Sugar cookies

Helloo!!!

Today’s post is kind or a reminder, or so (did not know exactly how to call it, maybe a little bit repetitive) cause I have already posted sugar cookies. So it’s basically the same recipe, but I will give you some tips to help those ones that are trying to master the art of sugar cookies.

So this is are the ingredients, I usually make 1/4 of it when I am by myself, but not if you want to make it all but not actually planning on eating them, you can perfectly freeze the dough and then use it again.

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened not melted
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon of the extract you prefer (I used vanilla but could be lemon or almond)

To remind you the procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Every oven is set differently, so make sure what temperatures does it really has.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
Add eggs and extract.
Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture little by little; mix until combined. (do not over mix or cookies will spread when baking and the shape will not be the one you are expecting)
Divide the dough in half and shape it into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This is a very important step, do not skip it or your cookies will turn in a very frustrating process, it would be difficult to roll and cut out. And if you are wanting to freeze part of it, just wrap it around with enough plastic and store it.
Transfer dough to a flat work area and roll between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. The parchment paper is very important cause it makes handling the dough easily. even though its been in the fridge and you put some flour on the surface, the dough with stick to the roll or the table, and trust me, you will be a little frustrated.
Put the rolled dough back in the fridge for about 15 minutes (use a baking sheet for dough).
Get the cookie dough out and cut out your cookies *as I did not have any other cookie cutter than the heart-shaped ones, I used a small glass to cut round shapes. Space them 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Re roll scraps and cut out again as necessary in order to get as many cookies as possible from your dough.
Bake cookies until golden, 12-15 minutes. →Check them at 12 minutes, if they are done and a little golden do not wait till 15, nobody wants super brown cookies – this will also depend on the temperature of your oven cause some of them have more temperature than the one set and also, the thickness of your cookies will affect the cooking time: the more thin, the faster it will be done.
Let cool completely before icing on sheets on wire racks. THE RECIPE OF ROYAL ICING I USED HERE IS THE SAME ONE I DESCRIBED IN THE HEART SUGAR COOKIES! (PLEASE CHECK THE POST)

I still have trouble with royal icing consistency, so this time it was setting too fast and I did not have time to pop all the bubbles, that is why they look kind of funny. It is also cause I need to practice more.

When decorating, you might need a toothpick to help you pop air bubbles. I place the icing with just the tip of the piping bag, but you can help yourself using a spatula, a table knife or whatever other utensil you feel comfortable with.

A very important thing that I almost forgot to write is, don’t let you icing be in direct contact with the air, cause it will start getting crusty. So put it in a piping bag, or if you have some in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap to avoid that.