Sugar Cookie Recipe
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Ingredients:
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*1/2 cup Butter
*1 cup Sugar
*1 teaspoon Vanilla
*1 Egg
*1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream, Sour Cream or Cream Cheese (I’ve used each one of these variation each gives the cookie a slightly different taste and they’re all yummy!) Note: If you use cream cheese use only 3 cups of flour
*3 1/4 cup any All purpose Flour
*1 teaspoon Soda
*1/2 teaspoon Salt
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In a stand mixer on medium-low speed cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the vanilla, egg and cream of your choice and mix just until combined.
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Using Sifter, sift together in a bowl the flour soda and salt and slowly add to the creamed mixture, mixing on low just until barely combined. Dough should be slightly sticky. Do Not Over Mix!
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Then divide the dough into 3 dough balls, flatten dough balls making disk shapes. Now wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or more.
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Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and roll-out disk on a floured surface with rolling-pin or use 2 pieces of plastic wrap, placing the dough disk in the center of 1 of the pieces of plastic wrap and the second piece on top of the dough disk, use rolling-pin and roll out the cookie dough about 1/2 inch thick.
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Use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out shapes in the rolled out dough. Repeat for each dough disk. Then add to the next dough disk the scraps from the first disk or (discard scraps of dough), continue this technic until all the dough is used.
Place cookies on a Silpat covered half baking sheet, 12 cookies per sheet. For best results refrigerate the cut cookies on baking sheet before baking 5-10 minutes.
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Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 425* F. oven for 8-12 minutes or barely starting to turn golden on the bottom; baking time depends on the size of cookie cutter used. Do Not Over Bake! If you do over bake they will become to hard. Cool on baking sheet.
For best results frost cookies the day after baking.
Frosting/Royal Icing:
*1/2 cup Water
*3 and 1/2 tablespoons Meringue Powder
*1 pound Powdered Sugar
*1/2 teaspoon Lemon Extract
*2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
*Brown Food Coloring Paste, as much as needed for desired color I used about 1/8 teaspoon
*3 Tablespoons Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder, Hershey’s (this is optional and helps with the color I desired, it does change the look and texture of the icing, just use more brown food coloring paste if you chose not to use this option). Also, only add if serving cookies the day of icing.
*3 drops Black Food Coloring Paste
*Water for thinning
You will have extra frosting! (I used 2 and 1/2 cups of icing to frost/Ice 14 cookies. This recipe makes about 4-5 cups of icing.
In a stand mixer on medium speed using the wire whisk attachment, whisk the meringue powder and water until frothy and then add the lemon and vanilla extract. Whisk again until combined and then add the powdered sugar a half a cup at a time until incorporated. Turn up the speed and whisk for 3-4 minutes or until stiff peaks. Remove 2 cups of the icing and color with brown and black food paste and cocoa powder. Mix until incorporated and desired color is achieved. Thin with water for the right consistency for piping on frosting.
Use a small round decorating tip (#4 Wilton tip) and pastry bag for piping on frosting. Fill bags 2/3 full of frosting/Icing and roll down the top of the bag and pipe on the frosting. Starting with an outside line around the edge of the cookie and then fill in the rest of the cookie filling or flooding the center with icing.
Note: Wait until brown icing is dry/set before piping on the white football ties/lace.
Lace/Ties: Use a pastry bag with white frosting filled 2/3 full and use a #47 Wilton decorating tip for the base tie/lace line (about 3 inches long) across the top about a half inch form the top of the football and #46 Wilton decorating tip for the ties/lace, pipe on five lines across the base tie/lace line making the ties/lace like the ties/lace on a football.
Allow the Icing to dry and enjoy or store in an airtight container. Cookies will store for a couple of days in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Lindy
