sugar
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 ¼ cups Gluten Free Flour
- ¾ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Vegan Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine flax meal and water in a small bowl, stir then set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Using a stand mixer or mixing bowl beat the vegan butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add in the flax mixture and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sprinkles until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently combine until a smooth dough forms with no clumps.
- Use a 2 oz cookie scoop to make about 20 cookie dough balls on prepared cookie sheets with 2 inches between each cookie. Press each dough ball down slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until outer edges just start to brown. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.