I haven’t done sugar cookies very many times but I was pleasantly surprised to find that these turned out really well! And the best part? They don’t need to chill at all.  That’s right! You can go straight from the mixing bowl to rolling it out!

I’ve made these twice now and my first batch was definitely better than my second. The problem was the frosting, I think. On the second try, I followed the recipe exactly, while the first time I had to guess at measurements. You see, I knew in my head that I only going to make a half batch, but when I started to make it, I ended up preparing the egg whites for  a whole batch. So I estimated half of the egg yolk and vanilla. Apparently I got more than was needed but it was perfect. The frosting was just the right constancy and tasted quite good. The second time, when I followed the recipe, it was very thick and just tasted like powdered sugar. Since you only need a half batch of frosting for one batch of cookies, I suggest changing up the amount of egg white and vanilla you use, depending on how thick or gooey you want it. It doesn’t work very well for flooding, but it’s great for piping designs.

Enjoy!

 

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

INGREDIENTS:

For the cookies:

1 Cup unsalted butter

1 Cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

For the icing:

3 ounces pasteurized egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:

For the cookies:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth, at least 3 minutes

Beat in extracts and egg.

In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.

DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8).

Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

For the icing:

In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy.

Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny.

Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Add food coloring, if desired.

For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.