Ginger Sugar Cookies With Vanilla Royal Icing Food

GINGERBREAD COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• For Gingerbread Cookies:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients together and chill for up to 1 hour. Roll dough out on floured board about 1/8-inch thick. Cut desired shapes with cookie cutters and place onto sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven.
• For Royal Icing:
• With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes till stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pasty bag to pipe onto cookies.

SUGAR COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt onto a piece of parchment paper or into a medium bowl; set aside. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in 2 batches until just incorporated. Divide between 2 pieces of plastic wrap; shape into disks. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. (The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.)
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough on a floured surface, dusting with flour as needed, until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes with 2-to-4-inch cookie cutters; arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. (If the dough becomes too soft as you work, return to the refrigerator until firm.) Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies. Chill the cutouts 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are slightly puffed and just golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely before icing.
• Whisk one 1-pound box confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 1 more tablespoon water if necessary. Cover the bowl with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap until ready to use to prevent the icing from drying out.

ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Sift the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder into a large bowl. Add the water and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form. Divide among bowls and tint with food coloring, if desired.
• Transfer the icing to resealable plastic bags; snip off the corners. Pipe on the cookies.

ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• 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. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• For Gingerbread Cookies:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients together and chill for up to 1 hour. Roll dough out on floured board about 1/8-inch thick. Cut desired shapes with cookie cutters and place onto sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven.
• For Royal Icing:
• With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes till stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pasty bag to pipe onto cookies.

AIRPLANE SUGAR COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• For the sugar cookies: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together just until combined, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and salt and beat a moment more, just to bring together.
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour. Beat just until it comes together. Form the dough into equal-sized balls (about 24). Cover in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured work surface, use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough balls out to a 1/4-inch thickness. With a lightly floured cookie cutter, cut the cookies out in desired shapes and transfer them to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake until the cookies are very light golden brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely before decorating with royal icing.
• For the royal icing: Combine the confectioner's sugar, meringue powder and vanilla in a large bowl. With an electric hand mixer running on low speed, very gradually beat in 1/2 cup water, checking the consistency once most of the water has been added. Beat until the icing holds a ribbon, adding more water as needed. If too loose, add more sugar.
• If coloring the royal icing, add a few drops of food coloring to the finished icing and slowly mix until completely incorporated.

SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk for 4 mins until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla. Whisk in the cornflour and plain flour until the mixture comes together into a dough. Put the dough between two pieces of baking parchment, and roll out to a 6mm thickness using a rolling pin. Chill for 30 mins.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Peel the top layer of parchment off the dough and stamp out circles using a 6cm round cutter (or the shape of your choice). Re-roll any offcuts and continue stamping out rounds until all the dough is used. Transfer the cookies to a second large baking sheet lined with baking parchment, spacing them 2cm apart (you may need two sheets). Bake for 7-10 mins. Leave to cool on the sheet for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Will keep in an airtight container for one week.

PERFECT ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Beat first three ingredients, then thin with a little water, if needed.
• Add almond, vanilla, and butter flavoring.
• Depending on how many colors you want, divide it between several bowls.
• To decorate on top of original layer of icing, thicken with powdered sugar until desired thickness.
• Decorating works best when used in the decorating bags with tips.
• Also, before spreading thin icing over cookies, try putting an outline of thick icing from a small decorating tip around the edge of the cookie.
• This way, the thin icing will not drip over the edge.