In honour of this holiest of days, I baked some heart shaped cookies:) Yay!! I looked all over the internet for a sugar cookie recipe, as well as an icing recipe. I found many (many, many...) recipes, so I started with this cream cheese recipe I found on AllRecipes. It's pretty managable, easy to roll out and tastes really good, especially when they're fresh:) I recommend this recipe, it's nothing spectacular, but it does the trick:)
As for the royal icing, again, I found many (many, many...) recipes, all pretty much made from the same ingredients (meringue powder, water and icing sugar). I tried the recipe from Sweetopia, which turned out to be really good, and very easy to make/use. BTW if you have a sec check out her site, it's got great tips and tutorials, and it's full of ideas for fun cookie projects!!
What you’ll need:
Cream cheese sugar cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 (3oz) package cream cheese, softened (about 85g = 1/3 of a 250g package)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
On a lightly floured surface (or between two sheets of wax paper) roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters.
Place 1 inch apart on ungreased (parchment paper) cookie sheets.
Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or coloured sugar.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheets before transferring to a cooling rack, otherwise they’ll crack:(.
Cool completely before frosting.
Royal Icing
6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water
5 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar
** Note: if your meringue powder has no vanilla flavour (vanillin powder) in it, add a teaspoon of clear vanilla (or any other clear flavoring you have on hand) to this recipe.
Directions:
In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened…about 30 seconds.
Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.
Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.
Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.
Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.
Tint with food colourings or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.
Pipe/flood onto cooled cookies, let dry and enjoy!!
Hope you had a great Valentine's day, I know I did (eating cookies!!)
