Knowledge Base > Fran Costigan - Fall Flavors Are Calling

Fall Flavors Are Calling

Fran Costigan - Fall Flavors Are Calling

This event was on Tuesday, October 07, 2025 at 1:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 pm Eastern

When we think of autumn desserts, the usual suspects—cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg—often take center stage. But the season offers so much more! In this month’s Essential Vegan Desserts… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

Is there a way to do make sugar cookies with icing in a way that is whole food and plant based?

— Tiffiny Mitchell

Answer:

So Tiffany, there are lots of recipes that are vegan, healthy-ish and absolutely delicious. Like my chocolate cake for example, or the pudding or in terms of a sugar cookie though, sugar cookie is really a very simple recipe. It's basically flour cane sugar and a fat like butter creamed in. Um, I actually do sugar cookies sometimes with oil replacing the oil. And when I replace oil, when I use oil in place of butter, I use about three quarters of the amount. However, the fat and the sugar, which is significant in a sugar cookie is what gives it the texture, the consistency, the texture, and the flavor that you are missing. So I would say the answer is you're not going to get the same thing at all. And I would encourage you to find a whole food plant-based, and by that you might mean whole food plant-based, no oil recipe that is already in place, not a sugar cookie. Whole food plant-based cookies tend to be chewier than a, you know, we, I mean a vegan cookie is still or mine are, or in this course our recipes are whole foods to a great extent with very few exceptions. But a sugar cookie is going to be hard to do in a whole food plant-based way. If at all. If anybody disagrees with me, I would really like to know that I'm always looking for information and I've said this before, um, one of the things that I love the most about culinary is there's always something new to learn.
Fran Costigan

Fran Costigan

Director of Vegan Pastry

FranCostigan.com