'All Red!' Sugar Cookies #MoviesandMunchies

This month several of the #FoodNFlix bloggers are migrating over to a new group called #MoviesandMunchies. Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures is leading the charge for our inaugural month. You can read Amy's invitation: here. She asked us to watch Ocean's Eleven.

I have already shared A Salad for Saul; I will write more about the movie when I round up all of my inspired recipes towards the end of the month. This recipe was inspired by the scene where Rusty Ryan (played by Brad Pitt) is teaching movie stars how to play poker. Holly Marie Combs, Topher Grace, Joshua Jackson, Barry Watson, and Shane West all appear as themselves.

There are hilarious lines such as not being able to have three pairs in five card draw. But the ultimate ridiculous line was when Topher Grace lays down his hand and triumphantly declares, "Fellas! Fellas! Check this... all... red!" In case you aren't a poker player, a 'flush' is a strategy when all cards are the same suit, but a mixture of diamonds and hearts is nothing except...all red!

Still that line make us laugh every time and I decided to make some heart and diamond-shaped sugar cookies.

I don't often use food coloring, but when I do, I try to use naturally-derived colors. I used the entire bottle of this red food dye and it still didn't get much darker than a deep coral. I certainly didn't achieve the playing card red I wanted. Oh, well. Still, these were delicious and relatively easy to make. And I made these cinnamon-spiced like a Red Hot.

 

Vanilla-Cinnamon 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
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste or extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (use any spice you want or skip it altogether)
• Also needed: cookie cutters

Royal Icing (you can watch my Royal Icing on #CulinaryCam)

• 2 egg whites, or more to thin icing
• 4 cups organic powdered sugar
• 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

To Finish

• food dye or coloring gel as needed

Procedure

Vanilla-Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon. 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. Dye whatever color or colors you want; I used the entire bottle of red color.

To Finish

Smooth the colored royal icing over cooled cookies. Let set before serving.