Gluten Free Sugar Cookies with Vegan Royal Icing
[Vegan]

For the Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet.
2. Prepare the flax egg by adding 1 tbsp of flax meal to 3 tbsp of water in a small bowl. Lightly mix and then set aside for 5 minutes until a yolky consistency has formed.
3. Add the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Use hand mixers (or a KitchenAid mixer) to beat together. Then add the flax egg and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, add all the dry ingredients. Whisk together.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together.
6. Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter and sprinkle it with brown rice flour. Add the batter to the parchment paper and form a disc-like shape with the batter. Sprinkle more flour on a rolling pin and begin to roll out the dough. Alternatively, you can place another piece of parchment paper on the top of the batter and roll the batter between the two pieces of parchment paper to avoid any sticking to the rolling pin.
7. Roll the batter to 1/4" thickness and then use any cookie cutters you desire. Transfer the cookies with a metal spatula to the lined baking sheet.
8. Continue the process of re-rolling the batter and using cookie cutters until there is no batter left. The number of cookies will depend on the size of your cookie cutters but the recipe will make at least 15 cookies.
9. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes.
10. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.

Vegan Royal Icing:

1. Start by adding the chickpea brine to a stand mixer (or you can use a hand-held mixer but you will need a mixer of some sort). Mix it for a few minutes until it becomes frothy.
2. Add in 5 cups of powdered/icing sugar and slowly with the whisk attachment mix together. The texture of the icing needs to be more like a glue consistency. Add more powdered sugar for a thicker icing and a splash of water for a thinner consistency. But if you aren't a professional cookie decorator then the original recipe should be perfect. You'll be left with vegan royal icing that is great for decorating these cookies.