Hey beautiful people! Today we are going to be talking about Royal Icing and Sugar cookies! Recipes are included after the jump! Making decorated cookies can be a tedious task but they are so much easier to make than they look. You can use them as party favors or decor for a party or gift them to someone you care about. You can even make royal icing creations on wax paper, wait till they dry, and transfer them to cookies, cupcakes, you name it rather than designing right on the cookie to begin with. Keep reading below for some easy and quick recipes to make decorated sugar cookies.
Royal Icing Recipe
- 4 Cups of Confectioner's/Powdered sugar (sifted)
- 3 Tablespoons of Merengue Powder (you can find this at any craft store or even Walmart)
- 6 tablespoons of warm water
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Gel coloring
1. Mix merengue powder and sugar.
2. Mix vanilla with water and slowly pour it into your mixer.
3. Cover mixer with a dish towel and put it on low to mix for about 7 minutes. If soft peaks are forming then you do not need to add more sugar, if it still hasn't thickened up after 7 minutes, add a bit more sugar.
4. Once stiff peaks form, separate your icing into different bowls because you will be dying it. Make sure to cover icing you are not currently working on with cling wrap or a damp paper towel otherwise it will dry and crust over making it unusable.
5. Add in a small amount of gel food coloring and mix by hand with a spoon or a fork until you get the desired color. Add a bit of water till it gets the consistency of a really thick maple syrup. If you swipe a knife through it, you want the indentation to disappear at about 15 seconds, too soon and it is too runny, if it takes too long it is too thick. Keep -playing with it till you get the right consistency.
6. Fill a decorating bag already fitted with a number 2 tip with the colored icing. You are ready to start decorating cookies!
Tip: if you are doing an intricate design, print out a design and slip it under a sheet of wax paper and just trace it! Let each layer dry a couple of hours so the colors don't mix and bleed. Let it dry overnight - 24 hours and gently peel the sugar design off of the paper and use wet royal icing to glue the design to your cookie.
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Sugar Cookie Recipe
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- 2 ounces of room temperature cream cheese
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon/orange/lime zest (whichever you prefer)
- 3 cups of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder (leave this out if you do not want cookies to spread)
1. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese with the sugar. Beat until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, extracts, and citrus zest.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then gradually add it to the butter mixture until incorporated and a soft dough is formed.
3. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap with cling wrap and then foil. Place in fridge for at least an hour.
4. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare baking sheets with either split mats or parchment paper. Remove chilled dough and roll out to about 1/4 - 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out your desired shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to the baking sheets.
5. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes depending on their thickness and then let it cook for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
This was my first attempt ever making decorated sugar cookies. They were definitely not perfect, but not terrible either. I think the imperfections added to the cartoon theme.
The possibilities are truly endless! Let me know if you make these! Enjoy your Tuesday!
Xoxo, Chris
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