Best Eggless, Egg-free Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER

Life is Good: we have cookies!

I received a couple of emails and facebook messages asking about the BIG COOKIE first day of school tradition we have. When I was in grade school, my mom would bake a big heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie (it could be cut up like bars) for my teachers on special occasions and holidays. So when the big kid went to preschool at age 3 and I was trying to think of a special way to celebrate the first day of school, I remembered that cookie and revamped it into our own little tradition. It goes without saying that my mom (my parents) influence a great deal of the way I parent and the way Grant and I live our lives as a family. I am grateful for their love and example.

When your child has a life-threatening allergy to eggs, it makes baking a bit difficult. I feel grateful for recipes I have found on the web, moms of kids with allergies before me, the time to reinvent some recipes, and for help from my mom who happens to be Grandma of the Year (every year)! The sugar cookie recipe I use was found in my church's United Methodist Women cookbook as "Betty's Sugar Cookies" and with a little tweaking, have become "Elsie's Sugar Cookies". Thanks, mom!

Elsie's Sugar Cookies
Quantity depends on the cookie cutter you use. Plan on 30.

Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable or Canola oil
1 cup butter
4-4 1/2 cups flour (Start with 4 cups and add more if you need to. I use all-purpose.)
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
2 T. vanilla (I use Madagascar)
1 t. arrowroot (this is the egg replacement)

Directions:
1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Then, add the wet ingredients and mix.
NOTE: A Kitchenaid mixer works best for this recipe, but in a pinch, you can use a spoon. If you use a spoon, you may find that you need a little more "binder" for this recipe. Add a spoonful of milk until the dough sticks together, but is still stiff.
3. Cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
4. After one hour in the fridge, roll dough flat with a rolling pin and then use cutters to make shapes. NOTE: For my "big cookie", I roll the dough out flat onto a greased cookie sheet and then place a dinner plate over it. I use a knife to cut the circle and then bake it. I use about half of the recipe.
5. Bake small cookies at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
NOTE: As for the big cookie, bake for 12 minutes and then check every two minutes after that as all ovens and elevations are different. It takes my cookie about 25 minutes to bake.

This recipe has opened up a whole new world for us! It is our "go to" cookie recipe.
I keep a recipe in our freezer in a roll wrapped (in waxed paper and then in foil) so that I can cut off a few cookies when we need a treat in a pinch. glazing them with a powdered sugar "frosting" is simple, but my kiddos like them even without frosting! Enjoy!