If there is a more perfect sugar cookie recipe, I have yet to find it. With lemon in the cookie and the frosting it's got a nice citrus punch. This dough is a true joy to work with. I roll it out between sheets of plastic wrap. That way I can avoid having to add more flour, which toughens the dough and dulls the flavor. This method ensures that the final cookies I cut are just as tasty as the first.
Chilling the dough several times throughout the process is the key to keeping your edges sharp. I usually make the dough a day in advance and chill it over night. After I cut out the shapes, I chill it again before baking. Baking on parchment paper ensures your hard work won't be ruined trying to get them off the tray.
Keeping a damp cloth over the icing bowl while you are working with it is a crucial step to avoid crusting.
2 cups Butter
4 cups Sugar
4 lg Eggs
4 tsp Vanilla
4 tsp Lemon Juice
1 Lemon, zested
8 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
Mix dry ingredients together, set aside. In a seperate bowl, whisk Eggs, Vanilla, Lemon Juice & Zest together & set aside. Cream Butter & Sugar together until light & fluffy and then mix in wet ingredients. Stir in dry ingredients until just mixed. Wrap Dough in 4 separate disks, flatten out. Chill until firm.
Roll out dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (lifting & reapplying the top sheet after each rotation) until 1/4" thick. Cut into shapes as desired - try to get as many cuts as possible from each rollout. Gather scraps of dough, lightly knead back into a flattened disk and chill before cutting again. Arrange on parchment paper up to an inch apart. You can stack several layers on top of each other if you double sheet the parchment in between as you go.
Chill cut cookie dough cutouts until completely firm before baking. Bake at 350 - 375 degrees. 12 minutes (or less for smaller shapes). Cookies should be dry to the touch and set and the edges which means the edges will be a very light golden brown.
Royal Icing
Small Batch
2 lg Egg Whites
1 1/3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Regular Batch
4 lg. Egg Whites
2 2/3 cups P. Sugar
2 2/3 cups P. Sugar
3 tbsp Lemon Juice
Large Batch
8 lg. Egg Whites
5 1/3 cups P. Sugar
5 1/3 cups P. Sugar
6 tbsp Lemon Juice
Put Egg whites in Glass Bowl with 1st half of Sugar - Mix together. Microwave 20-30 seconds at a time until mixture reaches 160 degrees (don't exceed 175!). Add 2nd half of Sugar and beat on High until Icing has totally cooled and holds stiff peaks. Keep Icing covered with wet cloth. Color Icing as desired.
If you want to use the flood method to ice your cookies, keep adding lemon juice a tablespoon, until you reach the desired consistency.
