Royal Icing Sugar Cookies

Hello! As you know, I've been making royal icing sugar cookies! I wanted to try these out because of how many different ways you can design the cookies. There are some amazing cookie artists out there and I aspire to have their creativity and skills! I went through many websites to try different recipes and finally have an amazing combination-through-trial-and-error recipe I can share with you! The recipe that influenced this the most can be found HERE!

Ingredients:

Cookies:

-1.5 sticks of salted butter, room temperature

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-1 beaten egg, room temperature

-1 tbsp vanilla extract

-1 tsp almond extract

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-pinch of salt

Royal Icing:

-2 cups powdered sugar

-1 tablespoon meringue powder

-water, added in 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency

Recipe:

First place the paddle attachment to your Kitchenmaid mixer. Add in the butter and beat until it's smooth then add in sugar. Ensure the sugar and butter come together completely before moving to the next step.

Add in the beaten egg, vanilla extract, baking powder, almond extract and mix until combined. Add in flour using a 1/2 cup measuring tool while your Kitchenaid mixer is on low speed. Increase the speed as needed until dough is formed. The dough will be slightly sticky, that is expected.

Chill the cookie dough for at least one hour. Take half of the dough (returning the rest to the cooled environment) and knead it then roll out with a rolling pin to 1/4" thick on a generously floured surface. If the dough starts to stick to your rolling pin, sprinkle a small amount of flour onto the cookie dough surface.

Cut the dough using your cookie cutters. Continue to knead, roll and cut the dough before moving on to the cooling dough, then perform the same steps. Bake at 375 degrees for six minutes (this might vary depending on your oven, mine is a gas stove).

For the royal icing, add in powdered sugar and meringue powder to your Kitchenaid mixer with the wire whip attachment, then add in 1 tablespoon of water at a time until you reach the desired consistency. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. For outlines, you need a thicker consistency (more sugar) and for flooding you want a less stiff consistency (more water). Once the ingredients are combined you can add in any food coloring you want to use.