Vegan sugar cookies

Photo: Nora Cooks

Proper cut-out sugar cookies with no eggs and no butter. Nora adds cornstarch so they stay soft and don't spread, and her shiny icing is the one to copy.

From Nora Taylor at Nora Cooks · @nora_cooks_vegan_

Vegan butter and sugar beaten with plant milk and cornstarch, rolled between parchment, chilled, cut and baked soft, then iced with a shiny glaze.

You need

• 3/4 cup (170 g) vegan butter, slightly softened
• 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp unsweetened plant milk
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
• 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) powdered sugar, for the icing
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, for the icing
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup, for the icing
• 1 to 2 tbsp plant milk, for the icing

How to make it

1. Beat the vegan butter 1 minute until creamy, then beat in the sugar.
2. Beat in the plant milk, cornstarch and extracts on high for about 1 minute.
3. Add 1 cup of the flour with the baking powder and salt on top and mix on low, then add the rest of the flour and mix just until the dough comes together.
4. Split the dough in two and roll each half 1/4 inch thick between floured parchment. Chill the sheets flat for 1 hour.
5. Let the dough sit 10 minutes while the oven heats to 350°F. Cut shapes and set them on parchment-lined sheets.
6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until barely colored at the edges; they'll look underdone. Cool 5 minutes on the sheet, then on a rack.
7. Whisk the icing until smooth and glossy (thicker for outlines, a little looser to flood). Decorate and let it harden a few hours.

For a swap: Let the icing harden for a few hours, then stack.

Written in our own words from Nora Taylor's recipe, with their quantities. The original: Vegan sugar cookies, Nora Cooks.

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