The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe

Okay so, I know with the new year of 2021 rolling in it's probably not the best to be posting a sugary recipe (you know, with our annual health goals and resolutions and what not) but, I recently made these cookies specifically for some family members on New Years eve and so I thought I just had to share the recipe now for all to have going into the new year!

The great thing about sugar cookies is that they are so versatile and can be used for any occasion, just use whatever shape cutters and decoration you want and you are good to go!

I have been using this recipe for quite some time now and I would usually just top the cookies off with a simple frosting, but this time I decided to try my hand at royal icing and flooding, and let me tell you - that extra step is a game changer! If you are feeling a little adventurous and brave, I have added the royal icing recipe and steps into this post, and you can go watch a whole bunch of Youtube videos on how to perfectly flood your cookies with it, but if you want to just stick with an easy frosting or just dusting off with icing sugar, then that is perfectly fine too!

So, what is Royal Icing?

Royal icing is typically hard white icing made from icing sugar and egg whites, and is generally used to decorate sugar cookies and fruit cakes. There are many ways to make royal icing like using meringue or actiwhite powder, however, the use of egg whites is the traditional way of doing it. The whipping of the egg whites gives the icing a really nice puffiness to it, and it hardens smooth and shiny on the cookies.

What does flooding a cookie mean?

To flood your cookie is pretty much the fancier / more professional way to ice your cutout cookies so that the icing is piped on neatly and hardens in a perfect shape. I look at flooding the same way as colouring in - first, you outline your cookie shape with the icing, let that dry, and then colour in the insides of that line. It's not necessary to do this with sugar cookies, but it is a skill I really wanted to learn in 2020, but never really got round to it until legit the last day of the year 😂 and I'm so glad I did! It was such fun and I cannot wait to get better with practice!

The sugar cookie recipe I use

The recipe I use is actually from the food network website and I absolutely love it! Like I said, I have used it before and have loved the outcome every time. This recipe does yield about 3 dozen cookies, which, is a lot, but in my opinion is a dream! When it comes to biscuits of any kind, I will always say the more the merrier!

The royal icing recipe I use

As I said before, this was my first time using this recipe, however it is so simple and fool-proof, I would recommend it to anyone! I decided to go for the traditional recipe with egg whites as I simply didn't have time to go searching for Actiwhite powder (Here in South Africa where I am based we don't actually get meringue powder like in overseas countries, and so we have to opt for a mixture of Actiwhtie powder and Cream of Tartar) and I will say that it worked so well and I will definitely stick with this recipe! However, you can go for any icing recipe you please. But, without further ado, let's get into it.

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Sugar Cookie Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 cup unsalted butter - softened

• 1 cup caster sugar

• 1 egg - beaten

• 1 tbsp milk

• Icing sugar / powdered sugar for rolling out dough

Sugar Cookie Instructions:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in colour. Add egg and milk and beat to combine.

3. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

5. Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to about 1/4 inch (5mm) thick . Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1 inch (2cm) apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

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Royal Icing Ingredients:

• 1 pound powdered sugar (about 450 grams or 4 cups)

• 4 egg whites (or 1/2 cup pasteurized liquid egg whites)

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• Optional: food coloring in desired colours

Royal Icing Instructions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy.

2. Switch to low speed and gradually sift the sugar into the egg whites until it's completely incorporated. Because both ingredients are white, it's easy to miss lumps. Look carefully.

3. Add the lemon juice and beat on high speed until the icing is very thick and forms stiff peaks, about 5 to 10 minutes.

4. At this point, you can add the food colouring if you're only going to need a full batch of one colour. But if you need more than one colour, separate whatever quantities of icing you need into individual bowls and just stir in the colouring you want.

5. Use the royal icing to decorate your cookies. Enjoy!

**Here's a link to the video I watched to learn how to flood the cookies with Royal Icing** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR5rIG4nrs&t=59s