Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a big bowl and whisk the components collectively. Crack the egg right into a small bowl and add the vanilla extract. Whisk the egg and vanilla extract collectively.

Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a big bowl and whisk the components collectively. Crack the egg right into a small bowl and add the vanilla extract. Whisk the egg and vanilla extract collectively.

Add the dry components . Course of the dough till it begins to type a ball of dough.

Add the butter, and the cream cheese to the butter. With the paddle attachment, combine the components on medium velocity till the components come collectively are effectively mixed and the dough seems creamy.

Add the egg combination and blend on medium velocity till the egg is totally integrated. Scrape the edges and bottoms of the bowl.

Add the dry components . Combine the dough on low velocity till the flour is integrated. Improve the velocity to medium and blend till the dough comes collectively into giant clumps.

For Each Strategies

The dough might be slightly sticky. Generously flour a piece floor and your fingers. Place the dough on the work floor, and divide the dough into 2 even items. Form each bit of dough right into a 1/2-inch rectangle.

Wrap each bit of dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for two hours.

At this level, the cookie dough could be frozen for as much as 1 month. Place each items of dough (after the preliminary refrigeration) in a big freezer-safe bag. Freeze the cookie dough for as much as 1 month.

Take away the cookie dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for Quarter-hour.

Flour your work floor. Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Lower out the cookie shapes. Reroll the dough scrapes to 1/4-inch thickness and lower out extra cookies.

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes till the underside edges are calmly golden brown. If you’d like your cookies slightly on the pale facet, purpose for about 10-12 minutes.

Place the meringue powder and the water in a big mixing bowl. Beat the combination with a handheld mixer on excessive velocity till delicate peaks type.

Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing every addition on medium-low velocity. Scrape down the bowl totally between every addition.

As soon as all of the powdered sugar is blended in add the lemon juice and beat on excessive velocity till stiff peaks type.

Instantly use the icing, or place the icing in an hermetic container. The royal icing will last as long as 1 week at room temperature.

Divide stiff icing into two equal parts in separate bowls. Colour the primary bowl with 3-4 drops of purple gel meals coloring. Colour the second bowl with 2-3 drops of pink gel meals coloring.

Place a portion of every shade in piping baggage fitted with small spherical ideas (Wilton #2 or #3).

Pipe borders on all cookies requiring purple outlines. Then pipe borders on all cookies requiring pink outlines. Let the borders dry for 15-20 minutes.

Working together with your unique coloured bowls, regularly add water 1/8 teaspoon at a time to every bowl. You in all probability gained’t want greater than 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon of water relying on how a lot icing you have got left. Take a look at the consistency by drizzling icing again – it ought to disappear in 8-10 seconds.

Switch the icing to piping baggage with the guidelines inserted (Wilton #3 or #4 ideas) or squeeze bottles.

Fill red-bordered cookies with the purple flood icing. Use a toothpick or a wood skewer to unfold the icing to the border or into the corners and to pop any bubbles. Set the embellished cookies on a sheet tray or a big cookie rack. Repeat the steps for the pink bordered cookies.

Let the cookies dry half-hour earlier than serving. In case you are including extra ornament on high of the flood icing, allow them to dry for 3 hours. In case you are planning to ship them or transport them allow them to dry for 6-8 hours or in a single day.