Buttery Danish cookies or Spritz cookies made dairy-free, but with all the familiar flavour of the classic biscuits you get in a tin! These are great fun to make (especially if you have a cookie press, although it's not essential) and make wonderful homemade gifts.
I was so pleased with how beautiful and delicious these little vegan Danish butter cookies turned out, when I first created this recipe.
And I have been making them regularly ever since, especially at Christmas.
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The three main things I love about this recipe: the melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness, how fun they are to make and how beautiful they look (for the short while before they're all eaten).
This post includes a step-by-step recipe, tips and a short guide on how to create a festive gift tin to store them in.
Creating a Danish Butter Cookie gift tin
Aside from eating the cookies, and playing with the cookie press, this is one of the best parts.
I love displaying these beautiful cookies in a tin, regardless of whether I'm giving them away as gifts or keeping them for myself.
You'll just need the following:
- A batch of these Vegan Danish Butter Cookies (Recipe at the bottom of this post)
- An empty medium round tin with lid (an old cookie tin is perfect)
- Plain cupcakes cases
- Extra sugar for sprinkling
It will depend on the size of your tin, but I used 7 cupcake cases to place around the inside edges of the tin and 1 for the centre (8 total).
Fill each cupcake case with 3-4 cookies.
Sprinkle generously with white granulated sugar.
Now create a second layer on top of those cases and repeat.
Recipe FAQ
Not at all! You can simply roll the dough into small balls and press with your fingers or a fork. If you use this method, refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes beforehand for the best result.
Or, use an icing bag + a star shaped nozzle to create wreath shapes (you can see I've used this method for some of the cookies pictured).
This can happen when the weather gets really cold OR if the mixture is overworked or too dry.
If you're using a piping bag, you can "massage" the bag to warm up and loosen the mixture.
The other solution is to return the mixture to the bowl, and without overworking the dough, mix in a small amount of dairy-free milk, until you have a softer consistency.
If all else fails, chill the dough and roll or cut out shapes instead!
Try chilling your tins beforehand, this usually solves the problem. I put the lined baking tins in the freezer for about 15 minutes before adding the cookies to bake.
Despite being dairy-free, these cookies will be just like how you remember the original.
In fact, many shop bought Danish Butter Cookies are made with vegetable oils, making them more shelf stable and are therefore vegan-friendly.
I recommend a good-tasting vegan butter alternative, such as Naturli block, Vitalite or Earth Balance Buttery. Found in most supermarkets.
If you can't get hold of a vegan butter and can only find margarine, one of my readers, Maria, has a great tip: Use butter flavouring. It is usually vegan-friendly.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Danish Butter Cookies
Vaniljekranse aka Danish Butter Cookies are THE essential Christmas cookie, in my opinion. This is a vegan recipe for those who miss this nostalgic taste...
Ingredients
- 200 g / 7 oz dairy-free buttery spread
- 130 g / 4.5 oz confectioner's sugar
- 310 g / 11 oz plain flour
- 1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp water
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp almond milk, if needed
- 2 tbsp white sugar, for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / fan 160C / 350F. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Mix together the dairy-free butter and icing sugar to create a soft buttercream.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the milk, and mix until just combined. If the mixture is too dry, add the 1 tbsp of milk or more until a soft but firm batter is formed.
- Create the cookie shapes either using a cookie press, piping bag or simply dropping a tsp of batter onto the sheet.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, regularly checking to make sure they are baking evenly. Turn your baking sheet around to face the other way half way through, if necessary.
- Let cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack then sprinkle with sugar. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield 60 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 49Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 0mgSodium 22mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 0gSugar 3gProtein 1g
Amy U. says
Thanks for sticking with it and giving it another go! More cruelty-free cookies for everyone! <3
AmyW says
Ooh, these look SO GOOD! I was looking for a dairy free recipe for these last year and gave up hope that there would be a way of making them taste like they're meant to! I remember we used to get tins of these at Christmas when I was a kid!
Can I ask what buttery spread you used?
Aimee says
They're such a nostalgic thing for me too, I was so happy when they tasted like the original! I used a spread called Vitalite - which is the closest taste and texture to real butter that I've come across. I think Earth Balance do some buttery spreads too that are apparently quite good (not tried them myself though) Let me know if you make them! :-)
AmyW says
Oh cool, I'm so glad to hear you say that as I can easily get Vitalite! I was worried you were going to say Earth Balance as I often see that used in vegan recipes and I don't think we can get that in the UK, can we?
I'll let you know if I get round to making them! :D
jen says
Hello, can you tell me what the conversion would be for butter, sugar and flour to cups? Thanks!
Aimee says
Hi Jen, the conversions are:
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp butter
1 1/3 cup icing sugar / powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
but please note these are just conversions and haven't been tested on this recipe!
jen says
Thank you!
Natalie says
These look amazing! Can't wait to try them! One question.....Is icing sugar the same as powdered sugar?
Aimee says
Thanks Natalie! Yes, it's the same as powdered sugar / confectioner's sugar. I'll update the post later to clarify :-) Please let me know how you get on!
Vicky says
These are so pretty! We always used to buy a tin of these biscuits at Christmas, these are a huge reminder of good times!