Lorna Rae's (Sugar Cookies)

Ah, it's been a nostalgic morning. I'm getting ready to move back to Mexico City after being home for a month and a half, and aside from my excitement for the future, there are a lot of things that I'm really going to miss about Iowa. (Not the weather) But my family, my friends, my favorite hiking spots, midwestern-restaurants, get-togethers, American holidays...the list goes on and on. So, in the midst of all these nostalgic thoughts and feelings, I made sugar cookies--from a recipe that my mom has been using for at least 20 years. These cookies have been at every family Christmas and Easter (and other various holidays) for as long as I can remember. I have a taste of one of these cookies, and the trip down memory lane begins...I've tweaked the recipe just a tiny bit, of course, and veganized the cookies, but they taste just the same as always :) This recipe made 9 cookies. (2 of them vanished before they got in front of the camera...Oops)

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 cup Splenda or sugar

1/2 cup melted Earth Balance (vegan buttery stick) (you can use regular butter if you're not vegan)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400.

Melt the Earth Balance "butter" over the stovetop or in the microwave

In a small mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients together

Pour the melted Earth Balance "butter" over the dry ingredients, and beat together with a fork. This will form a crumbly dough.

Form 8-10 cookie dough balls out of the dough, flatten slightly with your hands, and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. When they come out of the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes before transfering them to a glass plate, and allow to cool completely before frosting them.

Frosting Ingredients

**This makes more than enough frosting for 9 cookies, so you'll have extra...Darn ;)**

2 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan buttery stick

2 tablespoons almond milk

1 & 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Dash salt

Food coloring of your choice

Directions

Melt the Earth Balance, and pour into a small bowl. Add in almond milk and vanilla, and whisk together.

Stir in the powdered sugar using a fork. The stirring will take a while, but it should result in a nicely thick frosting.

Add a dash of salt and a few drops of the food coloring of your choice, and mix together very well.

Frost the cookies (I use the back of a spoon, that tends to work really well), allow the frosting to harden for 10 minutes, and enjoy!