Eggless Mardi Gras Snickerdoodles

I found a way to make Mardi Gras even more awesome- by adding the always fun to say snickerdoodle to it. Obviously, making 4 king cakes in two days didn't have me quite in the Mardi Gras spirit yet, so I decided to transform a simple eggless sugar cookie recipe into a party loving snickerdoodle in the spirit of the aforementioned cake. It was a tall task at hand, but using my baking knowledge and some leftover king cake frosting, I was ready to tackle it head on (or at least cry myself to sleep while eating batter straight from the bowl).

Mardi Gras Snickerdoodles
Modified Heavily from Food.com Sugar Cookies
Servings: 8-12 cookies
Time: 20 minutes

Cookies

Amazing sugary batter

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp milk
Vanilla extract
Almond Extract
Green Food Coloring
Yellow Food Coloring
Purple Food Coloring (2 red + 1 blue)
Green, yellow and purple sugar

I almost managed to give them enough separation this time!

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Cream the butter, white and brown sugar together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
3. Mix in the milk, sour cream and vanilla.
4. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon (I recommend starting with 1 tsp then tasting the batter and deciding if you want more. I went with the full amount) and blend well.
5. Place half tablespoon to full tablespoon sized amounts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies start to slightly harden.
6. Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for two minutes to crisp up the bottom of the cookies.
7. Let cool on a wire rack.
8. Make the three colored frostings by partitioning the remaining ingredients and mixing well with a fork. The final products should not be runny.
9. Spread on the frosting in 3 bands on each cookie and let them harden for 15 minutes before eating (or put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to really get the frosting right).

Sometimes you run out of frosting and one cookie feels sad and left out. It's ok; I found him a good home.

When I decided to mutate the simple sugar cookie with brown sugar and cinnamon to give that king cake feel, I thought it was the most inspired idea ever and that I was finally ready for those baking competitions on TV. Then Erika pointed out that it was actually just a snickerdoodle (I had so many big dreams, sis, so many...). Oh well, after giggling several times after saying snickerdoodle, I managed to bake up some fantastic Mardi Gras cookies (even if they weren't too much like a king cake). By themselves, the cookies were worth celebrating thanks to the powerful punch of cinnamon and sugar in a perfectly baked cookie. With the king cake frosting (especially if you let it properly harden in the fridge), they were worthy of a massive parade (complete with Grand Marshall- Famous Amos). This was precisely the sugar mountain I crave in my cookies. I am definitely looking forward to making these a staple of my Mardi Gras celebration each year (or changing up the frosting colors and eating them for any occasion like green and brown for a killer Arbor Day party).