Football sugar cookies

That Steelers loss the other week hurt. (Didn't hurt too much since they didn't exactly play well, but it still hurt.) I made these cookies for the big game, and was really happy with how they came out.

Once again, I used this sugar cookie recipe. I cut the cookies into jersey and football shapes. For the royal icing, I added in 1/2t of lemon extract to liven up the flavor. Once the outline icing was ready, I separated out two small bowls of it (for the lettering), and divided the rest between two larger bowls. Using the small bowls and food coloring gel, make one bowl yellow and one bowl white. In the larger bowls, dye one bowl brown and one black.

For the jersey cookies:

Once dry (overnight), use the yellow and white icing to write in player names and numbers, and to decorate the arms of the jerseys.

For the football cookies: 

Thin the icing, then used it to flood the cookies.

Once dry, use the white icing to decorate the stitching.



And if you're a Steelers fan (or just a football fan in general), check out this post from Bakerella. So amazing I was speechless.

Pittsburgh's Going to the Super Bowl!

I've had a sugar cookie recipe that I've been wanting to try for a while, and since I've also been wanting to retry royal icing after my slightly failed attempt, I thought I'd make some Steelers cookies for the game this past weekend.

My royal icing skills still need some major work - I don't think my hand will ever be steady enough to make it work - but the cookie base this time was much better than the last. If I were to make these again, I'd fill the cookies entirely in white royal icing and then draw on the whole logo using edible markers. I'm thinking I might have to try that for the Super Bowl!

The number of cookies this recipe makes will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters. I used a large round cutter and got about 20 cookies. The dough can also be frozen for up to 3 months if you don't want to use it all at once.

Steelers Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

For the cookies:

3/4c softened butter

1c sugar

1t baking powder

1/4t salt

2 eggs

1t vanilla

2.5c flour

For the icing:

4T meringue powder

1/2c water, scant

2.5c confectioners sugar

1t light corn syrup

Divide dough in half. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

Roll dough to about 1/4" thick. Cut out using cookie cutters or knife.

Let cookies cool completely before decorating.



Add corn syrup. Increase speed and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 mins.

Using this icing, pipe the outline of the cookies, and the logo outline.

Add water to the icing, one tablespoon at a time, until it is the consistency of syrup.

Cover the icing with a damp towel and let sit for several minutes.

Run a rubber spatula through the icing gently to remove air bubbles.

Separate out a small portion of the icing into three bowls, leaving most of the icing in the main bowl.

Transfer the white icing to a squeeze bottle and use it to fill the white areas of the logo.

(Don't fill the whole way - fill in lines and use a toothpick to spread to the edges.)

Add gel food coloring to the other three bowls - yellow, red, and blue.

Repeat the process of filling the cookies using the colored icing.

Let sit overnight.

Using an edible food marker, write in the team name and outline the logo.