Happy Halloween! Don’t be a scaredy cat. Go ahead and try this delicious recipe — it makes a wonderful vegan cookie batter that can be whipped up for any occasion.

For these spooky skeleton cookies, I used a standard (approx. 3-inch) gingerbread cookie cutter to make the bodies and then iced them to fill in the bones. Have fun!

Cocoa Almond Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

Beat together

¾ cup                coconut sugar

¾ cup                coconut oil or vegan shortening

Add

1 tbsp               ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (or 1 egg substitute)

1 tsp                  vanilla

Mix together

2 cups                whole wheat flour

¼ cup                 almond flour

1/3 cup              cocoa powder

½ tsp                  baking powder

¼ tsp                  salt

Icing

Mix together

2 ½ cups             icing sugar

3 tbsp                  soy, almond or hemp milk

Method

Beat sugar and coconut oil. Add flax egg and vanilla until combined. Separately mix dry ingredients then stir into sugar mixture in two additions to make smooth dough. Divide dough in half and refrigerate discs about 1 hour until firm. Can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight.

On lightly floured surface, roll out each disc to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350°F oven until edges darken (approx. 18 to 20 mins.) Cool on racks.

To make icing, mix icing sugar with milk to make a smooth icing that can be piped using a piping bag with small plain tip.