Vanilla bean sugar cookies with a simple glaze icing for easy yet thoughtful gift giving.
- Yield: about 3 dozen
INGREDIENTS
For the Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookie Dough:
- 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached White Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- confectioners’ sugar for rolling dough
For the Glaze:
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- soft gel food coloring (sky blue, royal blue, red and green)
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the sugar biscuits:
1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Beat for about 3 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
3. With the mixer on low, add the egg.
4. Add the cream and vanilla pulp and stir to combine. Scrape down the bowl and mixer blade if necessary.
5. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour. Mix until the dough separates from the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl to remove any dry flour that has not been mixed in. The finished dough will be sticky.
6. Tear two pieces of cling film and divide the dough between the two pieces of cling film. Wrap the dough and shape it into two discs. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight.
7. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
8. Remove one slice of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough between the two pieces of parchment paper until the dough is about 1.5 cm thick. Remove the top sheet and cut out as many biscuits as possible from the dough using biscuit cutters. Place the entire sheet of parchment paper with the cutters and the scraps between them on a baking tray and chill for 10 minutes. When cool, remove the scraps from between the cut-out biscuits. Wrap the scraps back in cling film and chill to roll out again later. Arrange the biscuits on the baking tray lined with parchment paper so that they are one centimeter apart.
9. bake for 7 to 9 minutes until they are lightly brown around the edges. Often they will not brown at all. If you bake longer, the biscuits will be drier and crispier.
10. leave to cool on the tray for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
11. Repeat the process with the remaining dough until all the biscuits are baked.
Prepare the biscuit icing:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the icing sugar, cream, and corn syrup with the whisk on low speed. Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved and there are no traces left. Do not skimp on mixing, as sugar that is not completely dissolved will show up as small white specks when the icing dries on the biscuits.
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix again on low speed to combine.
3. Divide the icing into bowls and color as desired with soft gel paste food coloring.
4. While working with the glaze, cover the bowls with a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out. For longer storage, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.
Decorate the biscuits:
1. Place a small spoonful of icing in the center of a biscuit.
2. Spread the icing with a small offset spatula (I use one with a conical tip) almost to the edge of the biscuit, without going all the way to the edge. This will prevent the icing from dripping down. If the icing is too thin and runs everywhere, stir in a little extra icing sugar to thicken the icing a little.
3. Place the biscuits on a wire rack in a baking tray to dry.
4. Once the base icing has been set to some extent (about 20 minutes), you can add more detail as desired. Thick the icing with more icing sugar until it is quite stiff. Pour the icing into a piping bag fitted with a No. 1 nozzle. Test the icing on a plate to see if what you pipe holds its shape. If not, thicken the icing a little before piping it onto a cookie. When you have reached the desired thickness, decorate the biscuits with outlines, dots, stripes, sprinkles, etc. until you like them.
5. Leave the biscuits to dry completely overnight on a rack without covering them. Once they are dry, the icing is completely hardened.