Sugar Cookie Frosting

I am forever on the hunt for the perfect frosting.  Well, actually, two perfect frostings.  One to use when decorating and writing on cookies, and the second as a duplicate for Billy’s Bakery‘s cupcake frosting.  With the baking I did recently for Madeline’s first birthday party, I think I managed to find my two new go-to frostings.

I knew I wanted to have a table laden with desserts, and when I was trying to whittle down my list, my friend Sarah suggested making cookies with the letter M on them.  Perfect!  My plan was to make just basic sugar cookies and put the Ms on them, but at the very last minute (that morning!) I changed my mind.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make one of my favorite cookies, these Cinnamon-Nut Spice Cookies.  To keep them as flat as possible and more sugar-cookie-like, when I made the cookies, I left out the nuts; that way it gave me a smooth writing surface.

Now for the frosting.  While I adore buttercream frosting, it wouldn’t have worked for drawing the letter M on all the cookies, so finding something suitable (read: a little thinner) was my next task.  I found a sugar cooking frosting (aptly titled, don’t you think?) on AllRecipes and used that, tinting it a very light pink.

If you’re a regular reader of Sweetnicks, you know that I don’t decorate cookies.  As much as I ooh and aah over all the prettily decorated sugar cookies that pop up around the holidays, it’s not something I do myself.  Because I am horrible at that type of decorating.  (This would be precisely why I signed up for a Wilton class at Michael’s next month!)  But a simple M on each cookie I thought I could handle.  I nixed the added expense of pastry bags and instead used the age-old trick of snipping a hole at the end of a Ziploc bag, put the piping tip in the hole and then put the frosting into the bag.

About halfway through the third cookie, I started muttering to myself.  The tip came out of the bag, it was hard to hold the bag without frosting going all over, I was terrible at drawing the M’s, and I was running out of time … but then I hit my stride and all was ok.  I liked the way they turned out, the frosting was perfect and it was a simple sweet to commemorate the occasion.  And what better excuse to make one of my favorite cookies?  Another one for the files…

Sugar Cookie Frosting
Courtesy of AllRecipes

4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup shortening
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners’ sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

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