Deviously Delicious Iced Oat Sugar Cookies

I wanted to make colorful cookies that would be fun for the kids to eat, yet would secretly be filling them up with omega 3 fatty acids, protein, and whole grains. And I'm happy to announce that my plan worked.

My kids loved rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters. This was my very first time making cookies with cookie cutters and icing them, hence the sloppy cookie decorating. That being said, I was pretty proud because the end result seemed to have far exceeded my artistic ability. I guess icing makes everything look good. :)

The cookies tasted amazing, they tasted like a sugar cookie with a hint of oatmeal. And the icing was soft with a semi hard exterior-- we thought it was the perfect combination and will definitely make these often.

Once again, my children have fallen for my deceitful treats.


Iced Oat Sugar Cookies:

Tip: You can make your own oat flour by putting rolled oats in the blender or food processor until finely ground. Or you can buy it at many natural food stores.
You can also not use the oat flour and/or ground flaxseed and simply replace it with all purpose flour.

Prep Time: 15 minute prep time, 1 hour to chill dough, 15 minutes cookie cutting,
Cook Time: Bakes for 7-9 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar, known in Australia as "icing sugar")
• 1 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup oat flour (or finely ground rolled oats-- see Tip above)
• 1/4 cups ground flaxseed
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

The Method:

1. In a large bowl cream together the confectioners sugar and butter until smooth.
2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oat flour, ground flaxseed, and baking soda.
4. Stir flour mixture into creamed mixture. Mix until thoroughly combines, but do not overmix.
   
5. Cover the dough and chill for about 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
   
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.
8. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters and place cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
10. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. When cool, eat plain or make the following icing to top with.

Simple Cookie Icing Recipe:

Tip: The less milk you use per bowl the thicker the icing will be. Use thicker icing to make eyes, buttons, or any detail work. Use thinner icing to coat entire cookies, and the thicker on top to add details. That being said, you may want to choose two colors to make thin, and two to make thick.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups confectioners sugar, with one cup of sugar in four separate bowls to make different colors
  
• 2 tablespoons milk per bowl (or less for a thicker icing to add details to the cookies like eyes, smiles, etc.)
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract per bowl
• 3 or food coloring colors -- if you want white icing, don't add any color to one bowl

The Method:

1. Place 1 cup of sugar 4 separate bowls.
   
2. Add 2 tbsp milk (or less), 1/2 tsp vanilla and a few drops of your desired food color to each bowl.
   
3. Mix thoroughly with a fork until icing is very smooth and a good consistency.
4. Scrape each color into a small zip-lock plastic bag.
5. Snip the corner of the bag to produce a point (make the point as tiny as possible) and ice cookies as desired. Use a spreader to evenly spread icing all over cookies. Carefully use thicker icings to make details on cookies. Icing will dry to a delicious semi-hard coating.
   
6. Variation: use lemon or orange juice instead of milk for flavored icing.