Lemon Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

        date:

Lemon Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

I always find myself lusting after gorgeously decorated sugar cookies. Even though I consider myself pretty skilled when it comes to decorating cakes and cupcakes, cookies are not really my thing. This sugar cookie recipe is foolproof, though, and I’m eager to try more complicated decorating techniques when I have time to play around with them. This recipe yielded cookies that held their shapes much better than other recipes I’ve tried, and that made all the difference for me. It was especially helpful since I needed to make 300 (!!) of these for my sorority, which just started a chapter at VCU.

Unlike standard sugar cookies, these have a dose of lemon zest and vanilla bean that makes them much more flavorful. Since the icing is nothing more than confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder and water, it’s important that the cookies have a lot of flavor. There are plenty of variations on traditional sugar cookies, but I’m quite sure this one is my favorite. The entire downstairs of our house smelled amazing while these were baking, so much so that Eric commented on the last night that he was going to miss our house smelling like a bakery.

Lemon Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Ingredients
  • For the cookies:

  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

  • Zest of half a lemon

  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • For the icing:

  • 4 cups confectioner’s sugar

  • 2 tablespoons meringue powder

  • 5 tablespoons water

Directions
  • 1

    In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla bean paste and lemon zest and beat until combined. Decrease speed to low and add the flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled and firm, 1-2 hours.

  • 2

    When ready to bake, remove dough from refrigerator. Heat oven to 375º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. On a well floured surface, roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are fully cooked but not at all browned. These cookies will harden as they cool, so take that into account when testing for doneness.

    Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Gather dough scraps, roll again, and repeat cutting and baking process. Refrigerate dough as needed during this process. Once all the cookies are baked and cooled, decorate as desired.

  • 3

    To make the royal icing, combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Mix until the ingredients are well combined and the sheen has disappeared, 7-10 minutes. Add water, about a tablespoon at a time, until the icing reaches a consistency appropriate for piping. If the icing is too thick, it will be difficult to pipe. Transfer to an airtight container, color as desired (gel colors work best) and transfer a small amount to a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip. Cover the icing that is not in use. Pipe around the edges of each cookie and allow this to harden for at least an hour.

  • 4

    Thin the remaining icing (if you’re not using it for piped designs on top of the flooded cookies) with additional water, a small amount at a time, until it reaches a consistency appropriate for flooding (the icing should drip off the spoon easily and disappear into the bowl within about 5 or so seconds). Transfer to a squeeze bottle and flood within the piped border of each cookie. Use a toothpick to move the icing to the edges, if needed. Allow to set, preferably overnight, until the icing is hard and matte.

  • 5

    If desired, use any remaining stiff icing to pipe designs onto the flooded cookies. Allow to dry for an hour, then stack and store cookies in an airtight container.

SOURCES:
PRINTER FRIENDLY:
SHARE ON:
COMMENTS: ( 6 )

6 responses to “Lemon Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing”

  1. Heather says:

    What a great cause to support!

    I definitely applaud you for baking and decorating that many cookies– I have decorated sugar cookies a few times and I enjoy it in small doses but I can’t imagine having to decorate 300 of them! They turned out wonderful 🙂

  2. carrian says:

    You are a champ! I have a hard time decorating 5 cookies. No joke. And I love your photos ps! So pretty!

  3. Kelsey says:

    What a sweet thing for you to do for your sorority and a very worthwhile cause!

  4. elly says:

    They turned out great, Courtney!

  5. Laura Tull says:

    These look amaXIng, Courtney!!

  6. CeCe says:

    I’ve been looking for a great sugar cookie recipe that had a little something special going on, and I love lemon. I’ll definitely be trying these.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *