Classic Sugar Cookies

From the Food Allergy Gourmet Cookbook, "Let's Bake" Always a favorite with kids and adults alike, vanilla scented sugar cookies are fun to cut out and decorate. Unlike many gluten, dairy and egg-free cookie recipes, this one holds together well and can be rolled and cut out with detailed cookie cutters, and decorated . My daughter Emma particularly likes to use our dinosaur cutters!

The recipe for the Food Allergy Gourmet Basic Flour Mix is included in "Let's Bake!" and is also available premixed for your convenience from the Food Allergy Gourmet.

3 cups Food Allergy Gourmet Basic Flour Mix (See Above)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dry egg replacer whisked with 4 tablespoons water until frothy
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon lemon extract
1/8 teaspoon artificial butter flavoring (optional)
confectioners’ sugar or cornstarch for rolling out cookies
Decorating icing
Equipment: 1-2 cookie sheets, parchment paper, heavy duty stand mixer, rolling pin, cookie cutters, sturdy wide spatula with thin metal edge, wire cooling rack.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the Basic Flour Mix, salt and baking powder in a bowl and whisk together.
Use a mixer to cream shortening and sugar. Slowly add the egg replacer, vanilla and lemon extracts, and artificial butter flavoring, if using. Mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl using a spatula. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, mixing well and scraping down the bowl as needed.
Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap, an airtight plastic bag or container, and refrigerate for an hour. (Tip - cool dough faster by dividing it into four sections and placing in the freezer for 30 minutes).
Working on the coolest part of your countertop, place a quarter of the cookie dough between two large sheets of parchment paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll dough to between 1/8 and 1/4 -inch thickness. Lift the top sheet of parchment and replace it. Flip the dough over and remove the top sheet of parchment.
Dip the cookies cutters in powdered sugar, or lightly brush them with oil. Press the cutter into the dough, and then use a pastry or bench scraper or thin metal spatula to lift the cookie and place it on the parchment lined cookie sheet. For detailed cookie cutters such as Emma’s dinosaurs, leave the cutter in place on the dough, and then lift it and the dough together with the pastry scraper. Place the cutter on a parchment lined cookie sheet and ease it out by lightly tapping.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes. If you like your cookies softer take them out of the oven earlier. Remove them from the oven and slide the parchment onto a wire rack. Let them cool, then remove from parchment and place on a wire rack or flat surface.
Tip - To bake two sheets at a time, place baking racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Rotate sheets half way through baking.