What are you planning on doing this Fourth of July? If you’re American, your day will probably involve barbecuing, maybe a bonfire, and definitely some fireworks.
Maybe you’re considering baking something delicious for your friends and family, in which case American flag cookies are a great option! These cookies are actually quite simple to make, even if you don’t consider yourself much of an artist 😉
The recipe that I’m sharing today is actually just a rendition of my simple butter cookies I made this past winter. I added a little bit more flour to make them sugar cookies, rather than just butter cookies, and topped them with royal icing.
For those who aren’t sure what royal icing is, it’s a type of meringue icing that’s thick and dries quickly. What you do is outline your cookies with the thick icing, wait for it to dry, then flood in the empty spaces with a thinner icing that you make by adding milk or cream to your meringue icing. Perhaps this is something much easier said than done; even though it’s actually quite simple to ice cookies in this way, it can be very time consuming. It’s definitely something that gets easier with practice and I hope to be making more of these soon.
- 350 g flour
- 50 g cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100 g sugar
- 250 g butter, room temp, diced
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk
- Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a cookie tray with parchment paper. Mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the diced butter (if the butter isn’t very soft, zap it in the microwave for just a couple seconds). Mix the dough with an electric mixer and/or knead with your hands. Add egg, vanilla, and cream until dough comes together.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface, about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Cut with desired cookie cutters. Bake on a tray for 10-12 minutes.
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- heavy cream or milk
- food coloring
- Whip egg whites. Add cream of tartar. Slowly add sugar. Add food coloring if desired.
- When decorating your cookies: outline with this icing.
- To fill in your cookies, place a small amount of this icing in a small bowl. Add heavy cream or milk a teaspoon at a time. Mix until smooth and thin. Add food coloring if desired. Fill in your cookies with this mixture.
Leave a Reply