Shortbread Cookies

<-- My littlest Sprout takes cookies in to school tomorrow for a Valentine's party.

Instead of something more traditional (well, OK, I'm not exactly sure what would be considered "traditional" treats for Valentine's anyway - pink cupcakes? blechh...yeah...) she wanted to make shortbread cookies.


So naturally I hadn't tried "veganizing" my shortbread recipe yet, and didn't have time to experiment, but we tweaked it only slightly and it turned out GREAT. Here ya go...

VEGAN SHORTBREAD CUT-OUT COOKIES

-- 3/4 cup of margarine (the kind in cubes, like Earth Balance Buttery Sticks - NOT the softer tub-style)
-- 2 TB (or a bit less) coconut oil
-- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
-- 2 cups flour (sometimes I use whole wheat pastry flour)
-- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla (oh please use real vanilla!)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Cream margarine and sugar very, very well.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Add flour slowly.
5. When well incorporated and forming a dough, roll into a ball and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, to overnight. (We couldn't wait much longer than 20 min!)
6. Flour surface and rolling pin, and roll out a 1/4 of the dough out a time to between 1/4 and 1/2 in. thick. (Thicker will be more dense and shortbread-like, thinner will be more crisp, we made ours pretty thick!) Cut out using cookie cutters of choice.
7. Bake until the edges begin to brown, 6-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it, depending on how thick you roll the dough.