Today I decided to try my hand at an All-American favorite, Iced Sugar Cookies from page 59. I also saw this as the perfect excuse to try out Martha’s cake and cookie decorating stencils that I picked up earlier today at my neighborhood crafting store.
The cookies are so simple to put together! It’s basically butter, sugar, eggs and flour – ingredients most of us always have around the house. The dough needs to chill before you roll it out and cut the cookies, and then you need to refrigerate it for about a half hour on the baking sheet because this helps them keep their shape.
I made the Royal Icing from page 414, but instead of using food coloring, I whipped out the stencils and decided to try using them with colored sanding sugar…there’s only one problem, the online tutorials I watched all made clear you’re really supposed to use these stencils with icing, not sugar…oops!
But I’m not one to let something like that interfere with my creative process so I tried it anyway to mixed results. My earliest tries were downright comical, and I ended up just making them into abstract, tie-dye style cookies; covering my failed stenciling with different colored sugars all around. My later attempt, as you can see from the pictures, had mixed results…kind of cute, but not very professional. Still, I had a lot of fun with these!
This is the kind of cookie dough recipe every home baker should work with because it’s very versatile and good for any kind of party. You can keep them round or use cookie cutters with festive shapes. I’m looking forward to trying these cookies again and I’m also looking forward to becoming a pro at working with Martha’s adorable decorating stencils.
