The Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract (this goes a LONG WAY)
- 1 Egg
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder (make sure this isn’t old)
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour, 360 grams
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine all dry ingredients together in separate bowl. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until super smooth. Mix in the egg. Mix in the extracts. Add in half of the dry ingredients. After this is incorporated into the dough, add in the remaining dry ingredients.
Roll dough onto a floured surface. It helps to use a dowel on either side of the dough when rolling to achieve even dough thickness, about 1/4″ thick. Cut dough with desired cookie cutters. Bake on a parchament lined cookie sheet for 7 to 8 minutes. The edges of the cookies should not start browning. When you remove them from the oven, they will appear underdone. However, they will continue to cook outside the oven. Cool the cookies on a cooling rack when it is safe to transfer them.
Ice and enjoy!
If you want Softer Buttercream Icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 5 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup Milk
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a small glass bowl. After your cookies have completely cooled and you are ready to ice, lay out parchment paper. This will get a little messy! 🙂 Microwave the icing for 30 seconds. This will make the consistency more runny so you will be able to dip the top of your cookies. Place the dipped cookies on the parchment paper and allow to crust.
This icing does not harden like the standard royal icing, but it is so much more delicious! If you are gifting these, make sure you do not stack the cookies, as this will damage the icing. Enjoy!
If you want Decorative Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 4 cups (480g) Confectioners’ Sugar
- 3 Tbsp. Meringue Powder
- 9 to 10 Tbsps. Water, room temperature
- Gel Food Coloring
- Drop of Almond Extract (optional)
Preparation
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl along with 8 tablespoons of water and whisk together. Add water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Consistency
Stir the icing and let a few icing ribbons drop into the bowl. Start counting!
- Runny Icing
- 4 seconds to smooth
- Used to “paint” a cookie surface
- Flood Icing
- 10 seconds to smooth
- Flooding, dipping, marbling, wet on wet, or outlining
- Medium Icing
- 15 seconds to smooth
- Outlining & flooding small and medium cookies, marbling, and wet on wet design
- Medium Thick Icing
- 18 – 19 seconds to smooth (mostly)
- Outlining & flooding small cookies
- Stiff Icing
- 20 – 25 seconds to smooth (not all disruption will smooth)
- Lettering, lines, eyes, borders, outlining large cookies
- Extra Stiff Icing
- No smoothing occurs
- Flowers, gingerbread house construction, leaves, hair, etc.
Helpful Hint
If you are not using your royal icing for a few minutes, lay a damp paper towel over the surface of the icing. This will keep the consistency stable while you are working elsewhere in the kitchen.
Ashley Hall Art Gallery 