How to Make Natural Food Dyes and Sugar Cookies- Spooky Halloween Jack'o Lanterns!!!
Halloween is the kick off to all the treats and sugary candies heading your way! All the candies and cookies that are popular during this time is riddled with high fructose sugars and unnatural dyes, which we know reeks havoc on our bodies. So we only thought it made sense to make natural dyes to use when decorating sugar cookies.
It is a very simple proceeder, but it does take time. So, if you have an afternoon or evening to kill, try your hand at making natural dyes. We used beets for red and carrots for yellow and mixed the two to make orange. We dehydrated the vegetables and grinded them to a very fine dust.
We felt like two witches brewing up something magical as it embodies everything you are looking for. It is odourless and tasteless when added to the royal icing. As you stir and stir and stir, you see the colours mix and make a burnt orange... it's captivating!
Royal icing is typically made with egg whites, as the proteins in the whites help create that firm, glossy and crunch royal icing is known for. That's why it is perfect to use when decorating cookies and building gingerbread houses. BUT! obviously, we will not be using egg whites. In our local bulk store, there is an already pre made package of vegan royal icing powder that uses soy protein which works just as well, if not better then the original. All you need to do is add water and mix, mix, mix till it creates stiff white peaks.
The sugar cookie recipe is the same recipe we brought you three Christmases ago, but we love them so much, we wanted to show you again.
To watch Lo make them, click here!
For the Dyes, you will need:
1 lg. Carrot, skin on, sliced very thin *16th of an inch thick
3 sml. Beets, skin on, sliced very thin *16th of an inch thick
Turn oven on to 170 F.
Carefully slice your vegetables either on a mandolin or with a very sharp knife. Don't cut your fingers off!
Line two trays with parchment paper or silicone mats and spread the carrots out evenly on one tray and do the same with the beets on the other.
Dehydrate for 3 1/2 hours or till vegetables are crisp and feel very dry. There has to be no sign of moisture!
Once dry, place carrots into a grinder. We used a coffee bean grinder, it worked perfectly!
Do the same with the beets.
AND there you have it!!! Your natural dyes are ready to use!
For the Sugar Cookies, you will need:
Oven at 375F
1/3 cup Vegetable Shortening, room temperature
1/3 cup Vegan Butter, room temperature
3/4 cup White Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 "egg" replacement *I used a potato and cornstarch replacement called Paneriso. 1tsp. of mix and 2 tbsp. of water
4 tsp. Plant Based Milk * We used Almond Milk
2 cups All Purpose Unbleached Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
Cream your fats and sugar on medium high for 8 minutes till smooth, fluffy and light in colour.
Add egg replacement, vanilla and your plant based milk while mixing on low and turn up speed to medium and mix till fluffy, 2 minutes.
Add dry ingredients and mix on medium till incorporated, 1 minute. You are looking for it to come together.
Divide the dough into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill in the fridge or freezer for an hour or till hard.
Once chilled, roll out one disk to 1/8 inch thick.
Cut out the pumpkin shapes and place them onto lined baking tray.
Bake for 12 minutes. You are looking for a light golden colour and the edges to be lightly brown.
Cool them completely till decorating.
For the Royal Icing:
Use pre-packaged vegan royal icing mix and follow the measurements and instructions on package.
For decorating cookies, you will need:
Royal Icing
Natural Red Dye
Natural Yellow Dye
Panda Liquorice, sliced thin for eyes and sliced thin and cut in half for mouths
Scoop out a few large spoonfuls of icing into a separate bowl and mix in the beet and carrot dyes. NOW! The beets are very strong, so go easy on the red, add a little at first, like a 1/4 tsp and start with a tsp. of yellow dye.
Mix and adjust the colour by adding more if you want more vibrance. It's whatever you want!
If the mix has become stiff, add drips of water to make it more mixable. You want to make sure you don't make it too runny as you won't be able to ice the cookies properly.
There are two steps to decorating cookies properly.
Step one: with a piping bag, using the number two tip, add the icing to the bag, don't over fill as it will be messy when pipping it.
Outline the cookies and let dry.
As the cookies dry, pour the icing back into the bowl and add a little bit of water to make it runnier, but not watery.
Step Two: the technical term is called flooding, so imagine the icing natural flowing into place, that is the consistency you are looking for.
With a spoon, carefully scoop a little of the icing and spread it into place.
Once a cookie is flooded, add the panda liquorice cut outs to make little jack'o lantern faces.
Dry and EAT!!!