A Sweet Morsel Co.

The In's and Out's of Sugar Cookie and Icing Making... 

(or how we have figured it out)

Having a few requests for customized cookies after launching A Sweet Morsel Co. over a year ago, I decided it was time to take the plunge into sugar cookies.  I am not a pro by any means, however, I have found a few tips and tricks that have made this process so much more enjoyable and less of an "I hope they don't fail me this time" experience.

Here we go ...

Sugar Cookie Recipe
- 4 sticks of butter (rm. temp)
- 4 cups of sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 TBSP vanilla
- 7-8 cups of flour

This will make roughly 3-4 dozen-4 inch cookies at 3/8in thickness.

Mixing
Items you will need:
- large bowl w/ lid
- hand mixer

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla with your hand mixer until mixed very well.  Add flour in 1-2 cup increments until you have reached an even mixture.  You will want your dough to be able to roll into a ball in your hand without being too sticky or too dry.  Chill at least 30-60 mins.

*I recommend using the Tupperware Thatsa Bowl Set, specifically the Mega Bowl.  If you do not have a consultant,  I recommend Beth Cozzolino.

Rolling
Items you will need:
- silicone mat
- flour
- wax paper
- rolling pin
- cookie tray
- desired cookie cutters

You will want to clean a flat surface well.  I prefer to use a non stick silicone mat to identify my workspace.  Now for the the tricky part, take some dough and roll it into a ball in your hand.  You will need to identify if your dough is sticking to your hands, if so, add flour and mix it into the dough with your hands, or if not you are ready to roll.  This took a while to figure out how the dough works best, but you too will learn your dough and find tricks that work for you!

Next, lay the ball of dough onto your mat and place a piece of wax paper down on top of it to roll.  Take your rolling pin and roll away.  For a time, I did not have an adjustable rolling pin and I would eyeball the depth of my dough.  This is fine if you would like cookies of all varying thicknesses, if not buy this one... Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin Plus.  It takes the guess work out!

Line your cookie tray with a sheet of wax paper.  Take your cookie cutters and cut away.  Place cookies onto lined cookie tray.  Once you have filled the tray, cover with wax paper in between each layer.  Chill for at least 2 hours.

Baking
Items you will need:
- oven
- Pampered Chef Cookie Tray (not needed, but helps greatly)
- spatula
- wax paper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Once heated arrange your refrigerated cookies onto your baking trays.  Leave a bit of space for slight movement during baking.  If you noticed, I do not add any baking powder or soda to the recipe specifically because you do not want these cookies to spread.    Based on the size and thickness of your cookie, the amount of baking time will vary.  Turn your oven light on and keep a watch for the first few times you experiment with this.  This may take anywhere from 12-25 mins.  Every oven and each batch of cookies can change the amount of time required.  Place the cookies you are not baking back in the refrigerator.  Once the cookies have finished baking, take a flat spatula and press slightly on the tops to even the surface of the cookie and ensure there are no trapped air bubbles.  Remove from the hot cookie sheet to a baking rack or counter area covered with wax paper to cool completely.

I do not bake any sugar cookies on metal cookie trays.  I only use a Pampered Chef Cookie Tray.  If you need a consultant, Jennifer Slavinsky helped me with my order and guided me with what product I would need.

Royal Icing Recipe
- 3 TBSP. Meringue Powder
- 8 TBSP. Water
- Varying Amounts of Powdered Sugar
- Varying Amount of Lemon Juice
- Food Coloring (Americolor Food Coloring)

Place meringue powder, water, and starting with 3 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl.  Using your hand mixer, mix until blended well.  You will continue to add powdered sugar until the consistency is thick and does not lose its shape.  It should be able to keep a peak without moving too much, if it blends right back into a flat surface in your bowl, add more sugar.  You can and will thin this later.

Depending on how you want to decorate will depend on how you thin your icing.  Lets just stick with the basics for now, what some experts call "Flood Icing".

Take a desired amount of icing you want to color in a smaller bowl and mix into the icing.  This will require some arm strength (don't give up :), the fun part has yet to come!).  Once the color is thoroughly mixed, you will start to add lemon juice to reach a desired consistency.  Stir in with a spatula or spoon.  BE CAREFUL!  A little bit goes a long way.  You will want your icing to "cure", meaning spread back into the bowl without lumps and bumps.  It should cure within 12-15 seconds.  If it "cures" quicker than that, it is too thin.  If it takes longer, add more lemon juice.

Once you have the desired icing consistency, you are ready to set up your bags.  I use Wilton Disposable Icing Bags and tips # 1, 2, and 3.  Use your 40% Michael's coupon!  If you are new to decorating, leave me a message and I can help you navigate through some of the craziness to the best of my ability.

Using at first a #2 Tip, load your bag and place into a cup.  The icing may start to flow out a bit, no big deal.  Outline your cookie with icing.  I recommend outlining the entire tray first before moving on.

Next, flood the cookie with icing.  You may want to change your tip to a #3 to flood them faster.

What you see in the picture above, is a wet on wet technique that is super simple.  Flood your cookie with the main icing color (in this case red) and then go and add your design (in this case white dots).  I spaced this out by filling three cookies quickly with red, and then immediately adding my white dots so that the icing would be smooth and set together.

If you want to add another level of icing or decoration to your design.  You will need to let dry for no less than 4 hours, or preferably, overnight.  This all depends on the amount of time you have for your project.  This was an order for a house warming party and the customer requested "Welcome" to be written across the center.  To do this, you will want to use a slightly thicker icing (remember just less lemon juice) and a # 1 tip in your bag.

Store in a Tupperware container on the counter, or if you want to save them for a later date, placing them in a ziplock bag and in the freezer will also keep their freshness.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to leave them.  I would love to hear from you!