Colorful Marble Royal Icing Cookies, Instagram-Worthy and Beautiful

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• 300 grams medium-protein all-purpose flour
• 150 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100 grams powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp full-cream milk powder
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 2 egg whites, for the royal icing
• 350 grams powdered sugar, for the royal icing
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp red gel food coloring
• 1/4 tsp blue gel food coloring
• 1/4 tsp yellow gel food coloring

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1 Make the cookie dough: beat the butter and powdered sugar with a mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until soft and pale; there's no need to beat until overly fluffy.
2. 2 Add the egg and mix briefly until combined. Add the vanilla powder and salt, and stir until well mixed.
3. 3 Add the sifted flour and milk powder, then mix with a spatula until the dough can be shaped and no longer sticks to your hands. Don't overmix, or the cookies will turn out hard.
4. 4 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, flatten it, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to make it easier to shape.
5. 5 Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) for 10 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 5 mm (about 1/4 inch).
6. 6 Cut out the dough using cookie cutters of your choice, then arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing the cookies 2 cm (about 3/4 inch) apart.
7. 7 Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges are just lightly browned and the centers are still pale. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
8. 8 Make the royal icing: beat the egg whites with a mixer on low speed until foamy, then gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat for 5-7 minutes until thick, glossy, and forming stiff peaks.
9. 9 Add the lime juice and stir until combined. Divide the icing into 3 separate bowls, tint each one with a different gel food coloring (red, blue, yellow), and stir until evenly colored.
10. 10 Transfer each colored icing into a separate piping bag fitted with a small round tip. On the cooled cookies, pipe all three icing colors randomly and close together over the surface of each cookie.
11. 11 Immediately use a toothpick to drag and swirl the icing colors into a marble pattern before the icing sets, working in zig-zag or spiral motions as you like.
12. 12 Let the decorated cookies sit at room temperature for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight, until the icing is completely dry and firm before storing in an airtight container.

💡 Tips

📊 Nutrition Facts / serving

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