We had so much fun this weekend decorating these sugar cookies. See if you can guess who made what :)
I've searched high and low for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. I know I'm not the only one who has tried the "pretty, but bland" sugar cookies that exist. I've made numerous trial batches and tweaked them to come up with this recipe that is buttery, crispy, and not bland at all. Same for the royal icing. I've shared my favorite recipes for both at the bottom of this post. For more cookie inspiration you can check my post here or follow @thecookiemd on instagram.
Jake told us his jersey has confetti stuck on it after winning the national championship.
SUGAR COOKIES
Ingredients (makes 15 large cookies or 2 dozen smaller):
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 sticks) butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
Directions:
1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and set aside
2. Beat butter and shortening on medium until creamy.
3. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 1min) do not overbeat or cookies will dome
4. Whisk egg, milk, vanilla, and slowly blend into butter mixture on low until smooth
5. Low mix dry ingredients into the butter mixture just until incorporated
6. Use hands to form two discs with the dough and wrap in saran wrap and place in fridge for 3 hours.
7. Preheat oven for 375 degrees
8. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick and cut into shapes
9. Bake 6-8 minutes
ROYAL ICING
Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
2.75 tablespoons of egg whites (pasteurized)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients on high 1-2 minutes until bright white
2. Scoop some into a bowl and mix in a gel color .
*You must have the right consistency for the royal icing or it'll be a disaster.
Take a spoonful, lift it up, and watch it drop back into bowl.
--If you are outlining or writing text or fine details then the icing should fall in a single "glob" or two.
--If you are filling in a large space I like it in between runny and thick so when you let it fall of your spoon it falls off in mutiple globs.
-- If it falls off your spoon and "runs" like liquid then you need to add more powdered sugar.
-- If you made it too thick then add 1-2 drops of water to get it how you want it.