Easter Peeps Sugar Cookies

Directions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on low speed until smooth.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go and add in the egg and vanilla. Continue to mix on low speed.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until the dough comes together nicely. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to get the dough evenly mixes throughout.
• A nice, soft dough should form and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Mix just until everything is combined.
• Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment on top of the dough and roll it out to 1/4″ thick. This thickness will make the cookies crisp on the bottom and super soft in the center!
• Place the rolled out dough onto a cookie sheet and let chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
• After the dough has chilled, cut out as many peep shapes as you can. You can ball of the scraps and re roll until all of the dough is used up. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the cut out cookies onto a cookie sheet fit with parchment paper. Place the cookies about 2″ apart. Place them in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking. This will help them keep their shape perfectly.
• Bake for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Let the cookies sit on the sheet they baked on for a minute or two after coming out of the oven then transfer to a cooling rack.
• To make the royal icing, mix together the confectioner’s sugar and merengue powder using a paddle in a stand mixer. You can also use a hand held mixer or mix by hand if you don’t have those tools – no biggie, everyone can make this recipe!
• Add the water 1 Tbsp at a time to the confectioner’s sugar and merengue powder mixture. Mix until it is smooth and there are no lumps. Be careful no to add too much water at once. When you lift the royal icing with a spoon, it should fall slowly and form ribbons that disappear into the mix after a couple seconds. *Make sure to cover the bowl of royal icing with a damp rag the entire time to keep it from drying out*
• Use food dye to make as many colors as you wish to decorate these peeps. Place the colored icing into tipless piping bags.
• Once the cookies have cooled, pipe the royal icing onto the surface of the cookie. Starting on the perimeter of the cookie, pipe and outline then slowly work your way inward filling in the cookie. If the icing is overflowing anywhere, it’s too thin. Add a couple Tbsp. of confectioner’s sugar until it thickens a bit more.
• While the royal icing is still wet. Dip it into a shallow plate of granulated sugar. This part is optional but totally gives theses cookies that classic peeps look.
• Continue these steps for each cookie. Then add three small black dots of icing for the face of the peep.
• Enjoy!