Martha Stewart Iced Sugar Cookie Cutouts

By chelyc13

Ingredients

• FOR COOKIES:
• 4 cups all purpose flour, sifted, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• FOR ROYAL ICING:
• 1 lb confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more if needed
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder
• Scant 1/2 cup water

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from marthastewart.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Whisk to combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, in a separate bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half, and shape into disks. Wrap each in plastic, and chill 1 hour or up to 1 day.

2. Preheat oven to 325. Let 1 disk of dough soften at room temperature, 10 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just under 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out dough with 3 to 4 inch cutters, transferring shapes to parchment lined baking sheets. Reroll scraps, and cut out more shapes. Repeat with remaining disk of dough. Chill until very firm, about 30 minutes.

3. Bake rotating sheets halfway through, until edges turn golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

4. Using a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip outline cookies with royal icing. Then fill in with more icing. Spreading evenly with an offset spatula. let set. Tint remaining icing with food coloring. Transfer tinted icing to pastry and decorate. Allow icing to set at room temperature, 1 hour or up to 1 day. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

FOR ROYAL ICING:

With an electric mixer on low, combine all ingredients, and beat until smooth, 7 minutes. If icing is too thick add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if too thin, beat 2 to 3 minutes more or add more sugar. using icing immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.