Chocolate Ghost Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plant-based butter, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, softened at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

1/2 cup regular cocoa powder or dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt if butter is not salted

1/4 cup plant-based chocolate chips, regular or mini, semi-sweet or dark, melted

Directions:

In bowl of electric mixer, cream together butter, Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Turn off mixer, add 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, combining with butter mixture at low speed, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Repeat with cocoa powder, and then with flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Incorporate melted chocolate after first 1/2 cup flour. Avoid over mixing.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper twice the width of pan, allowing half to hang off the side. Place dough in a mound in center of pan on top of parchment, fold excess parchment over dough, and press into a disk about 1-inch thick. With a rolling pin, roll dough to a 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch even thickness and place the rolled dough, still on the pan, into the refrigerator for 1-hour. Remove.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a holiday bell-shaped cutter, cut out cookies leaving them on the pan, and gathering scraps. (Note: this dough is very easy to handle provided you use open cookie cutters rather than those with a “back” for easy removal of the cookies from the cutter.) On a nearby work surface, form scraps into a ball, reroll to same thickness as others, and cut more cookies, transferring them to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

With a sharp knife, cut “handle” off the bell at the top to create a round “head.” Then, with your fingers, swoop one tip of the bell up a little to lend the effect of flying. Sift remaining 1/2-cup powdered sugar evenly over cookies, using more or less to achieve a thin layer. Form ghost eyes with the flat end of a bamboo skewer or something similar, and a mouth by making a stretched circle.

Bake approximately 10 minutes or until set and no longer shiny. Remove pan to wire rack and allow to cool.

*Created exclusively for Tofutti Brands, Inc. by Betsy DiJulio of The Blooming Platter.