Baked: Sugar Cookies

Baked Bakery opened up in 2005 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. They opened with the premise of “open a great American bakery that is not a cupcake shop” and they have had great success ever since. While they used to have a bakery in Manhattan, it closed up shop, leaving their Red Hook flagship bakery as their only location. In 2008 they published their first of four cookbooks. This recipe came straight out of Baked Bakery’s book Baked New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. 

Sugar cookies are a classic cookie suited perfectly for seasonal decorating. The sugar cookie was built for the holidays and this recipe by Baked will give you a wonderful chewy cookie to decorate. 

The recipe is super simple and straight forward. There really isn’t much degree of difficulty so we’re proud to report we didn’t have any mess ups. Creating the cookie dough was a breeze and the icing was also easy. Our final product was a bunch of bedazzled dinosaurs that lasted about three days in our house. 

Recipe

Ingredients

For the Cookie:

1 3/4  – cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Royal Icing: 

2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder, then set aside. 

In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degree F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the chilled dough, and put it directly on the work surface. Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut shapes in the dough, and transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets. 

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until they are set but not browned. Remove from the oven and place the baking sheet on a cooling rack for five minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. 

Make the Royal Icing:

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg whites and lemon juice until the mixture is completely smooth. The mixture should have the texture of a glaze. If the mixture is too thin, add a bit more sugar. If the mixture is too thick, add a few drops of lemon juice. You can add a few drops of food coloring if desired, or you can divide the icing among many mixing bowls if you need more than one color. 

The best way to ice sugar cookies is with a pastry bag fitted with a small or medium tip. First, outline the cookies or design, then fill it in. Let the icing harden before serving. 

The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to three days.