Thanksgiving Cookies!

So I finished up the Thanksgiving cookies I was working, the day before. So I took them to work on Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit!

I used a new icing recipe and it turned out amazing!!!
It's from Sweet Sugar Belle's website and it was super easy to use!

Royal Icing

Yield: Approximately 5 cups

Ingredients

• 2 pounds {one bag} confectioner's sugar {907 grams}
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder {approximately 53 grams}
• 2-3 teaspoons oil-free extract or emulsion
• 1/2-3/4 cups warm water

Instructions

1. Begin by stirring the flavoring into half the water.
2. Using a paddle attachment, gently mix the sugar and meringue powder. It's not necessary to sift the sugar beforehand, but you can if you like.
3. With the mixer on it's lowest setting slowly add the water/flavoring mix to the dry ingredients. As the water is added, the icing will become thick and lumpy.
4. Continue to add the remaining water {this may or may not be the entire amount} until the mixture reaches a thick, honey like consistency. At this point, turn the mixer to medium speed and whip 2-4 minutes until this icing is thick and fluffy. Mixing time can vary greatly so watch carefully and stop mixing when the icing is this enough to form a soft peak.

Adorable whales!!!

I need to try to make these guys sometime! They're cute!!

Recipes

So here are the recipes from my first post originally on my Tumblr account,

Sugar Cookies

• 2 sticks of UNSALTED butter (leave out about 30min to reach room temp, or microwave in 10 sec. intervals (I did this twice per stick))
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla or any other type of flavoring extract (I bought some emulsions at WalMart and a cake supply store, and this latest run I used a full tbsp. of Princess flavor)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Combine butter and sugar into mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until well mixed (will appear “creamy”). Use a spatula to scrape everything back down off the sides of the bowl.
Add in the egg and your extract and mix again on low. Scrape again and get everything back down into the bowl. Then add in the baking powder and salt and run mixer on low. Then add in the flour in parts ( I usually use a half-cup and add that much six times, so the mixer has time to mix the flour in, if you add it too quickly or too much at a time your mixer is liable to bind up on you). You may need to shut off your mixer at times and scrape everything down into the bowl, and turn the dough on itself to get all the flour well mixed in. Mine always tends to leave loose flour in the bottom of the bowl. Once everything is all mixed well, the dough should be firm enough to just pick up with your hands and knead a bit just to get it all the same consistency.

Lay out a piece of waxed paper to work on and have a second piece to use to cover your dough as you roll it out so your rolling pin stays clean. You can also use a couple of paint stirring sticks or dowels on either side of the dough to keep the thickness consistent.
Then cut out shapes with cookie cutters, or freehand with knives/toothpicks or however. I've never really had any issues with the dough sticking to the cutters, but if you do, try dipping the cutter in some flour to help the edges release from the dough.
You’ll want to arrange the cookies on a baking sheet, I put waxed paper on mine to keep them from sticking, and all it does is leave a bit of greasy wax that washes right off. Now bake for about 8-9 minutes at 375. They won’t look really done, as in browned, but the dough will be cooked and they will stay soft.

Royal Icing for decorating

• 2 lbs of confectioner's sugar/powdered sugar
• about 1 tablespoon of meringue powder
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of extract flavoring

Add all ingredients to bowl (I used the stand mixer again for this one) and mix about 7-10 minutes on low. I actually added half of the sugar first, then added the rest after everything else was mixed.
This should make a very stiff icing once you let it set a minute. I use this for outlines and details.
If you want to thin this down to fill in areas when decorating, you can add a bit more water. I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons of water to make it runny enough to fill in the shapes. The icing should smooth out itself.