Monogrammed Sugar Cookies Recipes

MONOGRAMMED COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk, mint, lime zest and extracts. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle., On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. round cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For icing, in a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water and meringue powder; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Tint as desired with food coloring. (Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. If necessary, beat again on high speed to restore texture.), Frost and decorate cookies as desired. For writing, use round pastry tip #1 or #2. Let dry at room temperature for several hours or until firm. Store in an airtight container.

THE BEST SUGAR COOKIES FOR DECORATING

Steps:

• For the dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together the egg and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Reduce the speed to low again and slowly pour in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture, in 3 additions, increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed. Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide into 2 even pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• To roll, cut and bake the cookies: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Dust another sheet of parchment paper with flour and put 1 piece of the dough on top. Dust with more flour and top with another sheet of parchment. Roll the dough out between the parchment sheets into a square about 1/4-inch thick (about 11-by-9 inches) and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
• From 1 piece of rolled dough, cut out cookies with a 2 1/2-inch cutter and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate while you cut the remaining cookies. Reroll any scraps of dough and repeat the freezing, cutting and refrigerating process until all the dough is used.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on a wire cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water and the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, about 2 minutes (adding up to 1 tablespoon more water, if needed). Tint with a few drops of food coloring as desired.
• Fit a pastry bag with a small round tip and fill it with the icing.
• Pipe royal icing on cookies with the design of your liking and let dry for 30 minutes.

ROYAL ICING FOR MONOGRAMMED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat sugar, water, and meringue powder with a mixer on low speed until smooth, about 7 minutes. Continue beating until opaque. Use immediately on.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.
• For the icing, sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid. Spread over cookies with back of a spoon. Add other decorations, if desired. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes.

MONOGRAMMED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Sift flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Let dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out each disk on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out cookies using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter, transferring to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Roll out scraps, and repeat once. Freeze cookies until very firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake cookies, switching positions of sheets and rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 17 to 19 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
• Decorate the cookies: Transfer icing to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Frost cookies, leaving a border if desired. Let stand overnight to dry.
• Mix together luster dust and lemon extract. Place stencil on 1 cookie, and paint with luster dust by dabbing with a small food-safe paintbrush. Repeat with remaining cookies, adding more extract as needed to keep luster loose. (You may need to make another stencil if paper gets soggy.) Let dry completely.

MONOGRAMMED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream together 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar and butter, then mix in the egg and vanilla and almond extracts. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, then cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
• Divide the chilled dough in half and roll it out on a lightly floured pastry cloth to a 1/4-inch thickness. Lightly grease some baking sheets. Cut the dough with a floured cookie cutter; sprinkle with sugar. Transfer the cookies to the prepared sheets and bake for 9 minutes.
• Royal Icing:
• In a medium bowl, combine egg whites, 1 box confectioner's sugar, and cream of tartar. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Increase mixer speed to high, and beat 8 to 10 minutes, or until mixture holds a peak. Cover with a damp cloth when not in use. Separate into bowls and add food coloring, if desired.

MONOGRAM COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until combined. Gradually add sifted ingredients, and mix on low speed until combined. Add vanilla. Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out approximately 52 circles. Using a clean rubber stamp, imprint an initial into the center of each cookie. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake until edges start to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.
• In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons meringue powder with 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Decorate one cookie at a time: Using a small paintbrush, lightly brush each imprinted initial with meringue. Sprinkle sanding sugar in the initial, and tap out excess over a small bowl. Using a toothpick or a small dry paintbrush, gently remove excess sugar in and around the letter. Brush the edge of each cookie with meringue. Roll the edge of each cookie in sanding sugar to coat. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack set over a sheet pan to dry completely, 1 to 2 hours. Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.