Vegan Sugar Cookies

My cousin Liam decorated his own
cookie. Now that's a cookie!

Any holiday can be celebrated with sugar cookies, and ever since my mom bought me 100 assorted cookie cutters, every holiday has. Making sugar cookies is no fun if your kids can't eat them, so I've been searching for a vegan recipe for awhile. After coming up empty handed I finally found one on animal-friendly eating, a wonderful blog for vegan and raw food. Kelli's recipe uses an egg substitute that you make by whipping together water, flour, baking powder and baking soda. I've never heard of an egg substitute like that, but it works! I can't wait to try it for other recipes.

barf.

I found the picture on this flour 
package to be pretty anti-feminist.
 Is it just me? Regardless, it was still great flour.  

I made my first trip to Trader Joe's last week. I'm normally a loyal Whole Foods customer, but I checked out Trader Joe's since I was told it was cheaper. It is, but their selection isn't that great. After stocking up on organic produce and other basics I still had to go to Whole Foods across the street to complete my shopping. I was looking for Bestlife, but the only butter substitute I could find at Trader Joe's was Earth Balance buttery spread. Has anyone ever tried this? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, because I thought it was one of the most disgusting things I have ever eaten. A lot of vegan blogs rave about it, but I couldn't stand it! I can't be the only one who feels this way. It left the most awful taste in my mouth, like I just licked a plastic patio chair after someone had been sitting in it in the hot sun and they left a pool of sweat on the seat. Not that I've ever done that, but I imagine that's what it would taste like. I will never, ever eat that stuff again. Since it was the only butter substitute I had (I don't know why I didn't think to use shortening), I used it anyways, hoping that the other ingredients would mask the taste. They didn't. I ended up masking the rancid flavor by adding extra sugar and some almond extract. The end result wasn't bad at all. You couldn't taste the salty, offensive flavor of the Earth Balance, and the cookies came out light, fluffy, and delicious. I've found a new holiday staple!

Vegan Sugar Cookies

Makes about 18 cookies

• 3/4 cup of butter substitute (like Bestlife, but NOT Earth Balance)
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 2 egg replacers (see below)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Egg Replacer

Substitutes 2 eggs

• 6 Tbsp. water
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter substitute and sugar with an electric mixer.
3. Blend in the vanilla and almond extract.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg substitute ingredients until thick and foamy.
5. Add this to the mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated.
6. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until thoroughly mixed. 
7. Roll batter on a floured surface to somewhere between 1/8" to 1/4" thick.
8. Make shapes using cookie cutters.
9. Place on a grease baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. 

This particular batch was made into shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day!