Sugar Cookies With Royal Icing

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until smooth, 1 minute. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate until cold, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out chilled dough to a little more than ¼ inch thick on a well-floured surface. Cut out shapes using your favorite cookie cutters, periodically dipping the cookie cutter in flour if dough begins to stick. Using a metal spatula, transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Reroll scraps and cut out more shapes. Bake until cookie edges just start to turn pale golden brown, 11-12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Use a metal spatula to remove cookies from parchment. When cool, decorate with Royal Icing. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites, sugar and water on low speed for 10 minutes. Add food coloring to achieve the desired color. Create different consistencies depending on how you plan to use the icing. For piping, the icing should be thicker and easily retain it’s shape. For spreading, the icing should have the consistency of squeeze bottled mustard.