Name: The Best Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 16
Ingredients: Sugar Cookies; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter; 1 cup sugar; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 1 tablespoons milk; 1 TBL lemon juice; 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; Royal Icing; 5 tbl warm water; 3 TBL Meringue Powder (with vanilla); 4 cups Powdered sugar

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Are you ready for the best recipes for Christmas cookies? Today, I joined with twenty-four bloggers to share our best recipes.

There are so many fabulous cookie recipes here today, and I can’t wait to make them all!

Don’t be shocked but this is my first ever attempt to make and decorate with Royal Icing. I was a bit nervous since I was trying something new and I wanted to share my favorite lemon sugar cookie recipe. I am pleased to say it was really fun and not near as hard as I thought it would be! Which was a huge relief since this really is one of the best recipes for Christmas cookies.

I make sugar cookies for our Christmas party every year. This recipe is a great sugar cookie recipe and can be used with any cookie cutter. And it contains a hint of lemon that really makes these cookies delicious.

The recipe is very simple to make.

I decided to use my new favorite tree shaped cookie cutter. It’s a somewhat free-form tree and I love it! I have already used this cutter to make clay Christmas ornaments, so I decided it’s time to make cookies you can eat!

When you bake these, be sure not to burn them.

I made the Royal Icing recipe and I did the 10-second knife test to make sure it was the right consistency for “filling the frosting”. The test is done by dragging the tip of a knife across your frosting, about 1″ deep. If the surface of the icing smooths over in roughly ten seconds, then it’s ready for use. What’s so great about this icing is you can use the same icing for the outline and for the filling in.

I used an icing tip to outline the edge. And yes, my lines are not perfect. Far from it.

Next, I filled the insides with the same icing and shook the cookies lightly to get the icing to smooth over.

Because this was my first attempt at royal icing, I opted to “decorate my cookies” by only adding polka dots (which are ornaments). I used the same icing and added the dots immediately on top of the green icing.

How amazing are these? I love how they came out.

Yield: 16 cookies

The Best Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

These sugar cookies are light and flaky and have a slight taste of lemon. I love how they taste!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoons milk
1 TBL lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Royal Icing
5 tbl warm water
3 TBL Meringue Powder (with vanilla)
4 cups Powdered sugar

Instructions

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream
butter, and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With the mixer running, add egg, milk, lemon, and vanilla; mix until incorporated.

Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or
parchment paper; set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut
into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in
between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more.

Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

To make Royal Icing, beat all ingredients together until icing forms peaks (about 8 minutes with a heavy-duty mixer, 10 - 12 minutes with a hand mixer). Add additional water until the desired thickness.

If you want the icing to outline and fill then use the 10-second rule. The test is done by dragging the tip of a knife across your frosting, about 1" deep. If the surface of the icing smooths over in roughly ten seconds, then it's ready for use.

What's so great about this thicker icing is you can use the same icing for the outline and for the filling in.

Aren’t these adorable?

And how fun is it that my first attempt with Royal Icing actually worked?

Ok, wait. There were a couple of “duds”. I tried to add some straight lines and connected dots and unfortunately, they didn’t look good. I would show you my “rejects” but Dave ate them. My “duds” are usually the only cookies that are allowed to be eaten on the first day of baking. The truth is, duds keep my husband happy.

I let the cookies dry overnight and now they are ready to be included in my best recipes for Christmas cookies!

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