So of course I had to start out with one of the quintessential holiday treats: sugar cookies.
There’s nothing better than a sugar cookie. Well, there are a few things that may squeeze in right above them.
Bags of money that you suddenly find on your doorstep. Baby giggles. Third kisses. First kisses can sometimes be all kinds of bad.
But sugar cookies are right up there! Especially when they’re frosted with yummy royal icing, very similar to what I use on my cupcakes.
So this was a very easy dough to make. It comes from the baking bible (Betty Crocker) and anybody can do it! Even you!!
The recipe says it makes 5 dozen 2 inch cookies, but I used fairly large cookie cutters so it made about 2 1/2 dozen. My mom pulled out all her cookie cutters, including some old antique ones, so it was fun to make multiple shapes to keep it interesting.
Most traditional royal icings call for egg yolks, or sometimes it’s just powdered sugar and milk, but I found a recipe for butter royal icing and it was very yummy. I added just a hint of food coloring because when you tend to add a lot of food coloring to frosting, the color starts to separate and give your frosting this grainy look.
Pretty pretty cookies!!
Sugar Cookies Recipe
From Betty Crocker
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 3/16 inch (really? like really?) thick on a lightly floured board. Cut into shapes. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and bake until edges are light brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Frost and decorate.
Butter Royal Icing
From allrecipes.com
Enough for 2 1/2 dozen generously frosted cookies
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
1./2 cup plus 1 tblspn butter, softened
3 tblspn vanilla
3 tblspn milk
food coloring of your choices
Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk, beating until creamy. Add more milk or sugar until you reach your desired spreadable consistency. Spread frosting over cooled cookies and have fun!!
Ginger Yaps 