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Perfect Royal Icing Sunflower Sugar Cookies

royal icing sunflower sugar cookies - featured image
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These charming sunflower sugar cookies feature a crisp sugar cookie base topped with smooth royal icing, perfect for summer gifting and celebrations.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 ¾ cups (345g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon milk (dairy-free milk optional)
  • 3 large egg whites or 4 tablespoons meringue powder + 5 tablespoons water
  • 4 cups (480g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vanilla extract
  • Yellow and brown gel food coloring

Instructions

  1. Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter and sugar: Beat softened unsalted butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add wet ingredients: Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and milk until combined. Stop mixing as soon as it comes together to avoid sticky dough.
  4. Combine dry and wet: Slowly add flour mixture in two batches, mixing on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Chill the dough: Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  7. Roll and cut: Lightly flour surface and rolling pin. Roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut shapes with sunflower cookie cutter and place on baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
  8. Bake: Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges start to turn golden. Centers may look soft but will firm as they cool.
  9. Cool: Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
  10. Prepare royal icing: Beat egg whites (or meringue powder + water) with powdered sugar and lemon juice until stiff peaks form. Divide and tint with yellow and brown gel colors. Adjust consistency for outlining and flooding.
  11. Decorate: Outline petals with thicker yellow icing, flood petals with thinner yellow icing, and pipe brown dots in centers. Let dry completely overnight.
  12. Package: Once dry, stack cookies with parchment paper between layers and place in a gift box.

Notes

Chill dough before rolling to keep shapes sharp. Use gel food coloring for vibrant colors without thinning icing. Practice piping on parchment paper first. Let royal icing dry overnight for best results. Add water to icing if too thick. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days or freeze un-iced cookies up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Keywords: sunflower sugar cookies, royal icing cookies, summer gift cookies, decorated sugar cookies, easy sugar cookies, homemade gift idea

Find it online: https://snappyspoon.com/perfect-royal-icing-sunflower-sugar-cookies-recipe-easy-summer-gift-box-idea/