It’s Valentine’s Day this week and in my kitchen I’m making these four-ingredient, (happen-to-be-vegan) Valentine’s Day cookies. These are a breeze to whip up and are beautifully soft and delicious, almost disproportionately so when you consider how simple the ingredients are. Plus they’re good for the planet.
Did you know that according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the single greatest thing you can do to save the planet is to give up eating meat? Even if we all simply ate meat within the FAO recommended daily guidelines, by 2050 we would cut global greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a third. Want more info? See “Eating to save the planet” in the Kingston Whig Standard.
In my kitchen, I’ve been cooking more vegan dishes and converting old recipes to vegan-ize them. This Valentine’s Day sugar cookie recipe is a cross between my old sugar cookie and my old shortbread recipes. The dough is so gorgeously soft. And it makes some of the lightest, tastiest cookies ever.
I used vegan margarine but you could easily use butter. Either way, leave yourself an hour or two to chill the dough.
happen-to-be-vegan Valentine’s Day cookies
For the cookies:
- 1 cup vegan margarine (I used Becel Vegan) or softened butter
- 2/3 cup icing sugar
- 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Beat the butter OR margarine and icing sugar together. Stir in the flour and salt. Allow the dough to chill for a couple of hours in a covered bowl.
Set oven to 325 F. Butter, grease, or spray two large cookie sheets or line with parchment paper
Roll the dough on a lightly floured board to about ¼ inch or 6mm thick. I used a 2-inch cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the prepared trays and bake for about 10-12 minutes. The cookies should not be brown – just faintly golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and set to cool.
For the pink butter frosting:
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine or softened butter
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups icing sugar
- tiny pinch of salt
- 1 -2 tbsp milk substitute such as almond or coconut milk / or cream or milk
- a few drops of red food colouring
Place the butter or margarine, 1 ½ cups of icing sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat on low-speed to combine. Add 1 tbsp of milk or substitute. Continue beating. Add more icing sugar or more milk as required until correct consistency is achieved. Add a couple of drops of food colouring and beat well, and add more food colouring, one drop at a time, as required to achieve desired shade of pink. Frost the iced cookies and allow frosting and hour or two to set before packing cookies in tins or airtight containers.
♥ Jam Tart ♥ 