Not pictured. From “Vegan Desserts,” by Hannah Kaminsky (Skyhorse). Makes 1-2 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
3/4 cup non-dairy margarine
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced very thin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Pinch salt
Directions
Toss the margarine into your stand mixer and beat it by itself just to soften it a bit. Add in the flour, starting the mixer at a slow speed so that it doesn’t send the powder flying out. Once that has been completely incorporated, follow it with the cornstarch and then with the sugar. Toss in the sliced basil while the mix is still powdery so that it’s coated in the flour and evenly distributed. Finally, add the lemon juice and zest, along with the salt, and mix until it all comes together into a cohesive ball of dough. It may seem very dry and unlikely to stick together at all, but give it time — it could take as long as 5 minutes. You might need to remove it from the bowl near the end and knead the last dry bits in by hand.
On a lightly floured surface, sprinkle the dough with just a touch more flour, and roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. If you have trouble rolling it out smoothly or find that it’s too sticky to work with, let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so before continuing. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and line two baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper. Cut into squares of about 1 1/2 inches on each side; move to prepared baking sheet. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until the edges just begin to take on some color, but you don’t really want to brown these. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, and then move them onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
