Nut Lovers Iced Sugar Cookies Food

JENNIFER'S ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and mix until combined. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, one spoonful at a time, until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla. Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out half of the dough at a time, keeping the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. (For medium cookies, use a 3-inch cookie cutter.) Place the cutout cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for a few minutes before baking. This will help the cookies to retain their shape. (You can roll out the scraps to make a few more cookies.) Bake until just before the edges of the cookies start to brown, 8 to 10 minutes (if baking two sheets at a time, rotate halfway through baking). Cool the cookies for 1 to 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• For the icing: In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and warm water with a wire whisk. Stir until the icing is smooth. Adjust the consistency of the icing by adding more confectioners' sugar or more water, as needed. Add food coloring, if desired, to the icing.
• Spread the icing on the cooled cookies and then top with assorted sprinkles and candies.

ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just incorporated. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, lightly dust the dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. Cut out shapes using 2-to-4-inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cutouts until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until just golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the icing: Sift the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder into a large bowl. Beat in 6 tablespoons water with a mixer on medium speed until soft, glossy peaks form. Spread on the cookies and decorate with nonpareils. Let set, about 1 hour.

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.

NUT LOVER'S ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Gradually blend in flour mixture, then fold in pecans and roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
• For icing: Whisk all ingredients in a medium sized bowl until smooth. Add coloring, if desired. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup. Spread onto cooled cookies with the back of a spoon or a clean fingertip rather than a paintbrush to avoid loose bristles coming off onto your cookies! Let dry several hours, or until hardened.

SPICED HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight until firm.
• 2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface* to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with favorite cookie cutters. Place on greased baking sheets.
• 3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• 4. For the Icing, mix all ingredients except food colors. (Stir in additional milk to thin icing or more confectioners' sugar to thicken, if needed). Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color desired. Stir drops of food color into icing until desired shade is reached.
• 5. To ice cookies, hold cookie by its edge and dip top of cookie into icing. (Or spoon the icing onto cookie using a teaspoon.) Place iced cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch drips.) To add decorative details to cookies, spoon tinted icing into resealable plastic bag. Snip off a tiny piece of the corner. Squeeze icing through hole in plastic bag to decorate cookies. If desired, Colored Sugar may be sprinkled onto freshly iced cookies.
• For the variations below, omit the cinnamon and the nutmeg. Use the following extract in place of the vanilla extract in the cookies:
• Almond Holiday Sugar Cookies: Use 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Almond Extract.
• Orange Holiday Sugar Cookies: Use 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Orange Extract.
• Lemon Holiday Sugar Cookies: Use 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Lemon Extract.

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.

NUTMEG SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, nutmeg and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Divide dough into 14 pieces. Shape each portion into a 12-in. x 1/2-in.-thick rope. Cut ropes into 2-in. pieces. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. , Bake at 350° for 9-12 minutes or until set and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and extracts; beat until blended. Beat in enough cream to achieve desired consistency. , Frost cookies. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.