Sugar Cookies are Art Too

I’ve  always admired those who can turn a sugar cookie into a piece of art. So yesterday I decided to try my hand at it. My problem is I love art, but not as much as I love the idea of instant gratification; meaning I’m SUPER impatient. With this recipe after you have baked your cookies and cooled them you make your royal icing and your flood icing (watered down royal icing) that will spread onto the cookie to create a nice clean canvas for decorating. Use your regular icing to make a border around your cookie so that your flood icing does not drip onto the sides. Let this harden a bit and then drop your flood icing into the center of the cookie and allow it to spread. Help it along if need be. If you would like to make your designs embedded into the cookie canvas you must do it while the canvas is wet. If you want to make your decorations raised from your cookie canvas you need to wait until the icing is completely hardened. If I may suggest I would use gel food coloring when mixing colors. If you choose to use regular traditional food coloring the extra liquid could make your icing too runny.

 

Sugar cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 cups of flour

1 tsp baking powder

Vanilla to taste

 

Method:

Cream butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy, then add in egg.  Sift together dry ingredients and then add to butter and sugar mixture Do not over mix. If the dough looks a bit crumbly add a few drops of water. Continue kneading by hand until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes. After the dough is chilled flour your surface and roll out into desired thickness and shape. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 8-10 minutes, try to develop as little color as possible. While your dough is chilling feel free to get ahead on your royal icing! If you chose to make icing ahead of time cover with a damp kitchen towel touching the icing so it does not get hard and form a crust.

 

Royal Icing

Ingredients:

4egg whites

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1Tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Place whites  in a mixing bowl with the whip attachment and whip until frothy. Add in powdered sugar and liquid, start off mixing slowly, and then increase spread. Whip for about 10 minutes. Cover with damp towel until ready to use.