2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
4 oz. butter
1 cup sugar
½ lemon, zested (optional)
½ vanilla bean, remove seeds for use (optional)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
Royal Icing
3¾ cups powdered sugar (1 lb box)
5 Tablespoons egg white powder
1/3 to 2/3 cups Water, as needed
Sugar Cookies Procedure:
1. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar with the lemon zest and vanilla bean seeds. Add the egg until completely incorporated.
3. Alternately add the cream and the dry ingredients just until a homogenous dough is formed.
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate overnight. You can skip this step if you want to bake the cookies right away, but refrigerating overnight accomplishes two things. It chills the dough making it easier to roll and cut, and it allows the flour to absorb moisture from both the cream and the egg. This makes for a much nicer dough and a better cookie.
5. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/8”and cut into desired shapes (if baking for decorations to trim a tree it is important to remember to punch a small hole out now, before baking the cookies.
6. Bake at 300˚ (the lower temperature helps the cookies brown evenly – avoiding burnt tips on reindeer antlers, etc.). The cookies should take about 10 minutes – you’ll be able to tell by the color.
7. Cool completely before decorating.
Royal Icing Procedure:
1. Combine the powdered sugar with the egg white powder.
2. Add the water until the desired consistency of icing is created.
3. Avoid whipping the icing as it will become prone to drying out quickly.
4. Separate the icing into small bowls and color each as desired.
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
4 oz. butter
1 cup sugar
½ lemon, zested (optional)
½ vanilla bean, remove seeds for use (optional)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
Royal Icing
3¾ cups powdered sugar (1 lb box)
5 Tablespoons egg white powder
1/3 to 2/3 cups Water, as needed
Sugar Cookies Procedure:
1. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar with the lemon zest and vanilla bean seeds. Add the egg until completely incorporated.
3. Alternately add the cream and the dry ingredients just until a homogenous dough is formed.
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate overnight. You can skip this step if you want to bake the cookies right away, but refrigerating overnight accomplishes two things. It chills the dough making it easier to roll and cut, and it allows the flour to absorb moisture from both the cream and the egg. This makes for a much nicer dough and a better cookie.
5. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/8”and cut into desired shapes (if baking for decorations to trim a tree it is important to remember to punch a small hole out now, before baking the cookies.
6. Bake at 300˚ (the lower temperature helps the cookies brown evenly – avoiding burnt tips on reindeer antlers, etc.). The cookies should take about 10 minutes – you’ll be able to tell by the color.
7. Cool completely before decorating.
Royal Icing Procedure:
1. Combine the powdered sugar with the egg white powder.
2. Add the water until the desired consistency of icing is created.
3. Avoid whipping the icing as it will become prone to drying out quickly.
4. Separate the icing into small bowls and color each as desired.
Restaurant: Tavern Tree
Recipe Type: Authentic
Submitted By: Tavern Tree/nymag.comRecipe Type: Authentic
Recipe Author: Tavern Tree
Original Photograph By:
Photograph Retouched By: Recipe Spy
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