Egg and dairy free unicorn sugar biscuits

So the munchkin's 4th birthday is imminent and I'm determined to make sure that everything served at her party is all 100% dairy, egg, soya, nut, fish, apple, pear and maize/corn free.... which I can tell you is a job and a half. Want to serve sandwiches? Nuh uh. Most shop bought bread has soya flour. Want to give out marshmallows? Nope. Majority of them are coated in cornflour. And don't even get me started on the hunt I had for a dairy and egg free birthday cake recipe! Even sprinkles have milk in them sometimes! 

So today I made it my mission to attempt a batch of dairy and egg free sugar biscuits after spotting a unicorn cookie cutter in hobbycraft. Man, trying to cut out unicorn biscuits is HARD. The bloody hooves and horn kept getting stuck in the cutter and breaking off! BUT I got there in the end, and although some of the horsies ended up hoofless or tailless thanks to them breaking off post baking, I have to say I'm fairly proud how well they turned out. So here's the recipe!

Dairy and egg free sugar biscuits

3 1/4 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup margarine like vitalite
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut or any alternative milk

I creamed the sugar and marge together, then added the vanilla and coconut milk. Then i sieved the flour, salt and baking powder in and mixed until it was combined. I did add extra flour as the dough was too sticky. Once your dough is combined, wrap in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Then bring it out, put it on a floured surface and roll it out to 1/2cm thick and cut out shapes. Place them on grease proof paper and bake at gas Mark 5 for 10-20 minutes depending on your oven. The edges should just begin to brown. They'll still be soft when you take them out the oven but they'll harden as they cool.

Top tips: 

I found the dough very sticky and fragile as I used margarine instead of butter. Roll the dough directly onto the grease proof paper and cut them out then remove the excess. That way you don't destroy the shape of your biscuits if you're doing something delicate like the unicorn shape I chose. Otherwise horns and hooves break off! 

Also make sure you roll the dough thin enough. My first batch of unicorns looked more like bulls as they rose a little too much and looked a bit "puffy"! 

Aside from a few trial and error mistakes, I think this recipe is definitely a success! The biscuits are nice and crisp and they taste fab! 

Update... Some water icing and sprinkles later and we've got glammed up unicorns...