Making Sugar Cookies with Icing Tonight!

[crystalscookingnow]

Do you have a special icing that you use for sugar cookies? I'm wanting to make some tonight with icing but don't have any. I was going to make it, but not sure where to start.

We're cheating & using the fridge cookie dough, though. Something for the teeny tots to do since daddy won't be in until late.

 

[chefann]

My mom always used powdered sugar mixed with a little vanilla and water to make a "paint" that she'd then color with paste food coloring. She'd keep the crummy paintbrushes that came with paint with water books (remember those?) and we'd use them, cleaned of course, to paint cookies.

 

[MandyK]

Makes about 1 cup icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon of almond or lemon extract

Beat sugar, meringue powder, extract and water with a mixer on low speed until fluffy but dense, 7 to 8 minutes.

I made 10 dozen halloween cookies -- and this worked great! Allow them to dry overnight on the counter (or stackable drying racks)

 

[Jessamary]

Is Meringue Powder cream of tartar?

 

[DandyG03]

Jessica as far as I know it's not the same as cream of tartar. MP I know has dried egg whites in it and I did a google search about it quick and found that you can't substitute meringue powder for egg whites in most recipes because it contains other ingredients such as sugar. I actually have a can of the Wilton Brand that I use for Sugar cookies. The ingredients on the back says it has the following - corn starch, egg whites, sugar, gum arabic(Emulsifier), calcium sulfate, citric acid, cream of tartar, silicon dioxide(anticaking agent) and artifical falvors. It wasn't to pricey at Micheal's and works very well.

Mandy's recipe works really well I've used on just like it in the past. Also I use fondant when I make most of my sugar cookies. It's that perfectly smooth looking wedding cake frosting. I make it from scratch and you definitely have to use a kitchen aid or a mixer of the like to work with fondant - it is to hard to mix by hand imo. When the cookies come fresh out of the oven you place your perfectly cookie cut fondant on top of the cookie it matches and vola it's frosted!! The fondant melts ever so slightly to the warm cookie so it stays put. I LOVE making cookies as you can probably tell lol. Fondant is fun once you get the hang of it. Good luck with the frosting, I'm sure it will turn out perfect, have fun!!

 

[chefann]

You're right - meringue powder and cream of tartar are not the same. Because meringue recipes frequently call for Cream of Tartar, it's understandable that people could confuse them.Meringue Powder is, essentially, pasteurized, dried egg whites. Cream of Tartar is a powdered acid, derived from the buildup that forms in wine aging casks. The name comes from tartaric acid, the official name of the acid that forms when wine ferments. Cream of Tartar is added to meringues to help stabilize them and help the foam (all those bubbles that you whip into the egg whites) hold without deflating.This has been another useless fact from the brain of Ann.

 

[Jessamary]

How interesting! Never heard of it before. Next time I'm at Michael's, I'm going to look.

 

[MandyK]

They have it at Michaels -- that' s where I bought it! (along with gel coloring, cookie, bags, the list goes on...)