Royal Icing Cookies with Flower Designs, Pretty and Glossy, Bakery-Style

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• 350 grams medium-protein all-purpose flour
• 170 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
• 120 grams powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 20 grams full-cream powdered milk
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 2 egg whites, for the royal icing
• 400 grams powdered sugar, sifted, for the royal icing
• 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 4 colors gel food coloring, colors of your choice

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1 Cream the butter and powdered sugar using a mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until pale and soft, but don't overbeat it to the point of being stiff.
2. 2 Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time while continuing to mix, then add the vanilla paste and mix until well combined.
3. 3 Sift together the flour, powdered milk, baking powder, and salt, then add to the butter mixture. Stir with a spatula until you get a dough that can be shaped into a ball; don't overmix or the cookies will turn out tough.
4. 4 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, flatten it out, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes so it's easier to cut out and won't spread while baking.
5. 5 Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 4-5 mm thick, then cut out shapes using cookie cutters of your choice (round, flower, or star shapes).
6. 6 Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them 2 cm apart. Bake on the middle rack for 12-15 minutes until the edges turn light golden brown while the centers remain pale. Let cool completely on a wire rack before decorating, for at least 30 minutes.
7. 7 Make the royal icing: whisk the egg whites with a mixer on low speed for 1 minute until foamy, then gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat on medium speed for 5-7 minutes until thick, stiff, and glossy, forming soft peaks.
8. 8 Add the lime juice to reduce the eggy smell, and stir until combined. Divide the icing into several bowls, add gel food coloring according to how many colors you want, and mix until smooth with no lumps.
9. 9 Set aside some icing for outlining (thick consistency, like toothpaste) and some for flooding (thin it out with a few drops of water until it reaches a consistency like thick honey).
10. 10 Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with the outline icing, and pipe the outline of a flower pattern or your desired shape onto the surface of the cookies, then let dry for 5 minutes.
11. 11 Fill in the inside of the outline with the flooding icing using a piping bag with a larger tip or a squeeze bottle, smoothing it out with a toothpick if needed so the surface is even and glossy.
12. 12 Let the decorated cookies dry at open room temperature for at least 6-8 hours or overnight until the icing is completely set and no longer sticky to the touch before stacking or packaging them.

💡 Tips

📊 Nutrition Facts / serving

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