The Perfect Sparkling Sugar Cookies

When lovely and yummy collide I’m one happy lady. I am no sugar cookie decorating expert but it seems when a little sanding sugar and a delicious recipe (vegan! no less), go hand in hand, the result is quite spectacular and the perfect homemade gift to give away. These allergy-friendly cookies pass the pretty and tasty test given by my 3 and 4 year olds and would be perfect for a preschool snack.

Part inspired by the German glitter houses and a neutral color palette, these sweet lovelies feel festive without feeling over the top. Some sanding sugar and sugar pearls add just the right touch of lovely. Because I used organic powdered sugar which is less white then the other powdered sugars out there and I added a bit of vanilla extract to my frosting, the frosting has an ever so slight off white color. Keep that in mind if you’re wanting pure white frosting you’ll need to adjust it a bit– regular confectioners sugar and clear vanilla extract.

This yummy vegan sugar cookie is adapted from a sugar cookie recipe on The Decorated Cookie by Meaghan. I only did a couple things differently. I used what I had on hand but we’ve been cooking mostly vegan meals for a solid 4 months now, although would admittedly call ourselves “cheagans,” I actually had egg replacer and Earth Balance on hand. We also use the brand Miyoko’s which we get from Trader Joes. If I’m doubling the recipe, I use 1 C of each. We watched that movie, What the Health, on Netflix and decided to experiment since my hubby was diagnosed with hypertension at age 17 and has been on blood pressure medicine ever since. Since I’m a registered dietitian and we’ve already been eating a more plant-based diet, it wasn’t a huge life change but it’s nice to know that there are some yummy holiday cookies that we can still devour.

VEGAN SUGAR COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

1 C (8 oz) Earth Balance Soy-free “butter” or Miyokos “Butter” (at Trader Joes)

1 1/4 C Powdered Sugar

1 Tbsp Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer with 2 Tbsp Water, makes one “egg”

2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 C All Purpose Flour

1/2 salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 350 F. Mix egg replacer together and set aside for a minute or two to thicken. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream Earth Balance and powder sugar together for a minute or two, longer than just mixing so it’s “fluffy” and light colored. Add vanilla extract and egg replacer.

In a separate bowl, mix flour and salt together. Add to wet ingredients and use mixer just to incorporate. Do not overmix. I finished the mixing by hand. Refrigerate for two hours prior to rolling out.

I like my cookies thicker, so after chilling the dough, I rolled them out rather thickly, and placed them on a baking sheet.

Bake cookies until set. They will be soft and chewy if you don’t over cook them. They should not even be browning, just set up, when you take them out of the oven ~12-14 minutes. Leave on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting or you’ll have a runny frosting mess.

VEGAN ICING

2 C Powdered Sugar

1 Tbsp Corn Syrup

2 Tbsp Unsweetened Oat Milk

1 Tbsp Vegetable shortening

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Using a handheld mixer, blend all icing ingredients together, be sparing with the oat milk so you get the consistency right. It should not be runny but thick enough to hold it’s shape yet be spreadable with a tooth pick.

I mixed the frosting ingredients together and then added it to a gallon ziplock baggie. I twisted it close and sniped the end off to make a small opening. The smaller you cut the tip the finer your line of frosting. Because the icing was the right consistency, I smoothed it all together using a toothpick and then it settled into a nice even glaze. I let some harden completely but others I added white sanding sugar to immediately to give it the shine.

These beautiful pictures were captured by Madison Rae Photography. She’s fantastic and has an eye for finding the lovely in each shot. And she gave her stamp of approval on these cookies when she helped me eat them after we were done.

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