I decided that we needed to try something different this year…
I took our normal recipes and adjusted them to be dairy and dye free. They turned out amazing! And we had so much fun with amazing friends.
First, to share some products…
As usual, Amazon had just what I wanted… food coloring and Christmas sprinkles that are “dyed” using food.
These are some amazing products!
The colors aren’t “Christmasy,” but I love them!
I used two of the colors in our icing yesterday (and I left one bowl off-white). The yellow is very much a mustard yellow, which I’m loving these days. The maroon color is called “pomegranate,” and it is so dark and awesome.
The sprinkles are things you would see on an ugly Christmas sweater… white balls, bells, trees, gingerbread men, etc.
So fun!
Anyway… here is what the icing looked like when I mixed it up.
The recipe is easy!
I use all dairy free ingredients, but you could use dairy ingredients if you want!
Melt 1 stick of Earth Balance (or butter) in a saucepan and add 1/3 cup cashew milk (or regular milk or any milk of choice).
Take off of burner and add 1 tsp vanilla (we use Mexican vanilla!).
Stir in 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.
Allow to sit and cool for an hour or so, then divide into bowls and add food coloring!
The food coloring that I use comes in a powder that you mix with a tsp of water before you mix with the icing.
It’s all so easy and tasty.
The cookies are also super easy! The plan was to make chocolate chips cookies, also, but we didn’t get to it yesterday.
Cream together with a hand mixer or stand mixer:
- 1 cup (two sticks) softened Earth Balance (or butter)
- 1 cup sugar (we use Zulka… a little less processed so it has a little more flavor)
Once these are creamed together, mix in:
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
Next mix in:
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
It will be a bit crumbly, so mold it into a ball with your hands.
Chill for an hour or two.
Once chilled, you will have to knead it a bit at a time, roll it out on top of a floured counter, and cut shapes out!
Bake for 10-12 minutes on 375. Allow to cool, then ice!
Our sweet friends joined us today, and it was the first time Mo (almost 3) has done this! I always love including friends in our traditions.
Simply Courtney 