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How to Frost Sugar Cookies the Easy Way

General

I made frosted sugar cookies this weekend for an upcoming project (more on that later this week). It was my first time working with royal icing (which dries hard to the touch), and it was so fun. I’ll have to experiment closer to Christmas with the piping and flooding technique, but for those looking for a quick way to frost, this is what I did:

1) Place a generous amount of frosting in the center of the cookie.
2) Using a butter knife, push the frosting out from the center to the edges, stopping a 1/4 inch from the edge.
3) Smooth frosting over in a circular motion.

It’s definitely not the most precise method, but it’s very fast and easy. For the white accents, I just filled a sandwich bag with frosting and used this tip. I think making tiny pearl borders was my favorite part of the whole thing.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Barely adapted from Blonde Designs

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour

1. Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy; add sugar and mix.
2. Add egg, salt, and vanilla; mix well.
3. Add flour. Be careful to not overmix. Wrap dough in plastic and chill several hours or overnight.
4. Roll out on floured surface and cut out cookies (keep on thicker side). Bake on ungreased sheet at 375 degrees until edges begin to barely brown. Cool completely and frost.

Royal Icing
From Martha Stewart

2 large egg whites, or more to thin icing
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, or more to thicken icing
1 lemon, juiced

1. Beat the whites until stiff but not dry.
2. Add sugar and lemon juice; beat for 1 minute more. If icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it is too thin, add more sugar.
3. Add food coloring if desired (I am partial to this icing color gel which produces the most vibrant colors by using just the teeniest amount). The icing may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Last modified: January 10, 2019