With a hint of citrus and packed with a soft crunch, these Lemon Sugar Bunny Cookies are a must-make for your household this coming Easter. I was so pleased with how beautifully yellow the turmeric colored the icing also! Makes me wanna buy a bunny…or maybe just bake another batch of cookies.
Let’s talk a little about the dough, shall we? May I have permission to do so? Great! (Yeah like you have a choice).This dough is very delicate. Please read that sentence again.
1). When mixing the dough, it shouldn’t be sticky but it will be soft. If it is sticky, add 1 tablespoon of gluten-free flour blend until it no longer is, 2) If it feels to hard and crumbly after you take it out of the fridge, all it needs is to be warmed up lightly with your hands by forming it into a ball (trust, it will comply), 3). When you roll one part of the dough out, keep the remainder of the dough in the fridge until that section is ready to be rolled out, 4). Roll out the dough once. When you have cut out your bunnies and have extra dough, throw that excess back into the fridge. It gets very soft when you roll it more than once which keeping its shape becomes impossible when using a spatula to transfer it, and 5). If you do choose to use the bunny cut-out, use the parchment paper that you have rolled them onto and transfer it to the baking sheet. This way you won’t have to throw a fit when the dough doesn’t cooperate when trying to scoop up with a spatula. Thank you again for the tip, Laurel!
Oh and one last thought: when you take the cookies out of the oven, please DO NOT touch them for at least 2-3 minutes prior to placing them on the wire rack to completely cool. They will completely set as they cool but if you do try to touch them too soon, they will crumble.
Are you reading this and thinking, “Well goodness Cara, this is more trouble than I want!”? I have already thought about that, my friends. If you want to just make circle cookies, there is no need to chill the dough. Just plop a heaping tablespoonful of the dough onto the baking sheet and bake*. Problem solved and time saved. But the bunnies are super cute. I mean, did you see their vegan marshmallow tails??? It’s adorable. Your choice though. No judgments.
*If you drop the dough onto the baking sheet, please note that you will get at least a dozen more cookies than the Bunnies.
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These delightfully lemon sugar cookies are the perfect Easter treat for your kids who are unable to eat gluten, eggs, and/or dairy.
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1/2 c. non-hydrogenated shortening
- 1/4 c. vegan butter
- 1 1/2 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer + 2 Tbsp. warm water – whisk until frothy
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- zest of 2 lemons
Dry ingredients
- 3/4 c. superfine brown rice flour
- 3/4 c. sorghum flour
- 1/2 c. arrowroot powder
- 1/2 c. potato starch
- 1 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Royal Icing
- 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil, solid (or shortening)
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
For the decoration
- vegan marshmallows
- raw sugar for garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the cookies
- In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together (except for the sugar).
- In a large bowl, cream the shortening and butter together with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat in until fluffy. Add the Ener-G egg replacer, lemon juice and zest until just combined.
- Pour in half of the dry ingredients and stir in with a wooden spoon until mixed in. Stir in the other half of the flour.
- Chill the dough for 2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Between two pieces of parchment paper roll out 1/3 of the dough. Please read the post about the dough before going to this step.
- Roll out into 1/4″ thickness. Cut out with a bunny cookie cutter and gently transfer to the baking sheet.
- Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned along the edges. If you want them on the softer side, bake for 7-8 minutes. If you want a crunchier cookie, bake around 9-10 minutes. Regardless of the time you bake them at, when you take the sheet out of the oven let the cookies sit for 2-3 minutes and then allow to *completely* cool on a wire rack. Repeat the above steps until all the dough has been used.
For the icing
- Whisk the powdered sugar and turmeric together.
- Cut in the coconut oil (or shortening) until blended in.
- Add the lemon juice and stir until a thick paste (yet still able to spread) has formed. If you need more liquid, add 1 tsp. of non-dairy milk until desired consistency is reached.
For the assembly
- Once the cookies have cooled, take approx. 1 tsp. of the icing and spread over each cookie.
- Place the vegan marshmallow in the correct spot to set. Sprinkle and garnish with raw sugar (optional).
Notes
- Makes approximately two dozen 4″ bunny cookies.
I used this 4″ Bunny cookie cutter for my cookies just in case you were wondering. Can’t have any of the flours mentioned above? No problemo! Read this post to find great gluten-free flour substitutes. Also, if you don’t have or want to use the Ener-G egg replacer, you can use 1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal + 2 Tbsp. water instead. Just keep in mind that it will change the color of the cookies a little. The end.
Happy Bunny Cookie making, friends!
Hi Cara, These are so sweet! I bet they taste amazing, I just adore and love anything lemon. However I really don’t need them to be gluten free. What changes would I need to make if using all-purpose or maybe even whole wheat white flour? Thanks!
Could your gluten free baking mix be used in place of the flour blend written in the recipe? – I ran out of potato starch when I made your all purpose gf blend
Definitely give it a go. Usually it can work, just be mindful of slight changes to the final outcome (ie: texture and taste) but for the most part, it should be rather similar.
Cara: what did I do?? So, I made these with my girls today…while they taste absolutely heavenly, the oven pretty much melted them away. They totally lost their shape in the oven, and were bubbly. Could it have been too much oil? I did as the recipe states… Ps you mention to mix all dry ingredients together, but then you say to add the sugar to the shorting/butter mix. Thanks for the help!
Hi Jess! Sorry to hear about the melty mess 🙁 A few things cross my mind: what type of butter do you use? Depending on the brand, there can be more water in it that causes it to spread. And is your oven temp correct? Could be an issue with being too hot. Next time you are making cookies that you want to stay in shape, you can always decrease the oven temp by 25 degrees or place the baking sheet with the cookies on them into the freezer for 15-20 minutes prior to baking. Hope this helps!
Oh yum! Love your recipes. 🙂
Super, super cute, Cara, and I’m sure delicious, too! 🙂
xo,
Shirley
Ok, serious question for once. How lemony are these cookies? I like some zing 😀
I say they are lightly tinted with lemon flavor but if you want a nice punch in the throat with lemony goodness, maybe use lemon extract instead 🙂
those sure sound like a pain, but they are super duper cute!! love the tail 🙂
Hey Ty, I promise you that reading the instructions are more of a pain than actually doing it. It’s just a sugar roll-out cookie but I have to be as descriptive as I can to be as clear as possible 😛 Hope you try them and you will LOVE them! xo
If eggs are not a problem, would 1 egg be an equivalent for the Ener-G egg replacer?
You can definitely do that Terie, however please note that there probably will be more liquid because of the egg so I suggest adding at least 2 more tablespoons of gluten free flour to the mix.
you have the cutest props and the cutest bunnies. that yellow is looking fabulous! you definitely have all holiday candy covered!
These look delicious…AND adorable! Thanks for sharing!
So cute. I love their little marshmallow bottoms. I hope you put some in my egg? After all I pre-ordered your book months and months ago. 🙂 Pubic Service Announcement on sugar cookies for those who don’t know – roll the dough out on half size sheets of parchment paper (half the size of your cookie sheet); cut out the shapes and remove excess dough from around them; transfer the parchment directly onto the cookie sheet. Seriously I hate to see any bunny in tears because its widdle biddy ear got hurt. xoxo
Laurel, you are the voice of reason for me. Why do I like to do things the hard way? haha. I just changed the instructions with your better way of doing it. Thank you so much for this great tip! xo
These are so cute! Love!
Cara, Since I already pre-ordered your book 😀 I wonder if I could bribe you to hack my favorite Easter candy? It’s actually my favorite candy of all time, but only available at Easter. Cadbury Mini Eggs. Ugh. I could live without everything else, but those are my kryptonite. I want to buy this huge 36 oz bag on Amazon, but the thought of a dairy induced stomach ache is enough to keep me from getting brave. http://www.amazon.com/Cadbury-Easter-Candy-Coated-Ounce/dp/B006X7US0Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396967703&sr=8-1&keywords=cadbury+mini+eggs
Thanks for all the yummy things you do!!!
Megan
Megan, Megan, Megan, you have NO idea how badly I have racked my brain trying to figure out how to create that candy coated shell. It’s been YEARS and I am still at a loss. I WISH from the bottom of my heart that I could figure it out!! Doesn’t mean I have given up… But there is a company that just raised money to create something similar to M&Ms but vegan. Check this out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1330686256/americas-candy-all-natural-vegan-and-allergy-frien
Let’s keep our fingers crossed…
Thank you SO MUCH for the preorder! Goodness, that made my morning, xo
Cool! I will have to watch for those! I’m glad to hear that you’ve been working on it. I’ll keep waiting patiently, ha ha! 🙂
These are way too cute! The lil’ marshmallow tails…. awwww! 🙂
Sugar cookies are the one thing I haven’t really attempted to make gf, save but a few times & I wasn’t super thrilled with my results. But these look fab! My kids love sugar cookies & we’re definitely making these for the Easter season.
Lovely, lovely! Thanks Cara.
Janae, these taste incredible…seriously. When I took my first bite I immediately thought I was eating a Pilsbury store-bought sugar cookie (which to me is delicious!)xo
Yummmmmm!
Oh my!! These are just soooo dang adorable, girl!! I love it!! Great photos, too 😉
Thank you so much Beth-a-roo!