Made By Melissa

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I made these sugar cookies for Nate to take to work today. The recipe for the cookie is the same one I used for Valentines Day sugar cookies and comes from Blonde Ambition in the Kitchen. The frosting is royal icing from the Wilton Meringue Powder can. I added almond extract to the cookie and icing to add a subtle almond flavor.

Famous Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup butter (VERY soft)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

• 3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
• 1 lb. (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar (about 1lb.)
• 6 tablespoons warm water*
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Wilton Gel Color, leaf green

Beat all ingredients, except color, until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). Recipe makes 3 cups.

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

To ice cookie:

Transfer 1/2 cup or so of the white icing to a pastry bag fitted with a number 2 tip. Outline the shamrock with the white and set aside to let dry.

Color the icing by dipping a toothpick into the green gel color, then into the white icing. Mix and keep adding color, using a new toothpick each time, until desired shade is achieved.

Thin the icing with water until it reaches a “syrup” consistency. Add water slowly, it does not take much to thin the icing and you don’t want it to thin or it will take forever to dry! Let the icing rest for a few minutes, then run a small spatula through icing to eliminate any air bubbles.

Pour the thinned icing into a squeeze bottle. Using the squeeze bottle, pour the icing into the outlined area on the cookie in a zig-zag pattern. Spread the thinned icing with a toothpick or decorating brush. Let harden for at least an hour before packaging.