Phenomenal Phoods

Sea Creature Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  1. Sugar Cookies:
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer until smooth.
  3. Mix in the vanilla and flour until crumbly and sticky. Use your hands to form into cookie dough.
  4. Coat your countertop or board with flour. Roll the dough out a thin as you like (thicker if you are using difficult cookie cutters), making sure to regularly flour your rolling pin so the dough doesn't stick.
  5. Use a floured spatula to move the cookies to parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown.
  6. Let cool completely before icing.
  7. Royal Icing:
  8. Combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, water and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  9. Mix on medium-high for 10 minutes until stiff peaks form. You can do by hand as well if you don't have a stand mixer.
  10. Follow the decorating instructions below for dividing, coloring and thinning the icing to decorate the cookies.
  11. Decorating Instructions:
  12. I made the royal icing according to the original recipe, and then I divided it into several bowls to get the amount of colors that I wanted. Then I added about 1 teaspoon of water and a few drops of food coloring to each individual bowl and mixed to get the icing for piping. It should be about the consistency of toothpaste, and you will want to use your thinnest round decorating tip for the piping so that the line doesn't stand out when you flood the cookies.
  13. Next, I split the icing in each individual bowl to put a small portion aside for piping in an icing bag. I added another 1/2 teaspoon or so of water to the remaining icing to get the icing for flooding. This should be the consistency of shampoo - you want it to be runny but not watery. There is no exact amount of water that I can tell you to add to get to this point. I think the best way to do it is to either use a spray bottle or 1/4 teaspoon increments when adding water and stirring until you get the right consistency. Fill your decorating squeeze bottles with this icing.
  14. Use the piping icing to outline each cookie in whatever color you like. Immediately after piping the outline on a cookie, use your squeeze bottle with the runnier icing to flood the cookies. Keep a toothpick and a small spreader on hand to pop any air bubbles and smooth out any flaws. You can also hold onto the cookie by the edges and gently shake it to settle the icing.
  15. Let the cookies dry overnight before adding any decorative piping on top. I had set aside the leftover piping icing to use for the decorative piping the next day. Top with sprinkles or any other decorations you like! I found it easier to learn how to do this by watching a few videos about piping and flooding sugar cookies on youtube so I would highly recommend that as well.