20 Vegan Christmas Cookies to Share with Santa

There are a million zillion bazillion vegan cookie recipes out there, but who has time to look through them all? That’s why I’ve done the work for you and rounded up over 20 vegan Christmas cookie recipes to make your holiday delicious.

Of course, I hope you jump straight to these classic vegan chocolate chip cookies and these vegan gingerbread cookies. Want more than just cookies? Try these sticky sweet cinnamon rolls and these almond joy vegan brownies for a sweet holiday.

Why do we leave cookies for Santa?

Have you ever questioned WHY we leave cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve? I never did, until I became a parent and had to continue the tradition of eating the ginormous plate of cookies my kids left out the night before Christmas.

Of course, over the years I started encouraging them to leave less cookies and less milk. While they were safely tucked in bed, I’d be pouring the almond milk back into the carton and sneaking the cookies back onto the tray…leaving some crumbs for effect of course.

Which led me to wonder why I was spending my time doing this anyway? Did it have a deeper meaning, or is it just the modern way children lay sugar sacrifices in exchange for Amazon packages?

Turns out, no one else really has a solid answer either, but there are some interesting theories.

Probably the most common theory is that it originated in the 1930’s during the Great Depression, when parents used the economic hardship as a teaching tool, encouraging their kids to show thanks by leaving a gift of milk and cookies.*

Some speculate however, that this tradition is really linked to Germany and the paradise tree (a precursor to the modern Christmas tree), which was decorated in edible cookies that Santa would munch on during his nighttime travels. Others think that it’s linked to the German festivities on December 6th, which honors the third century bishop St Nick; with children leaving treats in exchange for gifts.*

And my personal favorite: could our leaving of cookies be rooted in Norse mythology, in which children would leave hay and treats to Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipner, in hopes that Odin would drop in with gifts during his Yule hunting adventure?*

So many questions, so many wiki answers. But none can confirm the truth.

Ever wonder why we leave cookies out for Santa? Does it have a deeper meaning, or is it just the modern way children lay sugar sacrifices in exchange for Amazon packages? I'm sharing the answers to this tradition + a roundup of 20 vegan cookie recipes to make your holiday delicious. #veganchristmascookies #veganchristmascookiesrecipes #veganchristmasrecipes #veganchristmasdesserts #veganchristmasbaking #bohemianvegankitchen

Regardless of its origins though, and despite my husband and I not being able to handle cookies at midnight, it’s still a fun tradition to keep up, even if we don’t know why we do it.

Which brings me to cookie recipes.

In honor of this mystical tradition, I have brought you a list of 20+ amazing vegan cookies to make for Santa…or Sleipner, whichever. Just make sure to watch out for Krampus.

Below you’ll find 20 delicious vegan Christmas cookies! These will be presented in order of the photo from first row, left to right, second row, and so on. Enjoy!