This egg-free version only vaguely resembles the original Martha Stewart recipe, which is described as biter-biscuit hard. That’s a good thing, because I’ve spent too much on dental work of late to crack a crown on a cookie.

Martha would shudder anyway if she sees my creation, which used butter-flavored shortening instead of butter because I wanted something that would ship safely to Dad. I’m not sure if it was the shortening substitution or replacing the egg yolk, but my version turned out much softer. It’s still a cookie tough enough to ship, but it’s nothing that’s going to damage dental work.

This was the first time I’ve replaced yolk only, and the advice I found online failed me miserably. Several sites said to use 1/2 tablespoon of egg replacer plus a tablespoon of water for each yolk. If I’d thought about the amount of liquid in an egg yolk, I would have realized that wasn’t going to work. I wound up adding a half cup of milk to my crumbly mess. That worked.

The decorations on top were Boots’ touch. He said Daddy wanted rainbow sugar. I’m not sure if Martha would be proud or keel over about that one.

Egg-free Venetian butter cookies

• 10 tablespoons of butter-flavored shortening
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbl. egg replacer beaten into 6 tbl. hot water and cooled. I used Bob’s Red Mill.
• 1/2 c. milk
• 3 c. flour

Combine shortening and sugar and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. I wouldn’t try this with a hand mixer unless you like the smell of smoldering mechanical parts. Add vanilla and salt. Add egg replacer a bit at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and alternately add flour and milk.

Roll dough into a walnut-sized ball and then into a rope. Shape the rope into an S – or a reasonable facsimile in my case. Place an inch and a half apart on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Martha says to bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. AirBake says 16 minutes.

Copyright 2010 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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