Sugar Cookies + Royal Icing

Saturday Emma and I decided to having a baking/TV watching day. We made these cookies and this icing to go on top. We halved the original recipe because we didn't have a ton of sugar (and probably didn't need 5 dozen cookies). Recipe and photos behind the cut.



Cookies:

• 3/4 Cup Butter, Softened
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt  

Icing (I couldn't find the exact recipe we used, but if you are making the reduced recipe above you probably won't need this much icing):

• 3 Ounces of pasteurized egg whites
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 Cups Confectioners' Sugar 

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

 Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Cut your cookies. We simply used a glass to make circle shaped cookies, but you could use whatever shape you like Place cookies about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. While cookies are baking/cooling you can make your icing to decorate with. 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.

I started off by decorating a few cookies with simple, white icing, then I added some colored icing to the top. 

I thought this was a fun, simple (and tasty) recipe to try and I had fun decorating the cookies with bright, colorful frosting. What's your go-to thing to bake?