Royal Icing Recipe

This is the royal icing recipe I always use to decorate all of my sugar cookies. It came from my favorite cookie gal's site: Sweetopia. I found it in this post and it's been wonderful to work with.

3/4 c. warm water
5 TBSP. meringue powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (only if your meringue doesn't contain vanillin powder)
2 lbs. powdered sugar

In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Although the original recipe suggests mixing it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened...about 30 seconds, i've had great results just using the whisk attachment on my electric mixer.

Add the cream of tartar & vanilla (if applicable) and mix for 30 seconds more.
Pour in all the powdered sugar at once and mix with the paddle attachment on the lowest speed. Mix slowly for a full 10 minutes.
Icing will get thick and creamy.
Cover the bowl with a dampened tea towel to prevent crusting and drying.
Thin the icing with small amounts of warm water until you reach the desired consistency.
(I've determined this to be about 7 TBSP + 1 tsp. for piping).
Add food gels for tinting the frosting.
And then check out Sweetopia.net for tips on piping...

Now you need some sugar cookies to put this on...here's my favorite recipe.

Annie's Sugar Cookies

This is my FAVORITE sugar cookie recipe EVER. My sweet friend, Annie McDaniel, is the one who shared it with me years ago. It's my go-to recipe because it's not only EASY but there's no need to chill the dough prior to rolling out. AND...it actually produces a nice tasting cookie! *wink*

1 large egg

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Using an electric mixer, mix wet ingredients: egg, butter, sugar & vanilla

Add dry ingredients...mix well.

Roll out dough on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake at 400 degrees for 6-7 minutes

yields: approx. 24 - 3" cookies OR 150 - 1.5" cookies

Now all you need is some royal icing to decorate your cookies...here's my all-time favorite!