Classic Sugar Cookies
By Anita Chu of Dessert First
It’s not the holiday season without a plateful of cookies set out as a treat. Get in the holiday baking spirit with these vegan sugar cookies that have the sweet sugar and vanilla taste you’re looking for in a holiday treat. The dough can be formed into balls and baked into classic round drop cookies or rolled out flat and cut into shapes for decorating. It’s a simple and versatile dough and comes together in a pinch. These cookies are a great project to do with the family – kids will love cutting out their own cookies and decorating them. These also make a wonderful gift to pack into tins and send to family and friends.
This cookie recipe uses vegan butter; I recommend Earth Balance as it worked well for me, but you can use any brand. You can also use any non-dairy milk in this recipe; I tried coconut milk and almond milk and both worked beautifully. The vanilla and almond extracts really work together to give the cookie that classic flavor so don’t omit them.
The most important thing to keep in mind if you want to cut the dough into shapes is to keep it chilled. Don’t fight the dough if it’s becoming soft and sticky; let it chill and rest instead. Keep the dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll it out. It’s easiest to roll out the dough between two silicone baking mats or two sheets of parchment paper; you won’t have to use as much flour to keep the dough from sticking.
After rolling out the dough, you can cut the shapes into the dough with cookie cutters, but if the dough has become too soft you can pop it back in the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes to let it firm up before removing the shapes and placing them on the baking sheets.
These cookies are tasty on their own, but if you’re looking to decorate them, you can easily whip up a decorating icing using confectioner’s sugar and non-dairy milk. Add a few drops of food coloring to the icing to get the colors you want. If you don’t have piping bags, one simple trick is to spoon some of the icing into a sandwich bag, press the top closed, and then snip off one small corner of the bag. It works perfectly as a homemade decorating bag.
Let these cookies be a canvas for your holiday cheer!
Cookies
Ingredients
½ cup vegan butter
3/4 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons almond milk or other milk of choice
Icing:
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond milk or other milk of choice
For the cookies:
Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or with a hand mixer for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and almond extracts and mix to combine.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Add to the mixer and beat just until combined.
Add in the milk a tablespoon at a time and beat on low speed just until dough starts to come together.
Gather the dough together into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until firm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with a silicone baking mat or foil.
Roll out dough on a floured surface to about ¼” thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Alternately, you can take the dough and roll into 1 ½ inch round balls, place on the baking sheets, and flatten slightly with your hand. If dough is soft, put back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to let the dough firm up before baking, to prevent spreading.
Bake for 10 minutes until the tops look and feel dry. They will still be light colored but they will continue to set as they cool. Place on wire racks and let cool before decorating.
For the icing:
Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl until it is smooth and thick. If it is too dry, add a little more milk, a teaspoon at a time. If it is too runny, add some more confectioner’s sugar.
Spoon the icing into a piping bag and pipe designs onto the cookies as desired. You can also spoon it into a small sandwich bag, close the top, and cut off one corner to serve as a piping bag.
Makes 16-24 cookies, depending on cookie cutter size
