Sugar Cookies

I did my first baking using a dairy free recipe yesterday, and it turned out quite well!  I am still in the holiday baking spirit, so I made Dairy Free Sugar Cookies that Reese could help me make cut outs with. I'll be honest, they are not as creamy and smooth as regular cutouts that use real butter, but for someone who has to be dairy free, these are just fine.

Dairy Free Sugar Cookies
1 cup all-vegetable shortening- I USED 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup lactose free butter 
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons soymilk I USED COCONUT MILK instead
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:

1
Beat shortening and sugar in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg, soy milk and vanilla until well blended.
2
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to shortening mixture until well blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.
3
Heat oven to 375ºF. Roll 1/3 of dough at a time on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough with 2 to 3-inch floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
4
Bake 5 to 9 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer cookies to cooling rack. Frost and decorate as desired.

We begin out holiday extravaganza tomorrow, heading down to Illinois to my parents house tomorrow afternoon. We will celebrate my Dad's birthday tomorrow night (his birthday was yesterday), and then the Christmas festivities take place Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with us returning home on Christmas afternoon since Kyle has to work on the 26th.

Preston has been sleeping much better the past two nights. I have begun swaddling him with one arm out, and he seems to prefer that instead of having both arms swaddled. He slept from 2:40 am- 8:00 am this morning...woo hoo! I had to go in once at 5:00 to help him back to sleep, but I didn't feed him, so he did a 5 1/2 hour stretch...awesome! He also took 3 awesome naps in his crib yesterday and today as well. Hopefully things are on the up and up. I think he may just be giving me an early Christmas present :)

*As a side note, a shout out to one of my good friends who just started her own food blog. Check out berrysweetlauren.com. I went to Western Illinois with her and she is such a great cook. She does some amazing things and is the one who hosted our Friendsgiving this year. She has AWESOME recipes on there!