Sugar Cookies and royal icing

Chel's Sweets

 Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (170 grams) - 1 1/2 sticks
1/2 cup full fat cream cheese, room temperature (113 grams) - 4 oz.
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300 grams)
1 large egg, room temperature (56 grams)
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract (6 grams)
1 tsp almond extract (3 grams)
3 cups all-purpose flour (390 grams)
1 Tbsp cornstarch (8 grams)
1/2 tsp baking powder (2 grams)
1/2 tsp salt (3 grams)


Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1. Mix together 3/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup cream cheese at a medium speed with a whisk attachment or hand mixer until smooth.
2. Next, mix in 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at a medium-high speed for a couple minutes, until the mixture becomes lighter in color.
3. Add in 1 egg, 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract and 1 tsp almond extract. Mix on a low speed until incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together 3 cups flour, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.
5. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture on a low speed, until it is JUST incorporated. I like to do this in a couple additions and scrape the sides of the bowl between additions.
6. At this point the dough will still be pretty sticky. Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece of dough in a piece of plastic wrap.
7. Chill in the fridge for about 2 hours or the freezer for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F at this point in the process about 30 minutes before you plan to roll out the dough.
9. Generously dust the surface you plan to roll the cookies out on with additional flour.
10. Take one ball of dough out of the fridge or freezer, leaving the other to continue to chill.
11. Sprinkle some more flour on top of your dough ball and on your rolling pin. Roll the chilled dough to be 1/3 inch thick and cut out your shapes with a flour dusted cookie cutter.
12. Use a kitchen brush to gently brush off any excess flour and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet or silicone mat.
13. Chill the cut out cookies one more time in the fridge for 15 minutes or the freezer for 10 minutes to help them keep their shape better.
14. Bake for 9-11 minutes on the top wrack of your oven (time varies based on the size and shape of the cookies). Keep a close eye on these and be sure to pull them out before the edges start to brown.
15. Let the baked cookies cool on the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
16. While the first batch bakes and cools, knead together the cookie dough scraps, and rewrap them in plastic wrap. Pop them back in the fridge to chill.
17. Pull out your 2nd chilled ball of dough, and repeat steps 9-15. Then repeat with the chilled dough scraps.

Royal icing

4 cups powdered sugar (500 grams)
1/4 cup meringue powder (36 grams)
1/3 cup water, room temp (80 grams)
2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (8 grams)
additional water to bring to flooding consistency (I used 4 Tbsp but this can vary!)

1. Whisk together 4 cups of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup meringue powder in the large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add in 1/3 cup water and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Mix on a medium speed until stiff peaks form (takes about 5 minutes).
3. Next, add in water 1 Tbsp at a time until flooding consistency is reached. I used about 4 Tbsp of water, but it can vary batch to batch.
4. To test the consistency, use the Figure 8 test! Lift up your spoon or spatula, and create a figure 8 with the runoff frosting. If the figure 8 disappears in exactly 8 seconds, the icing is ready to use as a cookie glaze. If it melts away faster, thicken by adding a spoonful of powdered sugar. Or if it takes longer than 8 seconds to disappear, thin by adding a few drops of cream.
5. Repeat this test, making adjustments as you go, until the frosting passes the figure 8 test.
6. To prevent crusting, place saran wrap directly on top of the royal icing. If you leave the frosting exposed to air for too long, it will crust and form a chunky top layer! Be sure keep frosting covered until right before you plan to use it.
7. Once you're ready to decorate the cooled cookies, color 1/2 cup of the royal icing a color of your choice with gel food coloring and place into a small piping bag.
8. Color another 1/2 of frosting a complimentary color and place in a separate piping bag.
9. Cut the tips of both piping bags to create a small opening (1/4 of an inch).

Sallys Baking Addiction

1. Flavors: I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For lighter flavor, use 1/4 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extract, try using 1 teaspoon of maple extract, coconut extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract. Or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon. Along with lemon extract, you can also add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.
2. Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill rolled out dough in the refrigerator for 45 minutes – 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.