Best Sugar Cookie Recipe There Is + Decoration Tips!

I love sugar cookies,whether it's just decorating them for fun or giving them to someone as a special gift,they always put a smile on the receivers face! I have known this recipe for AGES and it is one of those which i NEVER forget! And the sweet,crumbly texture is to DIE for! Here it is:

Jake's Best Sugar Cookies.

Yields/Makes 40 Small or 20 Large Sugar Cookies.

Ingredients:

*200g/1+3/4 stick's/1 cup/7oz of Butter or Margarine.
*150g/3/4 cup/5.3oz of Caster Sugar or Raw Sugar.
*2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste,Vanilla Pod or Vanilla Extract.
*1 Egg.
*300g/2+1/2 cup/10.5oz Plain Flour,Sifted.

Method:

1.)In a large bowl,use a wooden spoon to cream the butter and sugar together until a smooth,pale paste forms.
2.)Add the egg and the vanilla(whichever type you are using) slowly,being careful not to curdle the mixture.
3.)Beat in the flour until a soft dough forms (DO NOT be tempted to add more flour),then wrap in clingfilm or saran-wrap and chill in the fridge for 40-60 minutes,or until firm.                                                                                    4.)Preheat the oven to 180(or 160 fan) degrees Celsius/Gas Mark 4/360 degrees Fahrenheit.
5.)Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin and roll out the dough to approximately 3-5 mm thick,then cut out shapes using cutters of your choice.
6.)Using a Palette Knife, carefully place the shapes on bake trays that have either been greased,covered in grease-proof paper(or wax paper) or a silicone mat.
7.) Bake for 10-12 minutes,or until the edges are light golden brown in colour.

**DECORATING TIPS-SUGAR PASTE/ROLLED FONDANT**
1.)Over a stove,heat 6 tbsp Apricot Jam until it becomes less viscous and is runny.Strain the jam through a sieve,this is now Apricot Baking Glaze.
2.)Using the same cutter as you did for the cookies,cut out shapes of fondant that has been rolled out to 2 mm in thickness.
3.)Using a pastry brush,place the cooled baking glaze on 1 cookie at a time,then place a fondant shape on top of the cookie,being as accurate as possible to line up in the same way,leave the cookies in a cool place for the glaze to dry for 30 minutes.
4.)Finally,use royal icing or embossers to decorate the cookie with messages such as "I LOVE YOU" or "THANKS!"

**DECORATING TIPS-FLOOD ICING WITH ROYAL ICING**
1.)Make a batch of royal icing using your favourite recipe or use a shop bought type(such as Betty Crocker's Cookie Icing).
2.)In a piping bag,place a small icing nozzle such as a 2M Wilton Tip,place 1/4 of the royal icing in the bag and draw outlines around the shapes.
3.)Once the icing has dried for 30 minutes,place 2-3 tsp of water into the remaining 3/4 batch of royal icing and place into the piping bag,"Flood" the inside of the outlines with the rest of the icing and leave to set for 4 hours at the least or overnight where possible.
4.)Finally,when dry decorate as you wish a message or pearl dragées.

Here are some cookies i made last year to celebrate Halloween(i coloured the dough black):

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as i do! Thanks for reading my blog! ~Jake :D