Perfect Sugar Cookies & Royal Icing Recipe

Recipes for basic royal icing and perfect soft sugar cookies that keep their shape. They are both super easy to make and totally fool proof!

To everyone that made it out for my Macy’s demo this past weekend, thank you so much for your support! I was so great to meet and chat with all of you. I had such a fun time I wanted to share a few photos and memories here, as well as full recipes for awesome sugar cookies, perfect every time royal icing, and of course my favorite – edible food paint! There’s also a little video with some clips from the event, so make sure you check that out too.

I was definitely nervous leading up to the event. There was so much prep, as I pre-made decorated cookies and macarons to feed the entire crowd. I had only made macarons once before and it was ages ago. It was fun to try again to tackle this finicky cookie, but it took a few failed batches before I got some that were good enough to serve to the event attendees.

As the people started to file in I kept running through all of the steps of the recipes, worried I’d forget something.

As soon as I started talking I knew things would be ok. I was no longer nervous. Instead, I was happy. It just felt so natural, like something I was meant to do. I could feel myself connecting with the audience and people were really engaged! They asked all sorts of great questions and even laughed a few times at my jokes.

It was so weird to have the mic on and hear my voice echo out over the crowd.

A bunch of my foodie friends came out to support me too, which was so amazing! It was fun to see their snapchats of the event and I felt so loved.

Speaking of Snapchat, my friend Ally was there to document the whole thing. She also took some awesome video footage which was fun to look back on. Thanks girl!

In Ally’s words though, the ‘husband of the year’ award goes to Pat. He’s supported me so much in this crazy blogging journey and of course was there cheering me on for the demo. #couplegoals

I’m so grateful to everyone at Macy’s Union Square for bringing me in and making the whole event possible. If you’re in the area, checking out the demos in the Cellar Kitchen is an awesome fun and cheap (aka free) activity in San Francisco. They have events almost every weekend.
A video is worth a thousand photos, right? Check out the video at the end of the recipe! Special thanks to Ally for filming during the event!

As promised, here are the supplies I recommend so you can make your own painted sugar cookies:

Gel Food Coloring
Edible Gold Luster Dust
Paintbrush Set
Rainbow and Poop Emoji Cookie Cutters
Heart Cookie Cutters
Piping Bags
Meringue Powder
Number 2 and number 4 piping tips
Pastry Board
Rolling Pin Guides
Kitchen Aid Mixer (100% worth the upgrade to get the professional version!)

Royal Icing & Easy Perfect Sugar Cookies

Print Recipe

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Recipes for basic royal icing and perfect soft sugar cookies that keep their shape. They are both super easy to make and totally fool proof!

• Author: Kelly Egan
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes
• Total Time: 42 minutes
• Yield: 24 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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Royal Icing Ingredients

• 6 oz. (3/4 cup) warm water
• 1/3 c. meringue powder
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2.25 lbs. (1 kilogram) powdered sugar

Perfect Sugar Cookie Dough Ingredients:

• 2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. iodized salt
• 1 T. vanilla extract
• 5 c. all-purpose flour

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Instructions

Make the Royal Icing

1. Combine the water and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer and hand whisk for 30 seconds.
2. Add cream of tartar and hand whisk for 30 seconds.
3. Add all of the icing sugar and mix with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer on low for 10 minutes. Icing will turn glossy.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Use clear vanilla if you are not adding food color.
5. Tint with liquid or gel food color.

Make the sugar cookies:

1. Place butter and sugar in bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs one at a time. Continue mixing and add the salt and vanilla.
2. Add the flour in one batch. Cover the bowl with a towel before you mix to prevent flour from going everywhere. Mix until just combined.
3. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 – 3/8 inch. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Optional: Chill for 10 minutes to 1 hour, to help cookies keep their shape when baking.
4. Bake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet at 350 Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden brown and center no longer looks wet.

Event photos by DV Pix for Macy’s, photo retouching and post processing by A Side of Sweet

P.S. – Interested in learning more about Edible Food Paint for cookies and baking? I wrote a whole blog post about: