Sunday, December 4, 2011

Vegan Shortbread

Vegan Shortbread Hearts and Giraffes

I was determined to make shortbread today.  Along with my friend Farrah, I'm participating in another cooking challenge with the theme of food as gifts.  So, what better gift than home-made Christmas shortbread.  As a child, these were my favourite cookies to eat, make and decorate at holiday time.

I dug out the little booklet of family recipe cards given to me by my mom and found "Nummy Shortbread".  There was one small problem, it only listed three ingredients and not one of them was sugar.  And then I read the instructions which consisted of only three words.  "Mix, roll, cut."   Hmmmmmm, a bit cryptic for my comfort.  I called my mom and asked her about the sugar.  Her response was, "don't put in too much".

Okay, so it looks like I'll be winging it today but how difficult could it be?

I decided to use my stand mixer.  I may have baked these a few minutes too long so be careful you don't over do it or they will be dry.  The raw dough is a little crumbly but when you shape it and pat it down with your hands it sticks together just fine.  I don't think there's enough sugar in this recipe so if you try it, you might want to add a bit more.

Vegan Shortbread

1 cup vegan butter softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons corn starch

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add in the flour and cornstarch with the mixer on the lowest setting until just combined.   Remove the dough from the mixer and pat together.  Roll out the dough to desired thickness, approximately 1/4 inch.   Using cookie cutters, cut into shapes and decorate.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.



7 comments:

  1. Sorry they weren't tastier. But they're really pretty and festive. Fun shapes and colors. And the assistant cook is adorable. Love the growing hair.

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  2. The giraffe shaped cookies are awesome!!!

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  3. Cookies look great, but WOW your little assistant is precious!!! Love her!

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  4. Aww love your cookie decorator! I really the giraffe cookies too! I have to find one of those cookie cutters. The shortbread recipe from Kris Holechek's book was really yummy too, I took some cookies to a party last night and the non-vegans loved them. Shortbread does make a great gift!

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  5. Adorable cookies! Adorable daughter!
    :-)

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  6. Thanks everyone! My little assistant loves to decorate with sprinkles. And the cookies were good. I slightly over-baked the first batch but the second round was much better.

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  7. I second yummy cookies and a sweetie daughter! Enjoy these days with your young one. Kids grow up sooooo quickly. Before you know they grab a bag with chips instead of going through the creative process of making sweet cookies. :-)
    Paula

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