To Make the Cookies

• In a medium bowl, sieve together the plain white flour, cornstarch, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Set aside.
  170 g plain white flour, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the icing sugar and vegan butter for at least 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Slowly add the soy milk followed by the vanilla and almond extracts, beating as you go.
  90 g icing sugar, 115 g vegan butter, 30 ml soy milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat slowly until just combined into a dough. The dough will be very soft, unlike typical cookie dough - but don't worry! Scoop the dough out onto a sheet of cling film/saran wrap and wrap completely. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
• Once the dough is thoroughly chilled, preheat the oven to 190 °C and line three cookie sheets or baking trays with baking parchment.
• Once the dough is thoroughly chilled, heavily dust a clean counter and unwrap the dough. Divide the dough in half and keep one half wrapped and refrigerated.
• Roughly pat the other half of dough into a ball and dust the top with flour. Roll out into a ½ cm thick sheet and use a cookie cutter to cut out as many trees as you can. Transfer the cut-out trees to one of the lined baking sheets.
• Gather the excess dough from the counter and push into a rough ball. Wrap again in cling film/saran wrap and place back in the fridge. Remove the other chilled half of dough from the fridge and repeat the process with this half, making sure you gather the excess dough trimmings, wrap them and refrigerate.
• Place the two trays of cut out cookies in the preheated oven to bake for 8 minutes. While these cookies bake, rollout the chilled excess dough and repeat the process of cutting out as many cookies as you can. Transfer these last cookies to a sheet of baking parchment.
• When the first batch of cookies are baked, remove them from the oven and allow
• Divide the prepared vegan buttercream between three small bowls. Using the green food dye dye one of the bowls dark green, one of the bowls light green and leave one undyed.
  1 batch vegan buttercream frosting, natural green food dye
• Transfer the buttercream into three separate piping bags and make a very small hole in the tip. Pipe a line of dark green blobs horizontally across the bottom of the tree. Use a knife to press down each blob and drag upwards. Repeat the process working your way up the tree, switching to light green half-way up the tree and white for the top of the tree.
• Alternatively, put the two green buttercreams in a piping bag fitted with a decorative nozzle, try your best not to blend the two colours together. Decorate the tree cookies with the two tone buttercream and top with a white star. Once done, spray each tree with gold lustre spray and serve.
  gold lustre spray
• To store, seal in an airtight container and place in the fridge. Best consumed on the day of baking.