After reading through many recipes claiming to be the “best sugar cookie EVER” on Pinterest I decided to try two of the most convincing ones out yesterday. More than likely it was an error on my part but I ended up with two batches of terrible cookies. I was pretty disappointed since both recipes took so much work, wasted lots of ingredients and I so badly wanted a Valentine themed treat.
Anyway, I had promised to bring a dessert to bible study last night so I knew I couldn’t come empty handed. In a last desperate attempt I whipped up one more batch of cookies and although they weren’t my best {Matt gives very honest reviews}, the icing sure did make them tasty and they were too pretty not to share!
We are currently studying Tim Keller’s book “The Meaning of Marriage” in our couples bible study so I thought it would be clever to bring heart shaped cookies.
This was my first time experimenting with Royal Icing and I am definitely a fan, even though it requires a lot of time.
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
From In Katrina’s Kitchen
Ingredients:
1 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups all purpose flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and
sugar until smooth. Beat in extracts and eggs. In a separate bowl
combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet
ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. If it becomes too stiff for
your mixer turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands
and finish off kneading the dough by hand. DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH.
Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface and cut.
You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch
rather than 1/8). Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie
sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Royal Icing
4 cups Domino Powdered Sugar
4 TBS Wilton’s Meringue Powder
Wilton’s Gel Food Coloring
4 TBS Water initially, plus additional while mixing
Spray bottle {optional}
Basically
use 1 cup of powdered sugar for every 1 TBS of meringue powder with
warm water mixed SLOWLY in until desired consistency.
If you’re going to attempt Royal Icing, I highly recommend using Make Bake Celebrate’s Royal Icing 101 Tutorial {found here}. It’s the best one I found and she is very thorough with her instructions!
You can’t go wrong with sprinkles so I loaded my cookies up before my icing dried. I was also pretty excited to break out my Heart Side-of-the-Cup cookie cutter from World Market that’s been sitting in my kitchen drawer for almost a year. Love it? You can find it {here} for only $1.29!
Are you planning to make any festive Valentine treats this year? Oh, and if you have an amazing tried and true sugar cookie recipe, feel free to pass it on!
I love royal icing too, I just started using it for Christmas cookies this year. I make it with egg whites instead of Meringue Powder though since I normally don't have that around the house! You're so right, there are so many recipes out there that claim to be the "best" super sugar cookie…. at least yours looked adorable!!
So cute!!! And if they really are the best sugar cookies ever then win-win!
I'm going to make some of these this weekend. I've made them before and they're so fun but now that I have a Kitchenaid it will be easier!
I love making theme snacks too! My most recent were roadkill squirrel ginger snaps for a book club where we read "Let's Pretend this Never Happened" – which has a lot of roadkill/taxidermy in it. It was fun to run the cookies over with a Hot Wheels monster truck. Definitely not as cute as your hearts, though!
I love simple, pretty treats like this!
Those are DARLING!! Sorry the recipes didn't work out, but at least they look cute! My baking escapades always look like I had a toddler in the kitchen with me (I didn't)!!
I have got to make those cookies. They look delicious and are so pretty, too! My fiancé and I are reading The Meaning of Marriage right now too…such an amazing book! Xx.
Those look adorable and tasty too!! Well done friend – I get very frustrated and impatient when recipes don't work out! I'm hoping to make some cookies or cupcakes this year for luuuuuurve day :)x
You are too adorable, friend! These cookies look fantastic and I love how you have the cookie hanging off of that adorable "C" mug! <3 (Oh, and I had no idea such a thing was sold–a "side-cup-cookie-cutter"?? As if I need ANY more reason to go to World Market, haha.) I like that you state it wasn't your best cookie. Seriously. If you were perfect ALL the time, you wouldn't be relatable! This makes you human and more likable for your honesty! 🙂 Cheers,Samara
Yummmmmm! I'm going to make these for the office!
Ummmm yes, please! 🙂
thats too bad you didnt like the taste of the cookies – they look great tho! xo jillian – cornflake dreams
Oh no, sorry to hear the recipe didn't turn out well! Sugar cookies are tricky. I'm still searching for he perfect recipe myself! They sure do look pretty though!
I watched a youtube video on Royal Icing last weekend and since then I have not been able to find it again. Thanks for the recipe though because this is basically what I needed. I decided that this year I am going to give baking a try. I figure I will start out with baby steps and master pretty sugar cookies. Your cookies look awesome though!!!!
I love valentines day treats, your cookies are so sweet!! I'm hoping to do heart shaped fruit pizzas with strawberries and blueberries!! BUT also looking for a good sugar cookie recipe, if not I dare say that I'll probably end up cheating with a tube of prepackaged sugar cookies lol
Yum! they look so nice!! I want to try doing that icing too but it intimidates me like crazy! I'm so not a baker…
These sweet heart cookies are gorgeous! And that icing looks perfect! So pretty Christina! 🙂
They look too pretty to eat 🙂 I always make pre packaged cookies and still end up with the results being not so great lol so I def give you an A+ for your baking determination 🙂
Sorry that your first attempt didn't turn out so good, but the final result looks beautiful! I need to make some Valentine's treats soon too 🙂
I have that awesome cookie cutter too but I haven't used it yet! That is on my list of things to do for the love month coming up! 🙂
They look perfect! So pretty 🙂
So cute! I finally tried royal icing this December with some of our Christmas cookies and I fell in love. They just look so nice!
So, they are totally beautiful… which totally makes up for the fact that Matt didn't think they were beautiful. A total win in my book! 😉
That side of thecup cookie cutter is DARLING!!
Those have to be the cutest and most perfect looking cookies! Can't wait to try the recipe but I already know I'll never get my icing to look that good! lol
SO glad you shared this recipe! Your pictures are too cute! I need to try this recipe. I too have heart shape cookie cutters that have just been sitting in a drawer 🙂
ninest123 07.23replica watches, oakley sunglasses, burberry, oakley sunglasses, michael kors outlet, coach factory outlet, nike free, louboutin outlet, ray ban sunglasses, ray ban sunglasses, kate spade handbags, longchamp outlet, kate spade outlet, tiffany and co, prada outlet, michael kors, tiffany jewelry, tory burch outlet, michael kors outlet, chanel handbags, nike outlet, louboutin, coach outlet, jordan shoes, prada handbags, michael kors outlet, coach outlet, longchamp outlet, polo ralph lauren outlet, louboutin shoes, michael kors outlet, christian louboutin outlet, longchamp, michael kors outlet, nike air max, burberry outlet online, nike air max, oakley sunglasses, gucci outlet, polo ralph lauren outlet
timberland, michael kors, north face, sac longchamp, air force, true religion jeans, true religion jeans, hollister pas cher, louboutin pas cher, longchamp pas cher, nike air max, new balance pas cher, coach purses, lululemon, air jordan pas cher, nike roshe run, vans pas cher, ray ban uk, air max, true religion outlet, hollister, nike blazer, hermes, michael kors, michael kors, mulberry, lacoste pas cher, north face, sac guess, tn pas cher, vanessa bruno, ralph lauren uk, nike free, oakley pas cher, burberry, ralph lauren pas cher, true religion jeans, ray ban pas cher, converse pas cher, hogan
timberland, michael kors, north face, sac longchamp, air force, true religion jeans, true religion jeans, hollister pas cher, louboutin pas cher, longchamp pas cher, nike air max, new balance pas cher, coach purses, lululemon, air jordan pas cher, nike roshe run, vans pas cher, ray ban uk, air max, true religion outlet, hollister, nike blazer, hermes, michael kors, michael kors, mulberry, lacoste pas cher, north face, sac guess, tn pas cher, vanessa bruno, ralph lauren uk, nike free, oakley pas cher, burberry, ralph lauren pas cher, true religion jeans, ray ban pas cher, converse pas cher, hogan
ferragamo shoes, reebok shoes, soccer shoes, mont blanc, babyliss, asics running shoes, chi flat iron, p90x workout, valentino shoes, north face outlet, vans shoes, lululemon, nike huarache, longchamp, nike air max, new balance, herve leger, mac cosmetics, mcm handbags, nike trainers, celine handbags, abercrombie and fitch, insanity workout, ghd, beats by dre, wedding dresses, nike free run uk, nike roshe, nfl jerseys, abercrombie and fitch, soccer jerseys, birkin bag, bottega veneta, instyler, north face outlet, nike roshe, giuseppe zanotti, hollister, jimmy choo shoes, nike air max
replica watches, thomas sabo, louboutin, montre pas cher, juicy couture outlet, coach outlet, supra shoes, vans, juicy couture outlet, toms shoes, hollister, gucci, timberland boots, nike air max, pandora charms, ralph lauren, oakley, ray ban, swarovski, nike air max, marc jacobs, pandora charms, links of london, hollister, converse outlet, swarovski crystal, iphone 6 cases, karen millen, hollister, pandora jewelry, wedding dresses, baseball bats, converse, lancelninest123 07.23