Monday, May 3, 2010

(vegan) sugar cookies & buttercream frosting

Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
2 TB lukewarm water
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup soy or rice milk
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375. In a ramekin, mix together the egg replacer and the water. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add egg. Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, ending with the milk. Beat in the vanilla. Roll out onto floured working surface, and cutout with cookie cutters. For crispy cookies, roll the dough out thin. For soft cookies, roll the dough out so it's almost 1/4 inch thick.



Space the cookies out so that they won't expand into each other while baking. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Don't let the tops of the cookies brown, they are done when the bottoms are lightly browned. Let them cool for about 7 minutes before attempting to move them- you don't want your shapes to break. Let them cool on a wire rack completely before frosting them- you don't want melted frosting!

"Buttercream" Frosting

1 cup margarine
6 cups powdered sugar
6-8 TB soy or rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract

Beat margarine in a medium mixing bowl until softened. Add 3 cups of the sugar, mix well. Blend in 4 TB of the milk, then add the rest of the sugar. Beat in the extracts. If frosting is too thick, add more milk.

You can add food coloring at this point. Since margarine is not as stable as butter, it's best that you only make pastel colors with this frosting. It also will "melt" a lot faster- so it's best to store the frosted cookies in the fridge until ready to serve.



These cookies are amazing! They taste like the "real" thing!

Enjoy!

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