Fall Cookies in Royal Icing (Acorn and Leaves)

On my adventures of Royal Icing, which I'm now totally obsessed with. I've been seeing all these really cool fall cookies and just had to give it a shot. I had left over sugar cookie dough from the Olaf's so I thought I'd give it a try.  I watched a few YouTube video's and I took a whirl at it. I must say these are my favorite cookies, they were so pretty if I say so myself!

 

 

What you Need:

Sugar Cookies cut into leaves and acorn
Fall Cookie Cutters (I found mine at Michael's for 50% off)

Royal Icing in brown, red, yellow and orange (recipe below)

AmeriColor Gel Food Coloring Brown, Red, Yellow and Orange (to dye Icing - This is my fav brand)

Brown Sprinkles

I used the dipping method with my royal icing. I started to do the dipping method about 6 months ago to speed up my decorating time. You can pipe each cookie which is a little cleaner but I find the dipping method to be the best. You get your royal icing to the outline consistency and put into a pie dish (I find this is not too deep). Once you dip the top of the cookie you tap off the extra icing and then you let dry! Once dry you can add your details.

For acorns I dripped in the brown royal icing. Before the icing had time to set up I added on the sprinkles to be the top part of the shell. These of course the easiest of the 3 cookies I made.

For the leaves I dipped in the red royal icing. Before they were dry I added the other two colors. I started with red and made inside outline of orange (leaving the center open). I then added the yellow in the center. While the cookie was still wet I took a tooth pick and pulled out from the center to all the points. Then I went with my tooth pick and pulled in. I didn't wipe the toothpick off each time because that added the pops of colors through out the cookie. The centers when dried I was so excited because it reminded me of a rose.

My amazing dance instructor said they were so pretty she almost couldn't eat them. She called them a work of art and I must say I kind of thought the same of them. I love when you make something and people see your heart in the final product.

 

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INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Julie Usher, she has a GREAT YouTube video on how to make, color and make consistency adjustments. 

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.