Sugar Cookies with Icing

This past weekend I was invited to a wonderful party hosted by my dear friend.  Everything was so delicious (as usual mashAllah) but I was really impressed by amazing cookies that she made.  They were not only beautiful but very yummy :)So I got inspired and found a whole list of easy recipes!  These cookies can serve as party favors, table decorations (they have a pretty good shelf life)or simply a nice gift to your friends, neighbors or teachers.  And with Ramadan coming up, this should be very useful inshaAllah.

This is actually from a website that sells Islamic stencils for baking.  

I noticed that a lot of websites advise putting thicker icing on the edges of the cookie so the actual icing doesn't "run".  You can find that icing in almost any store in the cooking section and it comes in a tube and has no gelatin alhamdulillah. 

COOKIE RECIPE (yields ~36)

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

ICING RECIPE (yields ~12)

Ingredients

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

assorted food coloring

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth.  Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy.  If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity.  Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.