"Sure I can"

I got a call from one of the ladies I have previously made birthday cakes for. She tells me she is needing holiday cookies for her daughter's Christmas daycare party, and are cookies something I do. I have been feeling more confident with my cakes lately so I'm thinking oh cookies piece of cake (no pun intended). So I reply "Sure I can do that no problem". Well I have no problem admitting that it was harder and took a lot longer than I had imagined.

I started off by making the royal icing two days ahead of time. I used the same recipe as the royal icing crown post (don't forget to sift the powdered sugar!) The morning the cookies were to be delivered I took the royal icing out of the refrigerator and let it thaw it a bit. Next, I started on the cookies and here is the recipe I used.

3 C unbleached, all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 C sugar
2 sticks butter, cold and cut into chunks
1 egg
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl. The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl. Roll on a floured surface 3/8-1/2 inch thick. My cookie cutters were a little on the small side so I rolled the dough out about 1/2 inch thick to make up for it. Next, cut the dough into shapes and lay out on a cookie sheet that is covered with parchment paper. Freeze the cookie shapes for 5 minutes. Next, bake for 10-12 minutes. After taking them out, let them sit for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

When you are ready to start piping around the edge, dye the food coloring and keep the icing at the stiff consistency. I like to keep the outline thinner by using a #3 tip. If you are wanting to use that same color for the filling, just add water 1 tbs at a time. The filling icing should be thin enough that you can "flood" the inside. To do this put the thinned out icing into a squirt bottle (I did not have one handy so I used a piping bag with a large tip. After this I was wishing I had spent more time at Walmart searching for that dang squirt bottle). Squirt the icing into the middle and once you have about 90% covered, just take a tooth pick and smear out the rest until it has reached all sides. When you have finished wait one hour and apply the shimmered powder (shown on the royal icing crown page) this will give it a softer, finished look. Don't forget to make extras because you obviously have to try them out before giving them away to friends and family:) these cookies taught me to never underestimate anything in the baking community, next time I will definitely save myself some stress by not being on a time crunch and enjoy the fine arts of cookie decorating.