Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tutorial Tuesday: Vanilla Sugar Cookies & Best White Icing Ever

Last Friday, I shared about the fun sugar cookies that Mr. Dishaholic & I often make together.

 So here's the recipes I promised.........

~VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES~

What you'll need:
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
3 cups flour

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400*.
2) Cream softened butter & sugar with an electric mixer.


3) Beat in egg & vanilla.


4) Add baking powder.
5) Mix in flour - one cup at a time (mixing after each cup).
Blend last of flour by hand.
(If dough becomes too stiff, add water - a teaspoon at a time).
6) If desired, roll out dough on floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick & use desired cookie cutters. 
(It's helpful to chill the dough for a few minutes before).
7) Bake on greased cookie sheet (or on a foil lined cookie sheet) for 8-10 minutes or until slightly brown.


8) Allow to cool before icing.

Other options:
 1) For chocolate sugar cookies, mix in 3 ounces melted, unsweetened chocolate.
2) For colored cookies, tint dough with Wilton Icing coloring.  Knead in small amounts until desired color is reached.

**************************************************************

 To decorate the cookies, you can either use store bought icing (in cans or tubes), or you can try out this recipe:

~Best White Icing Ever~
What you'll need:
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup shortening
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract
3 tablespoons corn syrup (optional)
food coloring (optional)


Directions:
1) In a large bowl combine sugar, shortening, water, & vanilla.
2) Beat on low speed until combined, then beat on medium for 5 minutes.
3) If not used for decorating (just icing), add 3 tablespoons corn syrup or water to icing.
4) Add food coloring as desired.
(If it will be sitting out a while, cover bowl with wet cloth to keep mixture from drying out).

I'm linking to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.