There’s something magical about rolled sugar cookies. They are buttery, soft, and a blank canvas for creativity.
Thanks to online shopping, grabbing essentials like meringue powder has never been easier. Sure, powdered sugar icing is tempting for its simplicity, but royal icing made with meringue powder takes your cookies to the next level. It’s fluffy, dries beautifully, and isn’t hard to whip up.
The key to making the perfect sugar cookies is all in the method. The ingredients – like butter, sugar and vanilla – are beautifully simple, but the trick is to mix the dough with a light hand and avoid overbaking. You want the cookies that are soft with just a hint of crispness at the edges.
Happy Baking!
The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing: A Sweet Art
24
servingsIngredients
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cups butter (that's 1+1/2 sticks), softened to room temp
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
- For the Royal Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
1.5 TBSP meringue powder
3 TBSP water
Directions
- Beat sugar and softened butter with a paddle attachment until soft and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Lower the speed and beat in vanilla. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl. On low speed add eggs, one at a time. You may need to use a rubber spatula to mix them in well - you do not want to be beating the eggs in aggressively - just stir them in.
- Place a fine mesh sieve on top of the butter and sugar bowls. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in the sieve and sift it into the bowl with butter and sugar. Stir it in gently with a wooden spoon. Do not mix aggressively or the cookies will be tough. Just gently fold everything in with a wooden spoon and sometimes your hands. Form the dough into a disk, cover and chill for at least an hour in the fridge (overnight is fine.)
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Dust your work surface with flour (in addition, I often roll these cookies out on top of a large parchment sheet.) Knead the dough gently by pressing down on it with your fingers to soften it (it will be pretty stiff straight from the fridge.) Roll the dough out to no less than 1/4 inch thick. I sometimes go as thick as 1/3 inch myself. Cut out into shapes. Place cookies about 1 inch apart on top of a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake cookies in preheated oven for about 6-7.5 minutes. Not overbaking them is key. Remember, cookies always look a bit raw when ready but they harden a lot as they set. I suggest baking a test cookie alongside the rest of your cookies. I would say for me, just about 7 minutes is right for thicker cookies; if you rolled them out thinner, I aim for just under 7 minutes. Remove and very carefully transfer to wire racks to cool completely before decorating.
- For the Royal Icing:
- Use a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed. Beat the mixture for 7–10 minutes until the icing forms stiff peaks and is smooth and glossy. Voila, your icing is done. Keep it covered at all times to prevent it from drying out (transfer to sealed piping bags right away.) Divide the icing into bowls if using multiple colors. Add gel food coloring sparingly to achieve the desired shades. Add water as needed to make it flood better.
- Tips on Adjust Consistency:
For piping, use the icing as is or add a tiny amount of water (1 teaspoon at a time) until it reaches a toothpaste-like consistency.
For flooding, add more water (1 teaspoon at a time) to achieve a thinner, smooth consistency that spreads easily but doesn’t run off the edge of the cookies. I add some more water into each separate bowl with food colour, a few drops at a time.
