Sugar Cookies marydukecooks.com

This soft sugar cookie has a thick, rich icing. This recipe calls for cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. The soft wheat cake flour makes the cookies soft and tender. Perfect for busy moms, these beautiful and simply decorated cookies use a cookie scoop instead of being rolled out. How simple is that!

Sugar Cookies– makes 36 cookies

1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup egg whites from 2 large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups bleached cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon iodized salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix butter and sugar on medium speed of a mixer for 5 minutes. Butter mixture will change color to pale yellow. While mixture is beating, mix egg whites with whipping cream and vanilla. Set aside. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside. When butter mixture is ready, scrape sides of bowl with a silicone spatula then add egg white mixture. Scrape bowl and mix again. The mixture will look funny but it is supposed to. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture one tablespoon at a time until all flour is combined. Scrape bowl and mix again. Refrigerate dough until cold.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop. Put 12 cookies on each tray. (You want a lot of space between each cookie.) The dough is really soft so scrape the cookie scoop on the side of the bowl every time to make uniform round cookies. Bake 15 minutes. The cookies will look faintly brown around the edges and be puffy. Makes 24 cookies. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely before icing. Tip: For a 1/2 tablespoon scoop bake for 7-8 minutes- Makes 100 cookies.
For a 1 tablespoon scoop bake 10-12 minutes- Makes 65 cookies.

Icing
2 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon iodized salt
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla
Gel food coloring and colored sugar or sprinkles for decorating

Mix powdered sugar, salt, whipping cream and vanilla together with a mixer for 5 minutes or until soft and fluffy. Divide icing into as many small bowls as colors you plan to use. Add 2-3 drops of gel color for pastel icing and more for deeper colors. If you can’t ice cookies immediately, press plastic wrap directly on surface of icing so it won’t harden and become lumpy. Before icing dries, sprinkle cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles. Lightly press sugar or sprinkles into icing to adhere. Store in airtight containers. Separate layers with wax paper. I keep the cookies in the freezer until we are ready to eat them. Cookies keep at room temperature 3 days.

Published in The News and Neighbor on December 5, 2018