Easy, soft and chewy vegan heart shaped cookies. Eggless and dairy-free.
In a large bowl, mix together the margarine, caster sugar and vanilla.
Add the flour, baking soda and soy milk and mix well. When it starts to stick together, use your hands to press it into a ball of dough. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 180°C (or 160°C for fan ovens). Line a large tray or 2 with baking paper.
After the dough has chilled, gently knead in a small amount of food colouring if using. I dyed half of mine pink and kept the other half uncoloured.
On a floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼-inch thick. Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, re-rolling leftover pieces of dough until it's all used up.
Place the cookies on your lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes. You'll know they're ready when they're firm to the touch at the edges and the cookies have tiny cracks on the surface. Let them cool completely.
Mix together the icing sugar and water until smooth and glossy. Stir in a small amount of food colouring if using.
Transfer the icing to a piping bag fitted with a small to medium writing nozzle. Pipe the icing onto the cookies and sprinkle over the decorations while the icing is still wet.
Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the icing is firm to the touch.