You can roll shortcrust pastry, cut into slices, or a million different ways using cookie cutters, or just with a knife. After you have chosen a form, sugar cookies, in which has added orange zest for taste – the perfect base for one important thing – glaze application. Cover it royal with icing of any color, and then sprinkle with sugar or other pastry decorations to create thousands of festive вариантов. 
Time: 3 час. 50 min Difficulty: medium Quantity: 48 cookies of 5 cm each. In recipes volumetric containers are used in volume: 1 cup (tbsp.) – 240 ml. 3/4 cups (st.) – 180 ml. 1/2 cup (tbsp.) – 120 ml. 1/3 cup (Art.) – 80 ml. 1/4 cup (st.) – 60 ml. 1 tablespoon (tbsp) – 15 ml. 1 teaspoon (tsp) – 5 ml.
Ingredients for the recipe:
Biscuit:
- 2.5 tbsp. premium wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 tbsp. (230 g) unsalted butter temperature
- 3/4 Art. granulated sugar
- 3/4 Art. powdered sugar
- 2 yolks of large eggs
- 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp finely grated orange zest
- Coarse-grained sugar, sugar sprinkles or sugar crystals
- Royal Glaze, see recipe below
Royal icing:
- 5 tbsp. l dry egg white
- 6 tbsp. l water
- 450 g of powdered sugar (about 3 and 3 / 4-4 tbsp.)
- Food colors optional
Recipes with similar ingredients: premium flour, sugar powder, eggs, vanilla extract, Orange zest
Recipe preparation:
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- In another medium-sized bowl, beat with a mixer. butter with two kinds of sugar. Whisk on moderately high speed for about 30 seconds, until the mixture turns white and becomes airborne. Add the yolks, vanilla extract and orange zest, whisking until smooth. Slowly add the flour mixture and keep whisking until the dough has gathered in ball. Turn off the mixer and, if necessary, collect leftover dough with the edges of the bowl.
- For round cookies: About 1 tbsp. l roll up the dough hands into the ball. Dip one side of the ball into coarse-grained sugar and place it with the sugar side up on an ungreased baking sheet. The distance between the cookies should be 2.5 cm
- For sliced cookies: Separate half the dough, roll hands in a log 5 cm wide, wrap in cling film and remove in the refrigerator for 2 hours at least, so that the dough hardens.
- Cut the log into slices 0.6 cm thick and lay out the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet at a distance of 2.5 cm from each other.
- For curly cookies: Divide the dough in half, form a disk, wrap in cling film and put in refrigerator for 2 hours minimum, so that the dough hardens.
- Roll out the dough between two flour dusted sheets parchment paper up to 0.8 cm thick. Transfer the dough to baking sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, until the dough will not harden. Cut the dough into different shapes with cookie cutters, place on an ungreased baking sheet on 2.5 cm away. (Gather the remains of the dough, form a disk, cool and roll again.)
- While the oven heats up to 190С, put cookies in 30 min refrigerator
- Bake homemade cookies until golden brown about 10-15 min, depending on the form. Cool on a baking sheet until cookies will become hard enough, and then shift to cool on a wire rack. Decorate as your fantasy tells you, and serve or store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
- Royal icing: In the bowl of the stationary mixer, mix all ingredients except dye using a shortbread nozzle test. Beat slowly until peaks appear. Glaze should be snow-white and thick, but not airy. If you beat the icing too long, then there will be a lot of air in it and it will be more difficult with it work. If this happens, let the protein mass settle down, then Using a silicone spatula, whisk the icing vigorously until smooth.
- You can mix the ingredients in a large bowl and beat manually mixer at low speed to a density and steady peaks.
- Add no more than 1 tbsp. l food coloring and mix silicone spatula until a uniform color. (If the dye will be too much, the surface of the glaze will lose its luster and may crack after a couple of days.) Keep the icing covered with its food wrap. Dish: 450 gr. royal glaze (1 and 2/3 Art.)
