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Iced Christmas Gnome + Other Woodland Shaped Sugar Cookies #CulinaryCam

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The holiday season means lots and lots of baking for our household. It's something we love to do as a family and we try to make cookies that are as pretty as they are tasty. 

This year, we decided to make some cookie videos for our #CulinaryCam YouTube channel. Take a look at our Mocha Crinkle Cookies; and my Best Gingerbread House and Cookies. And you can find a video about these sugar cookies: here.

This is an iced sugar cookie that I have been making for years and years with slight variations on flavors. But the process is the same. And we love doing this as a family!


For this version I made a lemon-vanilla sugar cookie as the base along with a lemon icing. The nose of the gnome is a peanut, but use whatever round shape you have or want

Ingredients


Lemon Vanilla Sugar Cookies
  • 2-3/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup organic granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • zest from 1 organic lemon (I used an organic Meyer lemon), approximately 2 teaspoons
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing (my Royal Icing on #CulinaryCam)
  • 3 egg whites, or more to thin icing
  • 6 cups organic powdered sugar
  • juice from 1 to 2 organic lemons (I used a Meyer lemon)
  • 1/4 t pure vanilla extract

To Finish
  • food dye (I used a natural dye)
  • Also needed: any round candy that you can use as a nose

Procedure

Lemon Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, until completely combined.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill dough for 1 to 2 hours. Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper.


Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Shape dough with your cutters, using flour to keep them from sticking. Place on a silicone mat-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to firm up.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 9-11 minutes, depending on size of cookies.


Cool completely on wire racks. Make the royal icing while the cookies cool.


Royal Icing
Beat the whites until stiff but not dry. Add sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Beat for another minute. If the icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it's too thin, add more sugar. Divide the icing into separate bowls. Dye whatever colors you want; I made blue, red, and green. I left some white for the beard and mushroom details.


To Finish
Smooth the colored royal icing over cooled cookies. Add details with piped royal icing. 


For the Christmas gnomes, press a peanut between the hat and the beard to form the nose. Let icing set completely before serving.
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