Cream the vegan butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 3- 5 minutes.
Add the lemon zest, the aquafaba and the extracts to the creaming butter/sugar mixture and then stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl
Next sift together the flour baking powder and salt and add it all at once to the creamed mixture. Mix just until it is all combined.
Wrap this dough disc in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight before using or you can store it for up to 1 week wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator, or in the freezer for 2 months.
You must re work this dough with some additional flour to a pliable consistency after it has been chilled. Do not skip this step.
Knead it with some flour until it is no longer a crumbly mass, but a soft pliable dough
Roll out the dough to ¼" thick and cut shapes as desired
If you are dipping in crystal sugar, spritz each cookie with water and then sprinkle with the sugar.
Transfer cookie cutouts to a parchment lined sheet pan and bake in preheated to 350° F oven for approximately 18-22 minutes or until light golden brown.
* For royal iced cookies just bake the cookies then decorate as shown in the video on cooled cookies
For the Royal Icing
Combine the egg replacer with the warm water and whisk smooth
Place the sifted confectioners sugar in a mixing bowl and then add the vanilla extract and the egg replacer mixture.
Mix on medium to high speed until it is smooth
Color as desired with food colors and decorate as you like on baked and cooled cookies.
Allow cookies to dry slightly at room temperature
Notes
Cookies stay fresh at room temperature for up to 2 weeks in an airtight contaner
Recipe by Gretchen's Vegan Bakery at https://www.gretchensveganbakery.com/christmas-cookies-best-sugar-cookie-dough-recipe/