The cyclist has been after me for years to make a sugar cookie with royal icing. I think royal icing is fine, but my preference is a tangy cream cheese frosting. Well, he finally realized that if he wanted anything done around here, he was going to have to do it himself.
After much study and deliberation, he chose the "Baked" sugar cookie. (Love this cookbook. LOVED this cookie.)
He entered them into the COOKIE PARTY 2010 lineup and won for "Prettiest Cookie".
Not the most masculine prize, but he's taking what he can get.
Classic Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
From "Baked"
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 T cold vegetable shortening
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the chilled dough and put it directly on the work surface. Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut shapes in the dough and transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until they are set but not browned. Remove from the oven and place the baking sheet on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
Make the Royal Icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 large egg whites
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
food coloring (optional)
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg whites and lemon juice until the mixture is completely smooth. The mixture should have the texture of a glaze. If the mixture is too thin, add a bit more sugar. If it is too thick, add a few drops of lemon juice.
The best way to ice sugar cookies is with a pastry bag fitted with a small or medium tip. First, outline the cookie or design, then fill it in. Let the icing harden before serving.
That is a really beautiful design. I love cookies! :)
ReplyDeleteOh dear, another cookie recipe I'll have to try. :) It looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteHow do you make that design on the cookie with the frosting?
ReplyDeleteyou need 2 pastry bags full of icing in contrasting colors. I like a #3 tip for the fill and a #2 tip for the contrasting circles.
ReplyDeleteDraw a circle around the edge of the whole cookie to act as a dam and then fill in the center. While it is still wet, get the second color and do circles on top of the base color. It should look a little like a target at this point.
Grab a toothpick and drag from the outside to the center while it is still wet across the lines stopping in the center.
We also created some that had hearts by doing a big dot in the center of the cookie and then just dragged the toothpick through the dot and all the way to the other edge just once once.
To know if your icing is the right consistency dip a spoon into the icing and pull some out. Drizzle it back in to the bowl. It should stay on the surface for about 5 seconds before being absorbed and lost back into the rest of the icing. Faster than 5 seconds and you need to add more powdered sugar, longer than 5 seconds and you need to add more lemon juice.
Robin,
ReplyDeletefatguyonalittlebike is my husband. He made and decorated these cookies. Hope his tip is helpful!
I love that your husband made these! And another Baked recipe that I need to try...
ReplyDeleteI make the spider web on my sugar cookies with black icing on Halloween. Never thougth to make it with a different color. I think I need to get a copy of the Baked book. It looks fun.
ReplyDeleteAnd a husband who decorates cookies! Mine just eats them, but he's great at that!
How do you get your cookies to look so pretty!!
ReplyDeleteHorsejumper,
ReplyDeleteRead the comment from "fatguyonalittlebike". That is my husband. He decorated these. They look great, huh!?
That looks so good.... and thanks fatguyonalittlebike! i shall try that technique.
ReplyDeletehow long can you leave this dough in the fridge? oe can it freeze?
ReplyDelete