Recipe Talk

trying to make halloween cookies with icing that wont make a mess when packaged i have food coloring and confectioners suger

Butter Icing for Cookies

Barb

Perfect for cookies - not too soft - not too hard - just right."

Original recipe yield: 2 1/2 cups.

Prep Time:10 Minutes

Ready In:10 Minutes

Servings:20 (change

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cream

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan, over medium heat, heat cream and butter until butter is melted.

Stir in the vanilla and confectioners' sugar.

Remove from heat, and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth

This icing is excellent for decorating cookies. It keeps it's shape and sets hard. I couldn't do some of my projects without it...

Ornamental Cookie Frosting
(from Ladies Home Journal, December 1998)

1 16-oz pkg powdered sugar
3 Tbsp meringue powder (sometimes called powdered egg whites)
paste food colorings

In a bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 1/3 cup warm water until mixture is stiff and knife drawn through it leaves a clean-cut path, about 7 minutes.

Tint frosting with food colorings as desired; keep covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. With small metal spatula, artists' paintbrushes, or decorating bags with small writing tubes, decorate cookies with frosting. Thin frosting with a little warm water to obtain the right spreading or piping consistency. Makes about 3 cups.

NOTE: I loaded Ziploc sandwich bags with varying colors and snipped the ends to pipe icing on. I made the icing thin enough that when I piped on circles of one color and then another set of circles in between those, the circles would begin to merge. Then I drew a toothpick through them (usually from the center out, or from the outside to center) to create the pointy patterns. Ziploc bags also made it easy to drop dots or swirls of color on the snowflakes. Candied beads also dressed up the cookies nicely. Since metallic beads are no longer considered safe to eat, I bought "naked" candies beads and rolled them in cookie luster dust, purchased online.