Thursday, October 8, 2009

Sugar Cookies

I love making sugar cookies! I don't mean to brag, but my neighbors know me for my really moist sugar cookies. My tried and true recipe uses butter and sour cream (if you are interested in that recipe you can email me and I'll be happy to share), so I've been on a long search for a good dairy free sugar cookie recipe. As most of you who have experimented already know, you just don't get the same results when you substitute dairy free margarine for butter with baking. That's why I'm happy to share this recipe I just tried. I couldn't find any reason anyone would ever suspect these to be dairy free-they turned out great! I'm excited I found a recipe before the big holiday season hits!
A few good things to know:
When you substitute margarine for butter you will get a stickier product, so chill the dough in the fridge as long as you can- at least an hour (I did mine about 3) just to make them easier to work with. I always use Nucoa margarine when I bake, but I'm sure there are a ton of great products out there.
Also take them out of the oven BEFORE they start to brown on top. They can still be white on top and starting to get golden on the bottoms. Otherwise they won't be chewy.
Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
Makes around 28 (2 1/2 inch) cookies

2/3 cup dairy free margarine, softened (I use Nucoa)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp regular soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
In a large bowl beat margarine on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt and beat until combined, scraping sides occasionally. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Beat in the flour. Divide dough in half, cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
On a lightly floured surface roll half the dough at a time to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into shapes and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake @ 375 for 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool before frosting.
Frost with dairy free frosting- you can substitute soy milk and dairy free margarine for any frosting recipe, or do like I do and add some fun food coloring to Duncan Hines Vanilla Frosting

6 comments:

Michelle said...

The cookies look great. I look forward to trying more of your recipes for my son who is allergic to milk.

Anonymous said...

I have been baking dairy-free for almost 7 years, and these are by far the best sugar cookies I have made. I just made them for the first time last night, and my kids are in heaven. I used Fleishman's Unsalted margarine sticks and they worked out fine. I will have to see what other recipes you have here!

Nicole said...

Anonymous-
Let me just tell you how much your comment has cheered me up from a crazy few days! Thanks so much for letting me know how they turned out! I have found baking especially hard to do dairy free, and so when I find great recipes I want to share them with others in my same situation. It's only my hope that people read this blog and actually try them!
Thanks again!

Camille said...

Going to try them soon. We came down with the flu and didn't get around to making them before Halloween. They look perfect! What brand of sprinkles do you use that are "safe"?

Nicole said...

Camille-
I guess after making these 3 different times I don't have any sprinkles left to check the brand I used. I'm pretty sure that they are CakeMate brand that you would find in the bake isle next to all the frostings. For Halloween most of the sprinkles had some sort of chocolate in them for the black color effect, so just be careful of that. For every day use I buy the CakeMate Decors Snowflakes. I've also found safe brands at the dollar stores as well. Hope that helps!

Nicole

Suz said...

Happened upon your blog while getting ready for our first Christmas as a family. Our little one is allergic to milk but LOVES to bake, can't wait to try these - thanks so much!