Vegan Gooey Butter Cookies: Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, and Nut-Free

When I lived in St. Louis, I discovered that the city takes great pride in their food. Several items are signature fare: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, toasted ravioli, Imo’s Pizza, Dad’s Oatmeal Cookies, and Gooey Butter Cake. Guess what? My daughter Savannah can’t eat any of these treats. Oh the tragedy!

Side note: if you are looking for a signature St. Louis treat that is dairy-free, egg-free and nut-free…try Gus’s Pretzels!

One of my biggest challenges has been making allergen-free Gooey Butter Cake. I’ve tried non-dairy cream cheese and margarines with various egg-replacers. Nothing works. Although it is edible, I always end up with a runny, sticky mess. Truth be told, I once scooped up the filling from an unsuccessful allergen-free Gooey Butter Cake and used it as a sticky caramel icing to frost cupcakes!

After that experience, I moved on and asked the question, can I veganize Gooey Butter cookies? Not quite the same as the cake, but still delicious. Some people might say I can’t technically call these Gooey Butter since butter is not an ingredient. But if you ask me, if it tastes like Gooey Butter, I can call it Gooey Butter. And unless I’m asked, I don’t have to tell anyone that they are dairy-free, egg-free.

I used two secret ingredients:

Soy yogurt as an egg-replacer. This creates a perfectly gooey and chewy texture. My recommended substitution for cookies is 3T. soy yogurt to replace one egg.

Buttery Sweet Dough emulsion as a butter flavor enhancer. I know, I know. It is a special ingredient, you don’t have it in your pantry, and it’s only available online. But hear me out on this. In my online research, I discovered emulsions are often used in bakeries and in manufacturing to enhance the flavor of baked goods. I was extremely curious if it would improve the flavor of my home-baked goods which lack real butter.

The first batch of cookies I made only with vanilla extract, the second batch I added the Buttery Sweet Dough emulsion. It made a big difference in the buttery flavor. Now I’m looking forward to experimenting with emulsions more often. FYI, it is available through King Arthur Flour or directly from the manufacturer, LorAnn Oils.

Kudos to LorAnn Oils. When I contacted their customer service department, they were happy to provide me with allergen statements for the emulsions I requested, all of which are free of the top eight allergens…no tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, egg, soy, wheat, fish or shellfish:

• Almond Emulsion
• Butter Emulsion
• Butter Vanilla Emulsion
• Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion
• Princess Cake Emulsion

Another option: you can substitute imitation butter flavor available at many supermarkets, but I can’t promise you’ll get the same results as I did with the Buttery Sweet Dough emulsion.

It took a couple of tries, but I think I got the Gooey Butter Cookie texture and flavor just right. The results of my experiment are true bliss! These cookies are soft and chewy with just the right amount of gooey-ness. I think I may be onto something here!

Adapted from food.com

Vegan Gooey Butter Cookies
Makes 24-36 cookies

Ingredients

Dry ingredients* (see note below)
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Salt
2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour
[* OR, you may substitute the above dry ingredients with one 18.5 oz. box of dairy-free egg-free yellow butter cake mix, such as Duncan Hines brand.]

8 ounces dairy-free cream cheese, softened (recommended: Tofutti or Galaxy Foods brand)
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened (recommended: Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Spread)
3 T. soy yogurt (recommended: Whole Soy & Co. vanilla yogurt)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Buttery Sweet Dough emulsion
1 c. Powdered sugar for rolling

Procedure

1. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well and set aside. * OR skip to step 2 if using cake mix.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together dairy-free cream cheese and margarine using the paddle attachment.
3. Add soy yogurt, vanilla extract and Buttery Sweet Dough emulsion. Mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients or cake mix. Mix well.
5. Cover dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until cookie dough is firm.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
7. Portion chilled dough with a teaspoon or cookie dough scoop into 1 inch balls (Think the size of a ping pong ball).
8. Roll each ball in confectioner’s sugar and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
9. Bake 10-13 minutes.
10. Wait 1-2 minutes before removing cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

P. S. I haven’t tried this yet with gluten-free cake mix. If you try it, you will most likely need two boxes of GF mix since one box usually only yields half the cake of regular cake mixes.

About Sheila Ray

I've been a full-time creative communications professional since college, and my work includes art direction, graphic design, writing and photography. I run a freelance creative marketing strategy business from my home office. I'm also a mom of two children, one of which has life-threatening food allergies. I experience, learn, and discover more about myself and God's plan for me everyday. As I share my stories, I share my faith. I hope you find my blog informational and inspirational.

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