I won’t bore you with a story, I just need you to know how amazing these cookies are. They aren’t your typical sugar cookie; they’re full of holiday spice and another special ingredient that makes them nice and moist (sorry not sorry).
What you’ll need for the cookies:
½ cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 2/3 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
½ cup of sour cream
What you’ll need for the royal icing:
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
¼ cup of water (plus more if needed to thin)
3 tablespoons of merengue powder
lemon or orange zest
Alright, let’s get started! Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees and lay out cookie sheets. Make sure your egg and butter is room temperature and start by adding the sugar and butter into your mixer. You want to mix those two ingredients together for 2-3 minutes until it’s light in color, smooth and creamy. Next, add in the egg and mix at medium speed until it is fully integrated into the batter, then you’re able to add in your vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg together. Turn your mixer on low and alternate adding the flour and sour cream until all of the ingredients are fully mixed together. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and set in the fridge for at least an hour (I recommend to leave it for about 4 but if you’re in a bind you just need an hour). Once the dough has been chilled, flour a hard surface and a rolling pin and roll out the dough to ¼ thickness. Cut out the cookies in any shape you want and set them on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Pop them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the trays every so often. Make sure you let the cookies cool for a good amount of time before you put any icing on!
As far as the icing goes, make sure you sift the powdered sugar so it’s nice and smooth. Feel free to just dump everything in a bowl and mix it together with no particular order of what goes in first, just make sure you use a paddle mixer or spoon so you don’t whip too much air into the icing. Use ¼ cup of water to keep it thin for the outline and then add extra water for the flooding icing if you want to fill in the outline.
Most importantly, have fun! Get creative and bring some Christmas spirit to your cookies.
Enjoy, my sunshines!
XO, Sonny