Icing Cookies

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar for 4-5 minutes until well combined.
2.  Mix in the until fully combined. 
3. Stir in flour until incorporated.
4. Sprinkle flour on a work surface and knead the dough until you have a smooth ball.
5. Leave in the fridge for at least one hour.
6. Once chilled, preheat oven to 170°C | 335°F.
7. Sprinkle flour on a work surface and roll out the dough to a thickness of 5 mm (1/4 in). Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.
8. Arrange cookies on baking sheets and bake at 170°C | 335°F for 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookie. Do not over-bake.
9. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Royal Icing

1. In a large bowl mix the powdered sugar and egg white.
2. Beat mixture on high speed for 5 minutes with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, until icing forms peaks.
3. Add water, a drop at a time, to get the desired consistency.
4. Consistency for icing outlining:
5. Just stiff enough to stand up firmly but with a slight curl at the tip. Medium-stiff peaks.
6. Consistency for icing pouring:
7. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5 seconds.
8. Tint as needed with food coloring.
9. This time I only had three colors of food coloring available (red, blue, and yellow), so I mixed them to make the colors.
10. Red, blue, yellow, green (yellow + blue), pink (a small amount of red) and black (equal amounts of red, blue and yellow)
11. Put icing sugar in the piping bags or the parchment paper cones and decorate the cooled cookies.
12. Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them.