Recipe: Santa Face Cookies, Cut-Out Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing (Ladies Home Journal)

SANTA FACE COOKIES



1 recipe Cutout Sugar Cookie Dough, unbaked (recipe follows)
1 recipe Royal Icing (recipe follows)
Gel paste food coloring

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare Cut-Out Sugar Cookie dough and chill as directed in recipe below.

Roll out cookie dough and use a (2-by-3 1/2-inch) raindrop cookie cutter to cut 18 cookies. Use a (1 1/2-inch) round cutter to cut 18 cookies. Place drops and circles on separate baking sheets. Cut each circle in half and separate.

Bake cookies until just golden, about 15 minutes for drops, about 10 minutes for cut circles. Cool completely.

Color 2/3 cup Royal Icing red and 1/4 cup each pink and blue and place in pastry bags with tips. Fill another pastry bag with 1-1/4 cups white icing.

Ice tops of drop cookies with red icing and bottoms and all half-circles with white icing. Allow icing to set, about 30 minutes. Adhere half-circles to drop cookies with icing to form a mustache. Pipe hat trim and tip with white icing. Pipe eyes and nose with blue and pink icing. Allow icing to set completely, at least 3 hours.

Makes 18 cookies

CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES
Makes 36 (2-inch) cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl; set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, 3 minutes. Beat in yolks and vanilla. Add flour mixture and combine. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, chill 1 hour.

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Roll dough to 3/8-inch thick on a floured surface. Cut as desired. (Dough scraps can be re-rolled up to 2 times.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies can be stored airtight for up to 5 days.

ROYAL ICING FOR COOKIES
Makes 2 1/2 cups

1 pound confectioners sugar
5 tablespoons meringue powder or powdered egg whites
1/3 cup water
Gel paste food coloring

Mix together sugar, meringue powder and 1/3 cup water on low speed to soft peaks, scraping down sides of bowl, about 10 minutes. (If not using immediately, store airtight at room temperature up to 3 days; stir before using.)

Divide into bowls and color icing as desired. Transfer immediately into piping bags.

Source: Ladies Home Journal