Leaf Sugar Cookies

Special Equipment Needed:
Red, Orange and Yellow Gel Food Colouring
Several small artist paint brushes
Parchment Paper

Basic Sugar Cookies
Makes Approximately 36 4-inch Cookies

ingredients

200g / 7oz / 1/2 cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

method

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture. Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during baking, losing their shape.

Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.

Knead into a ball and divide into 2 pieces. Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch) Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes

Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out (leaf) shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife. Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30 minutes to an hour. It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking. Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done.

Leave to cool on cooling racks. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

Royal Icing for Flooding

Note: This icing contains un-cooked egg whites so should not be eaten by pregnant women or anyone with compromised immune systems. There are alternate royal icing recipes that use Meringue Powder though. Just google it.

ingredients

315g / 11oz / 2 1/2 cups / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 large egg whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice

method

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined. Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites. Beat on low until combined and smooth. Check the consistency for flooding: Drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing and count to 10. If the surface becomes smooth between 5 and 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency. If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, do the 10 second test, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc. To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test.

Use immediately or keep in an airtight container. Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

To Ice Leaves

Divide icing into 3 bowls. Colour one bowl bright yellow, one bright orange and one bright red (gel food colourings work best as they don't thin the icing like liquid colour does). Cover bowls tightly with plastic wrap while gathering cookies.

Working with one cookie at a time, fold back the plastic wrap enough to access the icing. Dip your brush into one colour, putting a good amount of icing on the brush. Starting in the centre of the cookie, "paint" the icing on, moving it out towards the edges. You don't want it to be too thin or too thick. An even coat that is enough to move around the cookie is what you're looking for. Part way through, dip your brush into another colour and finish painting to achieve a mottled effect.

I found it worked best to paint one half in one colour and the other half in another colour. It then tends to mottle in the middle and one edge, which looks most natural.

Allow to dry then eat and enjoy!