How to make sugar cookies for rolling and decorating
They see me rollin’, we BAKIN’! …Patrolin’, they tryin’ ta catch me baking cookies!
My daughter is actually the cookie baker in the house. She had a few days off from her busy school schedule and decided to bake up a batch of cookies inspired by the video game “Overwatch”. She has much more patience than I do and has become quite the skilled baker and decorator. She found my sugar cookie recipe on my blog in a post I wrote a while back about Christmas cookies and has been baking up a storm ever since. She know sugar cookies aren’t just for Christmas. They are a tasty blank canvas to express your creative side.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase an item through one of my links I make a few coins…and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. It’s a win/win!
Didn’t she do a fantastic job on these “Overwatch” cookies?! She just pulled up some pictures on her phone, got her inspiration and got to decorating
Assemble your ingredients
This cookie dough goes together quickly. Let the butter come to room temperature and become softened. Mix in the powdered sugar, egg, salt and vanilla. I like to use powdered sugar because it mixes easily into the dough and gives you a crispy cookie. Stir in the flour and some spices if you like and your done.
Last year she made these Golden Snitch cookies inspired by “Harry Potter”. She had to get creative with these because we didn’t have a cookie cutter shaped like this. She used a round cookie cutter for the center and made the wings from Christmas tree shaped cookies cut in half. Smart kid!
CHILL
The waiting is the hardest part but it’s totally necessary. Press the dough out into two rectangles about 1/2 and inch thick. Wrap this in plastic and park it in the fridge for about half an hour. You can also freeze the dough if you want to make it in advance. Just move the dough to the refrigerator the night before you’re ready to bake.
Roll
I like to use a French rolling pin (a straight sided, long wooden dowel) with rubber rolling pin rings to help roll out the dough to an even thickness.
BAKE WHAT YOUR MAMA GAVE YA!
Pop these cookies into an oven heated to 350 degrees and bake for 10 -12 minutes. You don’t want the cookies to brown so keep an eye on them. Let them cool completely before decorating with royal icing. Meringue powder is a great substitute for raw egg whites and makes great decorator icing. Gel food coloring provides vibrant color without diluting the icing.
Sugar cookies for rolling and decorating
Ingredients
- 1 stick soft butter
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling the cookies
- 1/2 teaspoon your favorite spice like cinnamon or garam masala (optional)
- ROYAL ICING RECIPE for decorating optional
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons meringue powder
- water
- Gel food coloring
- Mix powdered sugar and meringue powder together. Add water little by little a tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency. You will need thicker icing to make an outline and thinner icing to fill in the decoration. Add food color a little at a time until you reach the desired color.
Instructions
- In a bowl mix butter, powdered sugar, egg , salt and vanilla thoroughly in a bowl until combined (about 2 minutes on medium in a stand mixer)
- Stir in the flour and optional spices and mix until well combined but not over mixed.
- Divide dough in half, form each half into two rectangles about 1/2 an inch thick and wrap in plastic. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for about a half hour.
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
- Spread a thin layer of flour on your counter and put one disk of cookie dough on it ( leave the other disk in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it) Roll out your dough with a floured rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick.
- Dip your cookie cutter in flour and cut out your shapes. Use a thin metal spatula ( dusted with flour) to lift the cookies off the counter and place them onto the parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 (depending on the size of your cookies) until they are just very slightly tan around the edges.
- Let them cool to room temperature before you frost them.
- You can re-roll the scraps of the cookie dough that are left over after cutting out your cookies. Just gather the scraps, form them into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a half hour before rolling)
How to make sugar cookies for rolling and decorating
