Vegan Sugar Cookies

In honor of SuperBowl Sunday, I decided to make football shaped sugar cookies.  The cookie is mild tasting and the icing is lemony and a bit sweet, which is a great compliment to one another.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 1/2 sticks non-dairy margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs non-dairy milk
1  tbs vanilla

1 recipe Icing (see below)
Sanding sugar, optional

Whisk together flour, salt and xanthan gum in a small bowl; set aside.

Beat together margarine and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in vanilla and non-dairy milk.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Form dough into 2 disks and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill until firm, at least 1 hour (dough, wrapped well in plastic wrap and sealed in a freezer bag, can be frozen for up to 3 months; thaw in refrigerator overnight when ready to use).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out one disk between two pieces of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut out as many cookies as possible with cookie cutters and transfer to parchment lined cookie sheets, spacing about 1-inch apart.  If you do not plan to frost the cookies, you may sprinkle with sanding sugar before baking.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating pans half-way through, until edges are golden.  Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before using a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Gather and re-roll scraps; repeat as above, making more cookies with remaining dough and scraps.  If dough becomes too soft, chill for 10-15 minutes until firm.

Store unfrosted cookies in an airtight container for 1 week.  Unfrosted cookies may also be frozen, in an airtight container layered between sheets of wax paper, for up to 1 month.

Makes 3-5 dozen cookies, depending on size of cookie cutter.

Icing:
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs non-dairy milk
6-8 drops food coloring, optional

Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Using a small offset spatula, spread a thin layer of icing over each cookie.  You may decorate with sanding sugar for added color.  Allow to dry on a piece of wax paper for at about one hour.  Store in an airtight container layered between pieces of wax paper for up to 1 week.