Sugar Cookies with Easy Royal Icing

We are back today for the seventh day of Christmas and on the seventh day of Christmas we are sharing possibly the most classic Christmas cookie recipe out there; Sugar Cookies with Easy Royal Icing!

These sugar cookies are tender and chewy, but still hold shape perfectly and the easy royal icing comes together in about 10 minutes. 

Recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, but of course that will all depend on the size of cookie cutters you are using. 

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Below is a list of things that you will need to make this recipe. 

1. Stand Mixer; You might be noticing a trend with me recommending this stand mixer. I use it A LOT, and it works in double time over the holidays! 
2. Cookie Cutters; Any cookie cutters will work, you can even just cut the dough into squares with a knife if you want, but for the Christmas season I love to have some cute festive cookie cutters on hand!
3. Meringue Powder; This is the most important part of the easy royal icing. It cannot be subbed out for anything else, you must use meringue powder in this recipe. 
4. Wilton Gel Colours; These are my favourite gel colours on the market! They last forever and come in a bunch of different colours. But the most important part of using gel colouring is it will not dilute the mixture that you add it to, which is super important. Traditional water based food colouring adds additional water to the mixture and can alter the final results. 

Making the Sugar Cookies 

The sugar cookie dough comes together like any traditional cookie dough and is easy peasy to make. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Mix on medium speed until the butter and sugar are creamed together, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the egg, egg yolks, baking powder, almond extract, and salt. Mix on medium speed until combined. 

Now, gradually add in the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

This is the most important part of making the sugar cookie dough. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl. This will ensure that your cookie dough is dense enough to hold its shape during baking. 

Gather the cookies dough into a large ball, cover with wrap or transfer to an airtight container and let chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. 

Cutting the Cookies 

Generously dust a large surface with flour and roll out the cookie dough to ½” - ¼” thickness.

Using cookie cutters of choice, cut out the cookies. When you have cut all of the cookies, gather the remnants of dough, knead it together, and re roll it. Keep repeating this process until all of the dough is used. 

Place the cookies on baking sheets, keeping at least 1” spacing between the cookies. Bake for 12-13 minutes until the edges just start to turn a light golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely before icing.  

Making the Easy Royal Icing

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the icing sugar, meringue powder, ½ cup of water, and vanilla. Whisk on high speed for 6 minutes. The mixture will turn thick and almost double in size. 

Pull up the whisk, the icing should drizzle down and flatten out almost immediately. If it doesn't flatten, you will need to add more water. Add the additional water 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the correct consistency.

If you want your icing all one colour, add a little bit of gel food colouring directly to the mixing bowl and whisk until the colour is fully combined, about 1 minute. 

To make various colours, transfer the plain icing into smaller bowls and using a small hand whisk or a fork, add the gel colouring and whisk by hand until fully combined.

Transfer the royal icing to icing bags and snip off a tiny part of the end. Remember, you can always cut a bigger hole, but you can't close up a hole that is too big!

Now you are ready to decorate away! Some other things that can be added to the cookies as decorations too are sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or mini marshmallows!

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How to make stark white Royal Icing  

All you have to do is make sure you use clear vanilla, otherwise your royal icing will turn a tint of brown. Using clear vanilla extract will ensure your icing stays stark white, without any additional additives! If you can’t find clear vanilla extract, substitute it for clear almond extract, that will be a lot easier to find at any major grocery store. 

These sugar cookies will last for one week sealed in an airtight container, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months. 

These classic cookies are so much fun to make with kids, you could even host a cookie decorating party! Just make sure to tape down parchment paper over the table so clean up will be a breeze! 

They also make the perfect addition to a Christmas baking tray or cookie exchange.

We hope you enjoyed the seventh day of Christmas, make sure to check back tomorrow morning at 8am MST for day eight!

Check out the other recipes in our 12 Days of Christmas holiday event!

• First Day of Christmas- Polar Bear Claw Cookies
• Second Day of Christmas- Holiday Hot Chocolate
• Third Day of Christmas- Grandma’s Butter Tarts
• Fourth Day of Christmas- Shortbread Cookies
• Fifth Day of Christmas- Vanilla Roll Cake with Peppermint Buttercream
• Sixth Day of Christmas- Christmas Crack
• Seventh Day of Christmas- Sugar Cookies with Easy Royal Icing
• Eighth Day of Christmas- Peppermint Candy Cane Bark
• Ninth Day of Christmas- Easy Chocolate Truffles
• Tenth Day of Christmas- Spicy Strawberry and Walnut Brie
• Eleventh Day of Christmas- Rum and Eggnog Milkshakes
• Twelfth Day of Christmas- White Chocolate Eggnog Fudge

We put a lot of work into our recipes, we would love to know if you tried this recipe and how it turned out for you!

If you have any questions about this recipe, I would be happy to answer them in the comments down below! To get a hold of us, you can shoot us an email or leave a comment down below! We can also be found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.