sugar cookies

I have to admit it- I am a sucker for two things: big frosted cookies and cake.  So, whenever there is a holiday nearby, I find myself  digging out whatever cutter fits the occasion, and getting down and dirty with some flour. For some reason- I have noticed I always wear a black shirt when I work with flour. I don’t plan it- obviously… it just happens that way.  The REALLY bad part is I don’t remember to wear an apron until it’s too late. Hmmm.

The search for the perfect sugar cookie cut out continues and this time I used Bridget’s recipe over at Bake At 350. I tweaked it a little bit- I like chewier cookies, so I incorporated a little shortening in place of part of the butter. I also did her royal icing recipe, too.

To decorate- just make an outline of the shape of the cutter, allow that to dry- then “flood” it with the desired colored icing. To make the pattern, simple add stripes (horizontal) and drag a toothpick through the stripes verticallly while it’s still wet.  I used a lot of plain white- with limites colors. My girls get too hyper with the food dye. 🙂

Here is the tweaked recipe I made for the cookies:

3 c flour

2tsp baking powder

shift the above together

cream:

1 and 1/4 stick butter

1/4 c shortening

1 c sugar

add:

1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond

combine with the flour mixture and roll out to 1/4 ” thickness, cut into desired shapes and bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

For the frosting:

With a mixer, take 5 tbs meriuge powder or powdered egg whites, mix with just under 1/2 c water until stiff peaks form

add 1 lb SHIFTED powdered sugar

that’s your outlining frosting. To make the ‘flooding’ frosting- separate some of the white into a bowl, and add 1 tsp of water at a time until you have a consistency of ranch dressing. You can add colors at this point, too.  Some people use plastic bags as pastry bags. You can – but it’s really much better to use the disposable pastry bags they sell. It’s like comparing a spork and a fork when you’re eating steak. Sure the food will get into your mouth, but much nicer with the fork, don’t ya think? 😉

Please follow and like us: