Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

I love sugar cookies! I have the most DELICIOUS Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe, but they are only good when they are circle shaped and I really wanted to put my Christmas cookie cutters to good use! So, I thought about making a sugar cookie with royal icing, "how hard could it be?" I thought... hahaha, oh, how naive I was! I'd seen those cookie decorating tutorials in magazines and on television that make it look like a toddler could decorate cookies like a pro in 5 minutes. You know which ones I’m talking about..the pictures that show all the pastry bags and squeeze bottles neatly filled with the perfect consistency of icing and the spatulas are color coordinated to the bowls and mixer. The naked cookies are all baked and lined up waiting to be frosted by smiling mothers and angelic children. You can just feel the joy that’s about to be born from this experience.

Well, I started exploring online and found the most amazing website, University of Cookie! I spent probably 4 hours reading, watching videos, and learning everything about sugar cookies and royal icing. It scared me to death! I had no idea what kind of work went into making these type of cookies! By the time the icing was made I was exhausted and my kitchen was covered in flour and royal icing! Thankfully I only had one meltdown... I started with the cookie dough recipe from the University of Cookie website and it was a failure! The recipe said "it will be crumbly so knead together" but it was like sand! I couldn't even get the dough to stick together to roll out! So I cried, threw away the dough, called my amazing cousin (who is a professional baker), and started with a new cookie dough recipe. I continued to cry and think "what did I get myself into" but thankfully that was the only bump in the road! Once the cookies were made it was all downhill. I'm actually excited to make these cookies again with new shapes and designs!

I credit my success to two tips I picked up from the University of Cookie website...purchase a few plastic squirt bottles (ketchup and mustard squirt bottles would even work) and give yourself at least 4 hours to make and decorate the cookies. I went out and bought a couple of plastic squirt bottles from Hobby Lobby (I heard Walmart had them too but I couldn't find them) and they made the process SO easy! It was time consuming... it took about 3 1/2 hours not including rest time for the cookies to cool and icing to harden but in the end it was worth it, they're beautiful cookies!

Sugar Cookie Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into chunks
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Royal Icing Ingredients
8 tablespoons meringue powder
1 cup cool water
2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
Optional- a few drops of clear extract (I used almond extract but you could use peppermint, vanilla, cherry, orange, etc.)

Sugar Cookie Directions
Cream butter, powdered sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla, and salt together using a mixer (I used the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid mixer and it worked GREAT). Add in the flour and mix until combined. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters and place on parchment paper covered cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. This recipe yielded me 26 3-inch Christmas tree cookies.

Royal Icing Directions
Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.
Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired (the corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny). Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold it up and jiggle without the peak falling, however it will be very light and fluffy like meringue!

Divide the icing into bowls and stir in food coloring. Cover the tops of the bowls with plastic wrap and press the plastic wrap down onto the icing so there is no air (air is the enemy of this icing)! You can store the icing like this for a few days! I divided my icing into 4 bowls, so I had green, red, white, and brown icing.
First you want to outline the cookies. This will dam in the runny "flood icing" you'll add later. I used a Wilton #2 decorating tip to outline my cookies.
Now you'll need to thin the icing to make "flood icing". This is the runny icing that goes inside the cookie and hardens. I made red, green, and white flood icing (this is the icing you'll put into your squirt bottles). To make the "flood icing" you'll take some of your colored royal icing (I used the green leftover icing from outlining the cookies) and add water a teaspoon at a time. Add a teaspoon of water, stir, evaluate, add another teaspoon of water, stir, evaluate. I ended up adding 8 teaspoons of water to my green icing. You don't want the icing to be too runny so be careful! You'll know it's ready when you pick your spoon up, drizzle icing back into the bowl, and after 5-10 seconds the drizzled icing melts back into the rest of the icing (so you can't see where you drizzled it). It should be the consistency of glue (or corn syrup).

Working 1-6 cookies at a time, use the squirt bottles to apply the flood icing and use a tooth pick to move the icing to all the corners. You can add dots or stripes to your icing with other flood icing colors, the dot/stripe will melt into the icing, it's really neat! Here's a slideshow of the process...
Let the flood icing dry uncovered overnight before you try to add any more detail on top of it. I used red royal icing (NOT FLOOD ICING) and my #2 Wilton tip to draw some garland on the next day. I then sprinkled on some red sugar crystals onto the icing! The sprinkles might stick to your cookies (the first time I tried shaking off the sprinkles they were stuck all over my Christmas tree)! So make sure you wipe the flood icing with a paper towel (eliminating any condensation) before piping on the garland and then use a Q-tip to wipe off any stubborn sprinkles. I am sorry I don't have any pictures of the garland process. I was quickly finishing up so I could send some cookies to work with my husband.

No Bake Cookies

Justin LOVES chocolate and peanut butter, his favorite desserts are... Peanut Butter Cups, Puppy Chow, and these No Bake Cookies!

Ingredients
2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a saucepan bring sugar, cocoa, margarine, milk, and salt to a rapid boil for 1 minute. Add quick cooking oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well. Working quickly, drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool.

Last week was Abbott's birthday! Last year he had a yummy Dirt Cake but this year I just bought treats at the store, they always seem to like the store bought treats better anyways. Abbott's kid party was spooky themed this year, complete with cobweb cupcake cake! For Abbott's family party he got a foam mattress pad (it's what he really wanted) wrapped like a birthday candle and a dug up a treasure box filled with change. How creative are his grandparents?!
Abby had fun hiding in the wrapping paper! Abbott finished the night with a small SpongeBob cake, which was adorable!

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Long time, no post, right?! Well... I have been so busy at work I can't even find time to go to the groccery store! Now, with all the quick fast food dinners my rear no longer fits in my pants, Ay Yi Yi!
It was time for gluten-free, sugar-free, low calorie cooking intervention! This recipe came from Paula Deen and I decided to use Splenda instead of sugar in hopes of fitting into my pants again this week... big mistake. The Splenda aftertaste was overwhelming (which is a nice way of saying "gross")!
Peanut Butter cookies are Justin's favorite, and these are soft and chewy and very peanut buttery...is that even a word?! You could probably get away with a low fat peanut butter, but I have to admit, Justin is a peanut butter snob. Only Peter Pan Creamy for him! I can't wait to try them again using sugar instead of Splenda!

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar (I used Splenda, but will use sugar in the future)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Mix the above ingredients in a mixing box until fully incorporated. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Press crisscross pattern on cookie dough ball with tongs of a fork. Place in oven at 325 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Soft Sugar Cookies

***Dec 2011 Update*** I found another tutorial for these cookies on Jillie's Blog. The pictures Jillie posted of the done vs. overdone cookies are great! This is still my go to recipe for sugar cookies, they are the best! Back in October, I made 400 of them for my grandma's 60th birthday party! I used a 1M tip to pipe the frosting onto the cookies, I was trying to make them look like flowers but I got a bit sloppy frosting 400 cookies fast and furiously ,-)

***Oct 2010 Update*** I tried making these cookies using cookie cutters for Halloween and they were not as good (they were hard and tasted like normal sugar cookies... not Lofthouse)! You need to cut the cookie in a circle shape to keep the cookie soft! Also, don't let the cookies brown, pull them out of the oven as soon as they look cracked and flaky, this too will keep them soft! If you're looking for a cookie cutter sugar cookie recipe try my Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Sugar cookies are so much fun to make, and you can't eat a sugar cookie without smiling! Walmart has these amazing packaged sugar cookies by Lofthouse. They are so soft, they melt in your mouth, and they are the first cookie to disappear at potlucks. Have you had them? Well, I found this soft sour cream sugar cookie recipe and thought I would give it a try. I didn't have high expectations and I was a little put off by the sour cream the recipe called for; but, this recipe is an exact match to the Lofthouse packaged cookies! These cookies are AMAZING! So soft and melt in your mouth delicious!

Sugar Cookie Ingredients
1 cup shortening(I use Crisco)
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cookie Directions
Mix the shortening, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs together. Stir 4 1/2 cups flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. Now, the dough works best if cooled, so refrigerate the dough (in the bowl no need to cover the bowl) for 45 minutes. Generously flour your counter top and roll out the cookies. I had to flour the dough as well to keep it from sticking to my rolling pin. Don't roll the dough too thin, I shoot for a little over 1/4" thick. Cut the cookies (I used the rim of a drinking glass to cut my cookies).

I was able to roll and cut 48 cookies total. Make sure you use non-stick foil or butter/flour your pan and bake them at 400 degrees until just barely light golden brown on the bottom, for me this was 9-10 minutes. After cookies have cooled you can frost and decorate.
Butter Cream Frosting Ingredients
2 pound bag powdered sugar (I added an additional cup to get the thicker consistency I wanted)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Food coloring, if desired

Frosting Directions
Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Generously frost the sugar cookies! Top with sprinkles for extra fun :-) Now, because I lost a bet... Justin, you are awesome! I never thought you would be able to frost a cookie using two colors, but you did it! You are a supreme decorator, so superb in fact that I think you should do all decorating from now on, lol :-P

Kissable Cookies

My Birthday was Friday and when I went into work I was surprised with a cake, flowers, balloons, donuts, and Hershey’s Kissables candy… have I mentioned how amazing my co-workers are? I really do look forward to seeing them everyday; they are beautiful people inside and out!! Ok-ok, before I get sappy and cry about how much I love my job… on to the cookies. I wanted to thank my co-workers so I used the Hershey’s Kissables candies to make cookies to take in to work today. The cookies were a hit; even the FedEx guy took two, lol!!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups Hershey’s Kissables (candy coated Hershey’s Kisses)

Directions
In a large mixing bowl stir together the dry ingredients… flour, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until everything is mixed. With an electric mixer beat in the butter, vanilla extract, and eggs until creamy. Stir in the kissable candies. Drop rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Store cookies in a sealed plastic bag with a slice of bread… the bread will keep the cookies moist and delicious, very important!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are Deb’s favorite chocolate chip cookie so I had to give them a try! My boys made these cookies while I supervised and finished reading The Host (another novel by Stephanie Meyer that has taken over my life). When I teasingly told the boys they needed to taste the cookie dough I lost a good fourth of my batter, lol! It was yummy cookie dough though! The cookies were very good but different than your average chocolate chip cookie. There’s so little flour it’s almost like a candy bar rather than a cookie. Once the cookies have cooled you need to put them in a air tight bag/container with a slice of bread to keep them moist.

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 stick of butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (we used milk chocolate chips)

Directions
Preheat to 300 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips. Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place on the baking sheets. Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Store at room temperature in an airtight bag/container with a piece of bread for up to 3 days.