Ingredients

The following ingredients have 5 Servings
  • Sugar Cookies
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla
  • Royal Icing
  • 1 pound confectioners sugar - SIFTED
  • ¼ cup meringue powder
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tsp clear vanilla
  • Gel food coloring in red (black, green and yellow)
  • *3 inch heart cookie cutter
  • **cookie or lollipop sticks

Instruction

  • Sugar Cookies: Sift flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside.
  • Cream butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix to combine.
  • Add the flour in two batches, and blend until mixture just holds together.
  • Add vanilla and mix to combine.
  • Roll out between two sheets of wax paper and cut into hearts with a cookie cutter.
  • Place cookie hearts on baking trays lined with parchment paper and press the cookie sticks into the cookie, about halfway up. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking.
  • Bake at 350 degrees until cookies are just golden, about 12 minutes.
  • Royal Icing: Combine confectioners sugar, meringue powder and cream of tarter in large mixing bowl. Add water and clear vanilla and beat on high speed with paddle attachment until stiff peaks form, but mixture is not dry. Add water to reach desired piping consistency (tsp or two at a time), mixing after each addition of water.
  • Separate icing into four different bowls (use 2/3 of the icing for white and divide the remaining icing between the other three bowls). Add drops of gel food coloring to reach desired color for black and red icing. For the olives, mix green and yellow coloring to achieve an olive shade. Keep in mind the color will deepen and darken as the icing dries.
  • Fill piping bags fitted with round metal #2 tips for the white, red and olive and #1 tip for the black. I use the same consistency (flood) icing for the olive, white and red, but a slightly thicker consistency for the black icing as it's used to pipe letters.
  • Flood the cookies with white icing and let dry until set, at least an hour. Pipe "Olive Juice" on the cookies, using an olive decoration for the "O". Outline the cookie in red icing.
  • Let completed cookies dry for at least 12 hours before storing in air tight containers.
  • Cookies will keep for several days stored at room temperature.