Soft Sugar Cookie Baked Until the Edges Set

Soft Sugar Cookie Baked Until the Edges Set keeps the shopping list focused on flour *see note, baking powder, and kosher salt. It serves 40 Cookies.

Count on 15 minutes of prep, 8 minutes of cooking, 30 minutes of resting, about 23 minutes from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

For the Cookies

• 2 ⅓ cups flour *see note
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

For royal icing

• 1 box powdered sugar 1 lb (454g)
• 6 ½ tablespoons Lemon Juice juice from approximately 2 medium lemons, 85 g
• ¼ cup dried egg whites or meringue powder 22g
• Milk as needed, approximately 20 g

For a simple cookie icing

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-5 teaspoons milk

How the cooking goes

Make the cookie dough

1. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Keep it to one side.
2. In another large bowl, melt the butter (you used the microwave) just until melted but not hot. Whisk in the sugar followed by the egg and vanilla. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is emulsified. You shouldn’t see any streaks of butter or egg.
3. Slowly stir in the flour mixture.
4. It does look like a dry dough, so it helps to finish by hand, squeezing the dough together. This incorporates the flour faster without developing too much gluten.
5. Roll your dough while it is at ambient temperature. Roll the dough to approximately ¼ inch. You will have the best results if rolled between two pieces of parchment, but you can also roll out on a lightly floured surface.
6. Refrigerate the dough until chilled. This will only take 30 minutes, but it helps to give it a full 2 hours or overnight to let the gluten relax.

Cut & bake cookies

1. When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 325° F convection or 350° F conventional, and line two sheet pans with baking paper.
2. Unstick the parchment from both sides of the dough, then cut shapes with a lightly floured cookie cutter. Chill the cookies before baking. It will only take about 20 minutes.
3. Oven-bake in preheated oven for 7-9 minutes or until the cookies look matte in the center and have a few small cracks. Some of the edges might have begun to brown. You bake all the same shapes on one sheet to ensure even baking.
4. Cool completely before icing.

Make Royal Icing

1. In a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the dried egg whites and lemon juice. Whisk until soft peaks form.
2. Put all the powdered sugar and whisk to combine.
3. Separate the icing into different bowls then add food dye. Be sure to keep an eye on the consistency and stop adding if it gets too thin.
4. For outlining using the ribbon test. The icing should cascade slowly off your spatula and remaining clearly visible on the surface for a few moments (about 5-6 seconds) before slowly disappearing.
5. For flooding using the same ribbon test, the icing should cascade off your spatula and almost disappear instantly into the rest of the icing.

For the simple icing

1. Simply whisk all the ingredients together, adding a little milk at a time until it flows from the whisk but briefly holds a line on top of the icing in the bowl.

After it comes off the heat

Cool the sheet on a rack before the pieces are stacked. A covered tin keeps them for a few days.

If you want another plate from Cookies, open Spritz Cookie with a Soft Middle and Pecan Tassies after Supper.