Royal Icing Cookies

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

   Step 2

   Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes. (The dough should be soft enough to roll without cracking, but not yet sticky.)

   Step 3

   Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper or on a lightly floured flat surface. Lightly flour the top of the disk, and begin rolling the dough (see Rolling Dough, page 10). Lift and rotate the dough between each roll to prevent it from sticking. Repeat the process until the dough is approximately 1/4 inch thick (plus or minus about 1/8 inch; thicker for larger cookies, thinner for smaller).

   Step 4

   Use your cookie cutters to cut out dough and place the shapes about 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. If the dough begins to stick to the cookie cutters, clean off any excess dough from the cutter and dip the edges of the cutter in flour. Repeat until the sheet pans are full. (The remaining dough can be kept in the refrigerator until it’s ready to be used or baked. Rolled and/or cut dough can also be wrapped tightly and frozen.) Scraps of dough can be pushed together and rerolled twice.

   Step 5

   If the dough becomes soft in the rolling and cutting process, put the filled sheet pans in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm again, before baking. Otherwise the cookies will lose their shape in the oven.

   Step 6

   Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (cooking time may vary, depending on the size of the cookies), rotating the pans once halfway through, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven, let them cool slightly on the pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining dough, including the second disk.

   Step 7

   While the cookies are cooling, beat the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until foamy, about 1 minute.

   Step 8

   Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed until combined, about 1 minute or until the paddle can be dipped in and out of the icing and a peak forms that holds its shape without falling back into the bowl.

   Step 9

   Divide the icing in half, setting aside one half in a bowl covered with plastic wrap touching the surface of the icing. This half will be used for your flood.

   Step 10

   Take the half that’s uncovered and divide it further into as many batches as the number of colors you need. Mix in the food coloring. Be sure to cover any icing with plastic wrap when it’s not in use, because it dries out quickly.

   Step 11

   Fill a pastry bag fitted with a coupler and a small round tip with the stiff icing, one color at a time. (Be careful not to fill it with more than 1/2 to 3/4 cup icing—more and it will be harder for you to control.) Use an offset spatula to push the icing toward the tip to avoid getting any air bubbles in the bag.

   Step 12

   Pipe outlines along the edges of all the cookies, then set aside to dry (see Filling a Pastry Bag and Piping, page 11). Reserve any excess stiff icing.

   Step 13

   Take the second half of the icing and add water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until it is the consistency of thick paint. (When you run an offset spatula through it, you should be able to make “ribbons” of icing that gradually absorb back into the mixture. If the ribbons absorb right away, add more confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired flood consistency.)

   Step 14

   Divide the flood icing into batches according to the number of colors desired and mix in the food coloring. Bear in mind that food coloring will thin the icing, so for deeper colors, start with a thicker flood. Again, be sure to cover any icing that is not in use with plastic wrap.

   Step 15

   One color at a time, fill a squeeze bottle with the flood icing. (You can also use a pastry bag and tip, but squeeze bottles can be less messy.) Squeeze the icing onto the outlined cookies, as if you were coloring them in with a marker. The icing will spread to fill in most of the empty spaces. Use a toothpick or skewer to gently “pull” the icing into any open spaces so that no cookie is showing inside the outline. Repeat with other cookies and icing colors.

   Step 16

   Once the cookies are flooded, let them dry, uncovered, overnight. If desired, finish them by piping words, monograms, or other details with the remaining stiff icing. For an added touch, before the stiff icing dries, take the cookie and place it facedown on a plate of sprinkles or sanding sugar, gently pressing the cookie so that the sprinkles adhere to the added words or other details. Let the icing dry before packaging or serving, about 1 hour.

   Step 17

   The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

2. Polish your look

   Step 18

   Royal icing can be mixed into an array of vivid colors. As you mix colors, add the food coloring judiciously, about a drop at a time, until you achieve your desired shade. Primary colors can be mixed to create a rainbow of other shades, just as you would mix paints. If you accidentally go too dark, you can adjust the icing with tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar and drops of water to bring the icing back to a paler shade. Keep in mind that freshly mixed royal icing has a fair amount of air incorporated into it, so the color of your icing will darken as it dries. Finally, if you are working with bright colors, be sure to allow ample time for them to dry (at least 12 hours) before layering the cookie with paler shades, because the brighter colors can bleed into the paler ones.