Halloween Sugar Cookies + Icing

One of my absolute favorite things about Autumn is celebrating Halloween! I used to love dressing up as a little kid and going trick-or-treating around the neighborhood! I think my favorite costume that I ever had growing up was my Cowardly Lion costume. I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz movie when I was growing up. Well - I'm still a little obsessed, but I digress. I looked through my old pictures to see if I could find a picture of me in the costume and you guys are in luck. Here's my 2 year old self dressed as The Cowardly Lion with my brother dressed as Batman.

Cute, right? Now-a-days I can't really get away with dressing up and going door to door asking for candy. Believe me - If I could, I would. So my Halloweens are spent watching scary movies and baking these delicious cookies. And who are we kidding - I still put a costume on every year.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 4 tsp non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Frosting and Sprinkles for decoration

Thoroughly cream the shortening, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add in the applesauce and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the non-dairy milk.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend in with the creamed mixture. 

Chill the dough for 1 hour. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. After the dough has been chilled, roll out on a floured surface and cut into your favorite holiday shapes. Place the shapes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes until the edges become golden brown. Top with icing and sprinkles. They're even delicious without the decorations!

Icing Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp non-dairy milk
• 2 tsp agave nectar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• Any food coloring you want

In a small bowl stir together the powdered sugar and non-dairy milk. Beat in the agave and vanilla until the icing is smooth and glossy. If the icing is too thick - try adding more non-dairy milk or agave nectar until it reaches the desired consistency.

Divide the icing into separate bowls and different food coloring to each bowl. Dip the cookies or paint them with a brush or icing spatula.

Pumpkin Maple Cinnamon Rolls

I'm loving this Autumn weather! Sweaters, scarves, warm soup, apple orchards, and a million things to do with pumpkin! I bought five cans of pumpkin at the store yesterday - so I'm hoping you guys like pumpkin! You can expect a lot of recipes with pumpkin over the next couple of months. One of them being a pumpkin pie. How have I not made a pumpkin pie yet? I was going through my Grandma's recipes the other day and found her recipe for pumpkin pie. I can't wait for that one!

One of the things I decided to try with the canned pumpkin I bought was this delicious recipe for pumpkin maple cinnamon rolls! These were so delicious! You guys know how much I like my dessert for breakfast every once in a while! I hope you guys love them as much as I did!

Dough Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup light oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix together the milk, pumpkin puree, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl - sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Combine with the wet ingredients and mix together until well incorporated. Roll the dough out onto a flour surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Once you're done kneading the dough - place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a towel, place the bowl in a warm location, and allow to rise for 2 hours.

While the dough is rising, mix together the filling ingredients.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup vegan shortening
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp maple syrup

Mix together all of the filling ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside until it's time to spread onto the dough.

When the dough has about doubled in size - roll back out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch the dough down and then roll out into a 12x16 rectangle. Take the filling ingredients and spread evenly onto the rectangular dough. Roll up the rectangle tightly to form a log. Cut the log into one inch pieces and place in an oiled baking dish.

Let the unbaked rolls sit in a warm place while covered with a towel until they doubled in size again. Bake in the 350 degree F oven for 20-22 minutes until the rolls are golden brown. 

While the rolls are baking, you can mix together the icing.

Icing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp non-dairy milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Sift the powdered sugar and then mix in the remaining ingredients. Once the rolls are done, allow them to cool slightly. Pour the icing over the rolls and serve while warm.