Russian Dolls Matryoshka Vegan Sugar Cookies

I made some cookies to go along with my Russian doll birthday cake though the decorating was a bit hit and miss! Yes, I did these, not my friend's four-year-old daughter... 

I wanted to make sure the cookies were suitable for a vegan friend so I found a vegan sugar cookie recipe on the internet, here at Vegan Baking.net.

You need:

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp golden flax meal - I used some finely milled flax seed I had from Holland & Barrett

3 3/4 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup vegan margarine

2 cups icing sugar

3 tbsp non-dairy milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180C. Cream the margarine and icing sugar and then mix in the flax meal.

Then mix in the flour and baking powder

Then add the milk, vanilla and almond extract and the salt.

Finally mix in the water. Knead the resulting mixture together, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least half an hour.

I bought these Russian doll cookie cutters from Lakeland a while ago and was looking forward to trying them out.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and use the cutters to cut out shapes.

Place on a lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Place on a wire rack to cool.

I didn't take many photos as I was decorating as I got in quite a mess! I did want to show you these however: I bought two packs of mini piping bags over the internet. You can make your own from greaseproof paper but I find it really tricky and they weren't expensive to buy. They are quite small so you only get a couple of spoonfuls of icing in each one, but it's great for doing delicate work.

I mixed some different colours with royal icing and decorated the cookies to look like Russian dolls. I ran out of time towards the end which is why some are quite plain, and I have to admit the designs aren't great - my piping work didn't turn out too badly though, which was good as I think this is only the second time I have decorated sugar cookies!

These were a nice addition to the table alongside my Russian doll birthday cake.

I'm sending these to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Karen of Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked, as their theme this month is biscuits and cookies.