HALLOWEEN Sugar Cookies!

October is Halloween month, and these are my first Halloween cookies for the month. I must admit, I did have some trouble with the icing, and I think that is because I was missing corn syrup and meringue powder. The corn syrup makes it nice and glossy and the meringue powder makes the icing dry hard. I used a basic sugar cookie recipe that I have been using for a few years now. This is not hard to make at all, as far as the recipe that's easy and decorating the cookies is very fun and anyone can do it. I am usually stocked, however I did run out of piping bags, so I used my last three zip lock bags by snipping off the tips. At least the theme of these cookies is Halloween, because they are kind of messy and the color is a little off. But it was fun, and easy to do. I used a set of Wilton Icing Colors, which you can find at Wilton.com and if you want to try this project but do it very quick and simple, you can also buy Ready To Use White Cookie Icing by Wilton, I bought mines at Walmartin the bridal/craft section. With the ready to use icing, all you would need to do is warm it up in your microwave and add any color of your choosing. So lets begin, here's the sugar cookie recipe I used:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, mix well. Reduce speed and add flour mixture until well combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until cold, about 45 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out chilled dough, on a well floured surface to a little more then 1/8 thick. Cut out shapes and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
4. Bake cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes or golden brown. Let cool and enjoy.

Royal Icing

4 cups of confectioners sugar
5 tsp marshmallow or meringue powder
5 or 6 tbsp water
Flavor to taste
1. Beat all ingredients at low speed for 10 minutes until icing forms peaks.
* Don't be afraid to add more water if needed or if to much water add some more powdered sugar.