Lemon Sugar Cookie Heaven

It's Thursday morning, which can only mean one thing.....only one more sleep 'til Friday! I am looking forward to Saturday so I can finally embrace the Christmas feeling, as I'm very against festive frolics in November. Last night I had a burst of energy  and flash of guilt when I saw the cookie cutters I had bought from Decobake a couple of weeks ago which I had yet to use. I fled to the kitchen to get going on some pretty sugar cookies with a lemon twist. I couldn't decide which cutters to go with first so ended up doing a random mix of pretty dresses, colourful cakes and beautiful dogs.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies                                                                          

200g butter at room temperature                                

280g sugar                                                                   

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon                                        

1 egg                                                                              

400g plain flour

a pinch of salt

Method:

For the Cookies

1. Put the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a free-standing electric mixer and cream until light and fluffy (You can also use a handheld whisk). 
2. Add the egg and mix well and lemon juice, scraping the sides of the bowl intermittently to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated well.
3. Add the flour and salt, mixing well. The dough should look light, feel soft and be easy to handle.
4. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out the dough using a rolling pin. Cut out the shapes of your choice (on this occassion; dogs, dresses and cakes!) . Place the cookies on a well greased or lined baking tray (you will need at least two large trays) and bake for 10 minutes at 170C.  
5. The cookies should be very light golden on the outer edges and paler in the centre.  Once cooked remove the cookies from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

For the Royal Icing

Beat the egg white and lemon juice together in a free standing mixer. Gradually add the icing sugar and continue to whisk until the icing forms stiff peaks. (Word to the wise, making royal icing can be hard in your machinery so take it easy!). Separate mixture out and add desired colours. Of course you can also buy royal icing mix in a bag in the supermarket which does the exact same thing. In this instance carefully follow the instructions on the back of the pack, to ensure you achieve the right consistency.

The Assembly
After my splurge on Cookie Cutters in Decobake a couple of weeks ago, I though it was about time to put them to good use. I've made a some pretty dresses, some cakes and some dogs, each decorated in the appropriate colours. You will need the following tools to get going:
- cocktail sticks
- a piping bag (with a small and medium sized nozzle)

- Food colourings ( I used Americolor gels)- fondant icing for decoration
- royal icing (colours of your choice)

E-D's Notes

- This recipe will yield approximately 20 cookies or more (depending on whether you like picking 

  cookie dough!).

- I made these yesterday evening, and just to note, they are very time consuming so may be a 

  venture better done at the weekend when you have ample time.