• In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the vegan butter and sugar for 1 minute until smooth, creamy, and fluffy. You can also use a hand beater and beat ingredients into a mixing bowl.
• Fold in vanilla, cornstarch, salt, and almond milk. Keep beating on the low-speed setting few seconds - it won't incorporate very well and look lumpy as milk doesn't incorporate well to butter and that's ok.
• Still on the low-speed setting, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt until the dough forms. Scrape the sides of the bowl to bring all the ingredients together and combine until the dough is soft and crumbly but holds well if pressed in your hand. If too wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add 1 tablespoon of almond milk.
• Shape the dough into two discs of the same size and wrap them into a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Chill for 1 hour in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Oil the paper with coconut oil or vegan butter. Set aside.
• Remove the discs from the fridge and roll the dough into about 1/4-inch (0.6 cm) thick.
• Use cookie cutters to shape vegan sugar cookies and slide a flat tool under the cut cookie to transfer to the baking sheet. leave half a thumb of space between each cookie. Reform a dough ball with the remaining cookie dough, roll again, and reshape more cookies.
• Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8-10 minutes in the center rack of the oven or until the cookies are set on top but slightly golden brown.
• Cool down on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack and cool down for an extra 20 minutes.

Decoration

• Cool completely before decorating. Use my vegan royal icing recipe to decorate the vegan sugar cookies.
• Add liquid food coloring to the icing if desired. Make sure the icing is thick and difficult to stir, if it spread too fast when you drop it on the cookies, it will run away. Simply add more powdered sugar if needed to make an ultra-thick and dense icing. Place the icing in a piping bag to decorate on top of the cookies.

Storage

• Store in a sealed cookie jar at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or freeze and thaw them the day before at room temperature.