Cardamom Sugar Cookies With Royal Icing
Cardamom Sugar Cookies With Royal Icing
Sometimes you just have to bake a batch of old-fashioned cut-out sugar cookies, don’t you? These are my favorite sugar cookies, scented with just a hint of cardamom.Recipe courtesy of West of the Loop
Prep Time
3
hours
Cook Time
10
minutes
Servings
36
Total time: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 6 ounce unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom in a small bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture and mix until well-combined.
- Gradually add the flour to the standing mixer, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Continue to mix until the dough begins to come together in a ball.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.
- To bake, preheat the oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat baking mats.
- Allow the dough to come to room temperature.
- Flour a board or pastry mat and a rolling pin.
- Roll the dough out to ¼-inch thickness, turning frequently and adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.
- Transfer the shapes to cookie sheets.
- Be sure to gather the scraps of dough and roll them out again. If the dough gets too soft, pop it back in the refrigerator for a half-hour or so.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.
- Cool cookies completely on wire racks prior to decorating.
- Combine the powdered sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer and whip using the whisk attachment on high speed until glossy and the mixture holds stiff peaks.
- Transfer the icing to a squeeze bottle or piping bag to decorate the cookies.
- Allow icing to harden before putting cookies in tins or plastic containers.