Halloween Sugar Cookies Recipe

• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Yield: 20 to 24 cookies
• Nutritional Information Per Serving (1 of 22 servings): Calories 223, Total Fat 7g, Saturated Fat 4g, Carbohydrates 40g, Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugar 28g, Protein 2g, Cholesterol 25mg, Sodium 36mg
• Total Time: 12 hours (including cooling and setting)
• Active Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (refer to Cook's Note)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, diced and softened to room temp
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing:

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup meringue powder
• Gel food coloring for icing tint

Special Tools:

• Halloween-themed cookie cutters
• Piping bags fitted with round tips #2 and #1

Instructions

1. Prepare the Cookie Dough: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, then reduce speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Form the dough into two discs, wrap in plastic, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
2. Preheat Oven: Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds and preheat to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Shape the Cookies: Let the dough sit a few minutes at room temperature if too firm to roll. Roll one disc between sheets of parchment to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out Halloween shapes and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough.
4. Bake: Bake, swapping and rotating sheets halfway through, until the bottoms are lightly golden, about 1012 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely, about 1 hour.
5. Reuse Scraps: Reroll scraps between parchment sheets as needed; refrigerate until chilled (about 1 hour) before cutting and baking again.
6. Make Royal Icing: In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and 1/3 cup water on medium-high until stiff peaks form, 56 minutes. Tint portions with gel coloring as desired.
7. Prepare Flood Icing: Remove about three-quarters of the colored icing into a bowl and thin it with 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until it flows to flood the surface but isn't runny (a knife line should smooth out in ~10 seconds). Transfer flood icing to a piping bag fitted with a #2 round tip; keep the firmer icing in a bag with a #1 tip for outlines and details.
8. Decorate Cats: Outline cat shapes with thick black icing, flood with black icing, and let dry 6 hours or overnight. Pipe two yellow pointed eyes with the thicker icing and let set about 1 hour.
9. Decorate Ghosts: Outline ghosts with thick white icing and flood with white icing. After drying 6 hours or overnight, add faces with thick black icing and decorate borders with orange and black dots. Let harden about 1 hour.
10. Decorate Pumpkins: Outline pumpkins in thick orange icing and flood with orange icing. After drying 6 hours or overnight, pipe two vertical orange lines, a green stem, and vines with the thicker green icing; allow about 1 hour to set.
11. Decorate Candy Corn: Using thick white icing, pipe a triangular border at the top third, add an orange trapezoid beneath it, then a larger yellow trapezoid at the bottom. Flood each section with matching flood icings (white, orange, yellow) and let dry 6 hours or overnight.

Cook's Note

Measure flour by spooning it into a dry measuring cup and leveling off; scooping directly from the bag can compress flour and yield denser cookies.

Copyright 2018 Television Recipe Iseasy, G.P. All rights reserved.