Baking cookies with kids is always a fun! The kitchen is getting messy soon, some cookie cutters unexpectedly escape, and it can easily happen that sugar pearls are landed in stomach….
But when the eyes starting to gleam meanwhile kneading the dough, cutting with a plastic knife, or sprinkeling the decor pearls I think it worth. They enjoy to be creative in the kitchen!
The cookie dough is a very-very simple shortbread recipe. Decoration was made with egg white and sugar, and colored with some beetroot juice. Just to be on the safe side 🙂
But if You prefer just use ready to roll icing or marzipan.
But if You prefer just use ready to roll icing or marzipan.
Ingredients for cc 60 cookies:
200 gr cold butter
400 gr plain flour
pinch of salt
120 gr granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste
some cold milk to come together the dough
for the icing
2 egg whites
250-300 gr icing sugar
some drops of lemon juice
some drops of cooked, or baked beetroot-juice
for decoration:
sugar pearls
- Put the flour, sugar, salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the diced, cold butter.
- At low speed stir gently, then add eggy yolks each by each and vanilla.
- If the dough doesn’t come together as it’s too hard add 1-2 tbsp cold milk. Don’t overmix the batter, so preferably at this point stop the mixer and finish kneading with your hands: butter is going to be softened and dough will be smoothy and silky.
- Half the batter and wrap the halfs into a cling film. Chill for 1-2 hours, or better for a night.
- Preheat oven to 170 C. Unwrap the dough and roll into 3-4 mm thick on dusted surface and cut the desired shapes.
- Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Leave to cool on the sheet. Meanwhile sift icing sugar into a bowl. (Sifting is an important step as later piping bag can be stuck by bigger grain.) Put the egg whites in the bowl of stand mixer, and add gradually the sifted sugar. Stir at medium speed, until the mixture gets white and thick.
- When it’s ready, scoop a small amount into piping bag: try to make icing on a cookie, and watch if a drop keeps the shape or runs away. If it’s not thin add 1 or 2 more tbsp sifted sugar. If it’s too thick, add some drops of lemon juice.
- If the icing is ready to use, spoon the half of that into the bag. The other half will be colored with beetroot juice. If You use cooked beetroot, just smash with a fork, then put into a sieve and try to squeeze 3-4 drops of juice.
- Place some sugar pearl into the icing to decorate the cookies. Leave for a night to dry, then store in a tin covered with lid.
