Vegan Sugar Cookie Bars

1/3 c applesauce or 5 tbsp vegan butter such as Earth Balance/Smart Balance
1/3 cup truvia
1 Egg Replacer egg, prepared
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (I used Lorann's Butter-Vanilla Emulsion)
1 cup white ww flour
2/3 c unbleached white flour
1/4 tsp nusalt
1/8 tsp baking soda

for icing:
1 cup powdered z-sweet
2 tsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tsp sugar-free, honey-free honey substitute (Nature's Hollow brand)
1/4 tsp almond extract
food coloring of choice (optional)--I added 2 drops Lorann Strawberry flavoring and 2 drops red food coloring for a strawberry icing

preheat the oven to 375 degrees. grease a baking pan (8x8?) and set aside.

in a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream applesauce + truvia on a medium-high speed until light + fluffy. add "egg", scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. add in vanilla extract + mix well.

in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, + baking soda. slowly add to truvia mixture + mix on a low speed just until combined.

transfer the cookie dough to the prepare rimmed baking sheet + press into an even layer.
bake for 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown + a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

For icing:
In a small bowl, stir together powdered z-sweet and milk until smooth. Beat in honey and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more milk (I ended up using a full tbsp, instead of 2 tsp). Add in additional coloring/flavoring if desired and ice bars individually!

Serving Size: makes 1 dozen bars