Cut Out Sugar Cookies & Icing
My family's favorite sugar cookies, perfect for decorating and must have sugar cookie icing!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) (228g) unsalted butter cold & cut into chunks
- 1 1/4 cup (250g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg cold
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
For the icing
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla extract, if preferred
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 4.5-5 tablespoons room temperature water
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Use food scales to measure or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife (without shaking) to ensure accurate measurements.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric hand or stand mixer on high speed for about 3 minutes, until fully combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed to evenly beat the mixture.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time and mix until completely combined. If dough is a bit sticky and soft to roll and cut shapes, chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- After chilling dough, use a floured rolling pin and roll on a floured surface to about 1/4" to 3/8" thick. Dip cookie cutters in some extra flour and cut dough into shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Freeze the cut out shapes on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before baking. Then, bake for about 9 to 11 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes on the pan, before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Gather any excess dough into a ball, then re-roll and cut out more cookies and repeat until all of the dough is used. It may be necessary to chill dough again for 10 to 15 minutes, so the dough isn't super soft. It will make it easier to roll and cut out clean shapes.
For the icing
- In a medium bowl, stir the powdered sugar, almond extract, corn syrup, and 4.5 tablespoons of water together in a medium bowl. It will be very thick and difficult to stir. Add in another 1/2 tablespoon of water. If you pull the spoon up out of the icing and let it drizzle back into the bowl, it should hold shape for a few seconds before melting back into the icing. That is the consistency you want. If it’s too thick, stir in another 1/2 tablespoon of water until you reach the consistency.
- If desired, you can divide icing into separate bowls and add food coloring. There will be enough icing for the cookie recipe. A little bit of this icing goes a long way!
Notes
*My cookies were done baking in 10 minutes, but check yours closely. You want them to be just barely set and not yet browned. They'll seem slightly undercooked right out of the oven, but will firm up nicely once cooled. Ten minutes seemed to be the sweet spot for me!
*If you'd rather not decorate cookies with frosting, you can decorate cookies with sprinkles and colored sugars before baking.
*The icing will dry in about 12 hours. No need to cover the decorated cookies as you wait for the icing to set. Once the icing has dried, the cookies can be stacked. In my opinion, they taste even better the next day and the icing is perfectly hardened.
*Store decorated cookies for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 113kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 39mg | Potassium: 15mg | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 150IU | Calcium: 130mg