Sugar Cookies!

I decided it was time for another Hummingbird recipe (and shockingly, it's still not cake!) I've heard a lot about Sugar Cookies, they are a go-to biscuit for pretty and seasonal decorations- but I've never actually tried making them (which is silly, because they are really really easy!)

You will need:

200g unsalted butter (room temperature)

280g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 egg

400g plain flour
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Royal icing (you can make your own from
scratch, but I used a ready-made box)

Place your butter (I ran out of unsalted, so I used a little salted butter and left out the pinch of salt) sugar and vanilla in a bowl, then beat with a handheld electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix again. (I failed to take pictures of this step, but it looks pretty much the same as the above picture)

Sift the flour, salt and cream of tartar together, then add to the buttery/eggy mixture and mix together with a spatula or spoon. It took me a while to mix it all properly- I was beginning to wonder if it would ever resemble biscuit dough- so be patient and keep mixing until it forms a soft dough.

Dust a clean dry work surface with plain flour, and roll out the dough (I rolled mine out to be just over .5 cm thick, I think it could've worked better thicker, but whatever thickness you roll make sure it's approximately the same depth on each cookie so they will bake evenly)

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters (I chose hearts and stars) and place them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Continue to re-roll and cut cookies until all the mixture is used.

Bake in a preheated oven at 107C (325F, gas mark 3) for approximately 10 minutes, they should be light golden on the outside, and paler in the centre. Leave to cool slightly on the baking trays, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

I made royal icing as per the box instructions (essentially; add water, beat for ages) and added pink food colouring (guess what my sisters favorite colour is...) As you can see, my piping skills could use a *little* improvement, but they taste good, thats what counts right?

I found that these cookies are better the day after baking as they seem a little less crispy, and the icing had set properly. It's lucky the recipe made so many cookies, my sister had friends over and quite a few have dissapeared since I made them- they're very yummy and addictive!


                                                                             xGretalRabbitx