Spring Zing Cutout Cookies
One of the #PandemicGoals I actually managed to make good on was to work on gaining some cookie decorating skills. (My cake decorating is pretty rudimentary and likely to remain so, because to me, life seems a little too short for that much fuss.) Since I bake for the purpose of sharing with friends and loved ones, all the quarantining and isolation limited my opportunities to practice, so the project stumbled its way forward in small and usually somewhat awkward steps. I experimented with sandwich bags and squirt bottles, one royal icing recipe after another, and poured over dozens of articles and YouTube videos with tips and tutorials like a mad scientist — the shaking hands, food coloring-stained fingers, and streaks of confectioner’s sugar across my face only adding to the persona.
Better tools and finally figuring out an icing recipe I’m happy with helped a lot. As I became more comfortable, the effort became less laborious. Eventually, I got to a place where I’m able to have some fun at it.
When I saw this Ann Clark Easter Bunny cookie cutter, having fun with it was a must!
Nothing says spring to me like bright citrus flavors, so I figured why reserve them for just the icing? These are my new favorite cutout cookies. Ever. And the pics of these in classic Peeps colors with their adorable little eyes make me smile every time.
These are some of the items I find especially helpful for this bake. (These are affiliate links.)
Fiori di Sicilia Extract from King Arthur
USA Half Sheet Pan, set of 2
SMARTAKE Unbleached Parchment Sheets
Judee’s Complete Meringue Powder Mix
Spring Zing Cutout Cookies
makes 24 cookies (rolled 1/4” thick)
INGREDIENTS
3 cups good all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom extract
INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium-large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients thoroughly and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the egg and extracts and mix until well incorporated.
Add the flour mixture and mix on low/medium-low until incorporated, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed.
Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thick on a sheet of parchment paper. Slide the parchment onto a cookie sheet. Use a cookie cutter to cut desired shape(s) close together. Remove the bits of dough from between the shapes, and add it to the remaining dough. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the cut-out shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
Stack the cookie sheets carefully and freeze for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Remove one cookie sheet at a time from the freezer, remove the top layer of parchment and space the frozen cookies about 2 inches apart. (If all the cookies won’t fit, put the extras back into the freezer for the next batch.)
Bake for 11-12 minutes, until the cookies look just done and a little golden around the edges.
Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Repeat steps 8-10 until all cookies have been baked.
Let cookies cool for at least 1 hour or overnight before decorating.
Citrusy Royal Icing
makes about 4 cups before thinning
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4 tablespoons meringue powder
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons good quality vanilla
1 teaspoon orange blossom extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Sift the confectioners’ sugar into the upright mixer bowl.
In a measuring cup, combine the lemon juice, meringue powder and water, and whisk until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and extracts*, and whisk well.
Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, drizzle the juice mixture over the sugar, and mix on low until it is beginning to become evenly moistened (2-3 minutes). Add the corn syrup and mix for another 4 minutes on low, stopping once or twice to scrape the bowl with a wet spatula. (If the mixture is not becoming smooth after 2 minutes, add 1 additional tablespoon of warm water, and continue.) Turn the speed up one setting, and mix for 1 minute or until just starting to look fluffy. The icing should be very thick (like sticky spackle).
Put the icing into a clean bowl and press plastic wrap tightly to the surface. Take out smaller portions of icing to color as you like, keeping the unused icing covered. (For 24 cookies, I used a total of about 2 cups of icing, which wasn’t quite half of this batch. Now I have icing ready for more cookies!) After tinting the icing to your desired color, thin it as needed for outlining or flooding. (I used about 2 scant teaspoons of warm water per 3/4 cup of the spackle-thick icing to get a 20-second icing, which allowed me to outline and immediately fill…and get a VERY puffy coat!)
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