Animal Sugar Cookies Food

ICED ANIMAL COOKIES

Steps:

• For the animal cookies: In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream together the butter and sugar until just combined; do not incorporate air. Add the egg, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt and beat to incorporate. Add the flour and mix to form a dryish dough. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap and smush the dough together, then flatten into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes or until you are ready to roll it out.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured countertop to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out cookies with your cutter of choice and place on the lined baking sheet. (They will not spread, so you can put them fairly close together.)
• Bake for 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. They should not really take on any color, just a little bit on the bottom. Let cool completely on the baking sheet.
• For the icing and decorating: Place the melting wafers in 2 double boilers and gently stir to melt. Drop in each cookie into one of the icings, top-down. Flip over and remove with a fork. Tap off excess and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with sprinkles immediately, then allow to set at room temperature, about 1 hour.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature until you have eaten them all.

ANIMAL COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, occasionally scraping the bowl. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll the dough out on a floured surface 1/8th-inch-thick and cut into shapes with animal cookie cutters. Place the cookies on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper, and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size. Cookies should be golden brown on the edges. After cookies have cooled and are firm, they are ready to decorate, if desired.
• For the decoration, fill a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip with Royal Icing. Place each cookie on a piece of parchment paper and outline it with a thin line of Royal Icing around the entire edge of the cookie. Allow the icing to set.
• Place 1/4 cup of Royal Icing in a small bowl and mix it well with 1/4 teaspoon of the egg whites or water. Continue mixing and adding egg whites or water until the icing is the consistency of maple syrup.
• Using a number 12 artist's brush push a few dollops of the thinned icing around the top of each cookie until it is completely covered to the edge. Allow the cookies to sit overnight to harden. Reserve the remaining Royal Icing.
• Place Royal Icing in a small bowl and mix in several drops of black food coloring. Continue mixing and adding food coloring until you have the desired color. Spoon the black icing into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip and outline each cookie with a thin line of icing and decorate, as desired. For each additional colored icing, repeat the process. Allow the icing to set.
• Place the confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the eggs whites and lemon juice and beat at medium speed until the sugar and eggs are completely mixed and the icing is thick and white.

ANGEL SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla and eggs. Add the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and mix well. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
• Using a cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto ungreased, unlined baking sheets. Smear a dab of butter all over the bottom of a glass, then dip the glass in granulated sugar. Use the glass to flatten each ball of dough, dipping again into the sugar each time. Then sprinkle blue sanding sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie) over half of the cookies, and purple sanding sugar over the other half.
• Bake until the cookies are just barely turning brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Don't overbrown! Allow to cool before eating. The cookies are ultra crumbly!

CIRCUS ANIMAL SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening and sugar for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla and stir until well combined. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Fold in the sprinkles, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons), portion out the dough into balls and roll between the palms of your hands, placing 6 on each of the prepared baking sheets. Make sure to leave about 2 to 3 inches of space in between to allow the cookies to spread while baking.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and immediately place 1 frosted circus animal cookie on the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Allow the baking sheets to cool completely, then repeat with the remaining dough and circus animal cookies. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.