Stuff, Things, etc.: Christmas Baking: Sugar Cookie Tutorial

Who has their baking done?

I started with these Sugar Cookies.

I kind of went all out. This is a terrific tutorial, because it explains about the two different kinds of icing. Outlining icing should be the consistency of toothpaste, and flood icing should be the consistency of shampoo. That analogy really helped me, because I usually don't measure much when I make icing; I just go by what it looks and feels like.

First, make a batch of white royal icing. You will need: powdered sugar, milk, meringue powder, vanilla, and food coloring. I used gel food coloring. Meringue powder and Wilton's gel food coloring can all be found in the wedding aisle at Wal-Mart.

I just start with a few cups of powdered sugar, a 1/2 t. vanilla, 2 T. meringue powder, and 1 T. at a time of milk until it's the right consistency. I use a hand-mixer to make it fluffy and smooth.

Once you have your big batch of white icing, you can separate and color it to fit your needs. It was kind of a complicated process (like I said, I had time that day), but I make a batch of red and a batch of green, put it into squeeze bottles, and got to outlining.

Make sure you let them dry!

To make flood icing, you water down the outlining icing left in the bottles. I used almond milk for this. I had to actually whisk it together in a bowl to make it smooth. Then, pour it back into your squeeze bottles (remember: consistency of shampoo). Squeeze some onto your cookies and spread with a butter knife or icing spatula.