Simple and delicious crispy golden sugar cookies cut out into Easter shapes and decorated with colored icing – a terrific Easter pastime! These cookies are naturally vegan and gluten-free, and they go well with a cup of tea.
Serving 20-30 cookies
Ingredients
100g (3.5oz) vegan butter or margarine
100g (3.5oz) mascaba brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp plant-based milk (I prefer coconut)
250g (8.8oz) plain or gluten-free plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
To decorate:
200-300g (7-10.5oz) icing sugar
Water
Melted chocolate for the whiskers and eyes
Vegan colorings e.g. matcha powder, turmeric powder, beetroot powder, or coloring gels
How to prepare
Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixing dish, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract and the milk.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt to make a ball of dough. It may be necessary to bring it together with your hands.
Divide the dough in half and roll out one piece to approximately 1cm thickness on a flour-dusted parchment paper-lined surface. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place them on a cookie sheet (use a pallet knife to loosen them). Repeat with the second dough ball.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden, then cool completely on the tray on a wire rack (smaller shapes will take less time to cook).
Divide the icing sugar into bowls, add enough water to form a thick frosting, and color them according to how many colors you want to make for the icing and what shapes you have. Matcha powder was used for the green, orange food coloring for the orange, beetroot/strawberry powder for the pink swirls (do not fully mix the pink into the icing to create the swirl effects, then dip the cookies in face down and allow the excess to drip off), turmeric for the yellow, and melted chocolate for the whiskers and eyes.
Allow the frosting to be completely set before storing it in sealed containers for up to 2 weeks.
