Yield:  approximately 25 cookies

Yesterday  morning, a TV crew from WVEC Channel 13 came to our house to interview “Team Huff”:  all of the good folks, including our Great Dane, Huff, responsible for “Man’s Best Friend” becoming a Top Five Finalist in the “Doritos Crash the Superbowl” commercial competition!  (Click on the link to watch the commercial, the blooper ad reel, see the Huff Pics of the Day and VOTE to put them in a Top Two slot which will mean the commercial will be aired on the Superbowl!)

I wanted to serve everyone a little something, though I knew no one would want food stuck in their teeth on camera.  My pal and vegan cookbook author extraordinaire, Bryanna Clark Grogran, recommended sugar cookies in the shape of dog bones.  Perfect!

Since my Blooming Platter Cookbook focuses on seasonal ingredients, there are no plain sugar cookies in it.  However, I have a vegan sugar cookie recipe that is very good, but calls for vegan cream cheese.  That’s not a problem except that I had little time and wanted something as streamlined as possible.  An online search turned up a recipe from The Decorated Cookie blog.  It was terrific and I recommend it highly!  Just click on the link for the easy and tasty recipe.  I wanted my cookies to suggest dog treats so I didn’t ice them, but the frosting recipe looks like a winner too.

Here’s a quick helpful tip: I was completely out of powdered sugar.  I knew a substitution could be made from granulated sugar and cornstarch so I searched on line for the proportions.  Finding two different ones, I split the difference, using 1 cup natural sugar to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.  I simply blended the mixture it in the blender to make a find powder.  (The directions I read said that a food processor wouldn’t work, so I didn’t experiment.)  The result was just right.  Be sure to scrape down the sides and blend a few times or granulated sugar will remain at the bottom of the blender.

As it turned out, everyone was too busy to eat while the taping transpired, but our guests were happy to take doggy bags of cookies with them.

Many thanks to The Decorated Cookie!