Amy's Vegan Day: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies with Vanilla Icing

Due to a small miracle by the Scheduling Powers-That-Be my brother and I both had today off of our respective responsibilities. So I took the train downstate to spend the day with David (and am blogging on the train home - thank you, Amtrak!). David loves strawberries and vanilla ice cream and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, is gluten-free, so I made up this cookie recipe just for them. I'm still not a pro at gluten-free baking so if you have any tips on how to make these less dry, please let me know. But otherwise the flavor is pretty good. If you don't store your butter in the freezer be sure to put it in at least a few hours before making the cookies so it will freeze.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies with Vanilla Icing (makes 16)

For the cookies:
3/4 cup frozen strawberries (about 8)
2 Tbls. soy milk
3/4 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 Tbls. warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oats
3/8 cup (6 Tbls.) rice flour
3/8 cup (6 Tbls.) sorghum flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbls. vegan butter, frozen

For the icing:
2 Tbls. vegan butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Sprinkles (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Microwave the strawberries for 45 seconds. They don't need to be melted, just a bit soft and squishy. Blend the strawberries with the soy milk just for a few seconds; it's okay to have some little strawberry pieces in there. In a small bowl combine the egg replacement powder and the warm water and stir until fully combined. In a large bowl combine the strawberry mixture, egg mixture, and sugar.

Chop the oats in the food processor until they are a fine powder. If you don't have a food processor, just chop them as best as you can with a good knife, but be prepared for some arm work. Add the oats and the rest of the cookie ingredients (except the butter) to the strawberry mixture, and stir.

Grate the frozen butter into the mixture (or chop it up really small if you don't have a grater) and combine. You should still see little flecks of butter in the batter. Drop 2 Tbls. of batter onto a lined cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.