Easy Valentine’s Sugar Cookies with Pink Royal Icing
Servings: 20 cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 2/3 cup butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Pink Royal Icing
- 2 egg whites fresh, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- red food coloring - plant based
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- Ina stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until creamy
- Add the egg and vanilla, beating on high for a few minutes until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Mix until a dough forms. Add a tiny bit more flour if dough is too wet.
- Form dough into 2 balls. Roll them out on sheets of parchment paper to 1/3or 1/2 inch thickness.
- Stack the rolled dough and refrigerate for 1 hour
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Use heart-shaped cutters to stamp out your cookies.
- Place cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet. Bake for 11–13 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
- Let them rest on pan for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack. They must be completely cool before icing.
Pink Royal Icing
- Beat egg whites and cream of tartar for 1–2 minutes until frothy.
- Slowly add powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time). Add vanilla and beat onhigh until the icing is glossy and holds stiff peaks. If too runny, add more sugar; if too stiff, add a drop of water.
- Divide icing into bowls. Add red food coloring drop-by-drop (2-3 drops for light pink, 5-6 for dark pink).
- Fill into piping bag with a #1 or #2 tip (or a snipped Ziploc) to ice the cookies. Add gold dust & sprinkles