Cheerleader Cookie Favors

I don't know how many people have the luxury to have their extended family live near them, but I do and it's something I try to not take that for granted. I get the joy of spending time with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents whenever I want. One of my dearest cousins, Deanna, was having her end of the year, cheerleading banquet and I made these cookie favors for the event.

This dough was my favorite so far of all the different sugar cookie recipes I have tried for edible favors. It is very flavorful and sweet, but not so much that it was overpowering when added with the icing. The combination was tasty and easy to use for decorating! I adapted a recipe from Tidy Mom for the dough.


Vanilla Butter Sugar Cookie Dough

5 1/2 cups unbleached flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups butter
1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
4 tbsp milk
4 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pure almond extract ( I didn't have any on hand, but it would be a nice addition)

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Cream sugar and butter, then add eggs and extracts.

3. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

4. Roll out to desired thickness on lightly floured wax paper and cut.

5. For this cookie, I didn't have a cookie cutter for the shape I wanted. So I drew the shape I wanted, traced and cut it out of cardstock. Then I would trace the cardstock shape with a small pairing knife.

6. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet. The cookie should not brown at all; it will remain light in color. Remove from cookie sheets after one minutes and let cool on cooling rack. Then you can begin the decorating!

For the icing of these cookies, I wanted to try a new icing for me. I've decorated with royal icing using meringue powder and I have made my own marshmallow fondant, so for these cookies I used an icing, I've been hoping to try for awhile. It's very similar to a royal icing recipe, but it replaces the meringue powder with more common ingredients. The end result was different, but also great. I'm not sure which I like to use more, but both were great! This recipe is from I am Baker.

Sugar Cookie Icing

1 cup Confectioners Sugar (powder sugar)
1 Tablespoon Milk
1 drop Lemon Juice (fresh or processed)
1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

1. Combine powder sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice in bowl of stand mixer.

2. Now you want to make one batch for outlining the cookies. For this batch, add less liquid(milk) to keep the icing thick enough to pipe. This is also the same consistency you will want for detailing the cookies after they have been flooded.

3. For the flooding the cookies, you will need a thinner icing, so add more milk/liquid slowly. Also, be aware that liquid food colorings and extracts can change the consistency. I used Wilton Gel Food Coloring in Royal Blue and Wilton Gel Food Coloring in Golden Yellow. This icing has great shine and gloss!

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