Sugar Cookies!

We got our first snow today! I spent all day watching the snow come down and the first thing I wanted to do is go sledding when I got the chance. So when I got home I spent a solid 30 minutes finding the right snow gear and bundling up then I was ready! My sister, my dog Lua, and I headed out very excited to play in the fresh snow. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to sled in a 1/2 inch of snow. Instead, I figured the next best thing to do in the spirit of the snow was to make sugar cookies!


Sugar cookies are easily my favorite holiday cookie because I don't have good sugar cookies often. Plus I get to frost them! So I tried my hand at it. I got this recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. This book is my hands down favorite.
Here is the recipe:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup margarine, slightly softened (like Earth Balance "butter" sticks)
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract (you can also use almond, maple or any other flavor)
1/4 cup vanilla soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder and set aside.

In a larger bowl, cream the shortening, margarine and sugar with electric beaters until the mixture gets all soft and fluffy, for at least 4 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure everything mixes in. Now beat in the vanilla and lemon extracts and the soymilk until everything is just combined.

Beat in half the flour and when it is thoroughly moistened, and then mix in the rest to form a soft dough.

Divide the dough into two and pat each portion into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

On a lightly floured platform or board, roll each disc to about 3/8ths-inch thickness. Cut it into shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1-inch apart. Reroll leftover scraps and shape into more cookies.

In a preheated, 350-degree oven, bake the cookies for about 10 minutes until done.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for five minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.




I know it isn't a great picture but I had to include the blue man group I made from my sugar cookies!



(Recipe from the book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jarby Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, published by Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009.