You can make delicious vegan red velvet cookies with only 3 ingredients. Add some option add-ins to dress them up or eat as-is.
Jump to RecipeHaving an easy cookie base is a perfect way to make a delicious dessert, and it doesn’t get easier than just 3 ingredients. I found these vegan red velvet cookies to be yummy as is, but you can also dress them up a bit if you’d like.
Why vegan? I found out last year that I am allergic to dairy and eggs. It was definitely a shift to try to find recipes without those two ingredients. Dairy seems to be in EVERYTHING! Luckily, I’ve always loved to cook and make my own recipes, so we’ve been doing a lot of that. And a lot of dairy substitutions for our regular recipes.
Most red velvet cake mixes will be vegan but verify the ingredients. The vegan butter takes the place of the regular butter in cookies, and the applesauce is a substitute for the eggs.

Vegan Red Velvet Cookies Step by Step
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25 oz) red velvet cake mix
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
- 1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix the cake mix, butter, and applesauce in a medium mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.

Use a cookie scoop to spoon out 1 tbsp of dough onto a baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges start to get light brown or hardened.
Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Add-Ins
There are a lot of options for add-ins.
- Chocolate Chips: You can add 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips to the cookie dough before baking. Again, if you don’t need it to be vegan and dairy-free, you can use regular chocolate chips.
- Powdered Sugar: After the cookies have baked and cooled, dust with a bit of powdered sugar.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Typically, red velvet cookies and cake are topped with cream cheese frosting. If you want to keep these dairy-free, make sure you check your ingredients. I was able to find some store-bought cream cheese frosting without dairy (which did make me question how it’s considered cream cheese!).
Leftovers
Stor remaining vegan red velvet cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for about 5-7 days if you don’t eat them first!

Recipe
Originally Published On: January 3, 2022

3 Ingredient Vegan Red Velvet Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 oz red velvet cake mix
- 1/2 cup vegan butter (melted)
- 1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Mix the cake mix, butter, and applesauce in a medium mixing bowl until thoroughly combined
- Use a cookie scoop to spoon out 1 tbsp of dough onto a baking sheet, about 1 inch apart
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges start to get light brown or hardened
- Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely
Notes
- Add 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips to the batter before baking
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving
- Drizzle with cream cheese frosting
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Vegan Red Velvet Cookies FAQs
No, you can use regular butter if you aren’t trying to keep these vegan and dairy-free.
Even though these are cookies, you want to stick with the unsweetened applesauce. If you use the sweetened applesauce it can be too much. Plus, there are often other flavors, such as cinnamon, in the sweetened applesauce that would change the flavor of the cookies.
More Vegan Snacks
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Hummus Recipe
- Fried Vegan Beignets Recipe
- Vegan Mounds Bars
- Two Minute Salsa
- Savory Vegan Cream Cheese Wontons
- 3 Ingredient Vegan Red Velvet Cookies
- Vegan Breakfast Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies with No Butter or Dairy (Vegan Recipe)
- Salad with Warm Potatoes and Hummus
- Almond-Date Energy Balls
- Vegan Coconut Ice Cream
- Crystallized Pineapple: A Sweet Snack with Only 3 Ingredients
- Chunky Guacamole Recipe
- Garlic Hummus
- BBQ Waffle Chips from Scratch
- Frozen Fruit Cups: The Perfect Summer Treat
- Pico de Gallo Recipe
Other Cookie Recipes
- Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cherry Chocolate Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Vegan Red Velvet Cookies
- Vegan Breakfast Cookies
- S’Mores Cookies – Girl Scouts Copycat Recipe
- Key Lime Frosted Cookies
- The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies I’ve Ever Eaten
- Peppermint Chocolate Ganache Thumbprint Cookies
- Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies with No Butter or Dairy (Vegan Recipe)
- Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Berry Shortcake with Cornmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These look and sound so good. I need to give these cookies a try, I bet my family would love them.
The vegan red velvet cake recipe will go down really well with my vegan friends. I will really try it!
These look so good and I love how easy they are to make too! What a fun idea for something sweet in a pinch.
What an easy way to prepare cookies. These look delicious! I bet my kids would enjoy making these.
I think my grown kid (who is coming to visit with his family soon) would love these, and I’ve never had them, so we are going to attempt them when he arrives (he doesn’t know yet, I know he will approve).
I love red velvet! I can’t wait to try these cookies. They look delicious.
We love red velvet cake so these will be super yummy!
I have never had red velvet cookies. I would like to try them.
I love Red Velvet Cake but never tried the cookies, the recipe looks quick and easy to make
Looks delicious! I’m a big fan of red velvet.
These red velvet cookies omg look so delicious…I can’t wait to make it, can’t wait…
Delicious cookies that only take 3 ingredients? That sounds perfect to me!
Love how easy this looks to make, red velvet cake is one of my favorites.
These look amazing, I have never thought of using a cake mix to make cookies, will have to make these with my granddaughter when I have her next
I’ve made red velvet cake before but never cookies what a great idea will definitely have to try this out.
These red velvet cookies look delicious. We’re not vegan but I want to still try making these.
I love having cake mixes in the house for the odd occassion where I can’t be bothered to make something from scratch but have an occassion. I love a red velvet cake so these look great x
I have had red velvet cake but never tried it as a cookie. These sound delicious
I love cake mix cookies and these look divine! Red velvet is my favorite…I’ve never tried vegan butter but I bet its so good in these.
These sound so easy to do. I love that you use apple sauce in place of eggs. That’s perfect for those wanting a vegan option.
This looks so good. I am printing the recipe so I can try it on weekend. Thank you for sharing.