People have asked how I make my cookies and if I have any tips, so here is my "tutorial" of sorts.

My sugar cookie recipe

3 1/2 cups (460 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder

1 cup (227 grams) butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ( I usually do one almond and one vanilla)

Mix just until the flour is incorporated, do not over mix or your cookies will be tough.
Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour. I usually seperate the dough into 3 or 4 dics so that it makes rolling it out easier and you end up handling the dough less.

Picture 1 is how I roll out the dough.

Picture 2 is how to hand cut your cookie.

On a side note, to get a super smooth cookie take a clean rolling pin and lightly roll over your freshly baked cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.

To be continued.......

The next step is making your royal icing. THis is the recipe that I like.
2 pounds C&H powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
2/3 cup water (more or less depending on how thick/thin you want your icing)
enough flavoring to take away the meringue taste ( about 4 tsp vanilla, 4 tsp almond, 1 tsp lemon about works for me. )

beat for 5 to 7 minutes

color as you desire.

I use only one bowl and one spoon to color with and then just rinse between color making. I find it saves time and dirty dishes in the long run.
I prefer to use parchment triangles for my icing with the exception of my outlining bag....I use a plastic disposable for that with a tip 2 in it and med thick icing.
My flooding icing is quite thin. I like it to "melt" into itself within a count of 3. Think elmers glue consistency.

To be continued......

When I am outlining a cookie I like to have my image right next to me that I am copying. I start at the easiest point to copy and move on. Usually that is the outlining of the shape, but sometimes like in this cookie it is the hat first, then the rest of it. Here are some pictures to give you the basic idea.....and that is really all there is to it.

Wow.............. thanks for sharing. Your leprechauns are awesome.

Dee in
AZ

Great!!! I love the tip about rolling the tops of the fresh baked cookies. Makes perfect sense! Thanks!

How sweet are you for this!! Great Post

Thank you so much for posting this, I'm really visual, so the pictures ov each step are great! And I can't wait to try the recipes next week when I make some cookies. Thanks!!

Your cookies are awesome! Thanks for the tutorial!

Nice job! I am sure your tutorial will be very helpful to a lot of people!

How nice of you to make this tutorial. Thanks a million.

thanks so much for the info I am new to this site and learning lots

Thanks for the info. You make it look so easy. Your cookies are so well done. I looks like you finished the white background last, or at least just b4 the smoke. I never would have thought of that, gives it a clean finish.

Thanks so much for taking your precious time to help a bunch of us out! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

You are truely an artist!!!

Thank you soo much, as a novice cookie maker this comes in really handy!!!

Gracias!

I don't often do cookies, but have searched for a good recipe. Thanks for sharing. BTW, your coookies are awesome and the tutorial is much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

What a great tutorial and your cookies are amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this.

Great tutorial and very informative. Thanks!!

What a wonderful post!! Love the cookies (which I had one now to eat). Am saving to my favorites! Thanks for posting, would like to see more of these types of postings.

Thank you so much. I am a visual learner -- you can tell me all day how to do something, but without a picture I am hopeless. I've been afraid of cookies, but now I can't wait to try my hand at them. You are awesome.

Thank you everyone. I am glad that a lot of you will find this helpful. I got a pm that part of my instructions got cut off above a photo.....since I can't edit it anymore I will finish what it should say here:
"start with the easiest part to outline and move your way around the cookie from there. Fill in the various areas as you go. If you want to add detail with another color of icing, such as I did with his hand, make sure you work quickly and add it while the icing is still wet and hasn't formed a crust."

Wow! Thanks for sharing! I have always wondered how people get all of the little details on the cookie. Great tutorial!

Thank you so much for sharing!!!

Thanks so much for sharing

Am I the only one who cannot view the photos though? I would love to see them and I don't see any in the thread.

thank you for taking your time, to show us how you make your cookies.. great tutorial

This is cool! Thanks for sharing. Your cookies look great!!

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I wish I'd have read this last night before baking my cookies!! I made cookies from scratch for the first time and they spread out like nobody's business. Plus, my husband said they didn't have much flavor. I might just have to make another batch tonight using your recipe and tips Thanks again!

Thanks for sharing with us!!!!! Great pics and explanation! I'm looking forward to making some decorated cookies,soon.

Thanks a dozen

your cookies are awesome!! I wish I could free hand like that..... what a talent....

and thanks for taking the time to share your information...