Raspberry Sugar Cookies
Servings: 36 medium cookies
Calories: 118kcal
Elevate standard sugar cookies with the easy steps in this raspberry sugar cookies recipe with royal icing. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
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Ingredients
For sugar cookies:
- 1/3 cup (15 g) freeze dried raspberries
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) packed brown sugar Note 1
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 ½ sticks (170 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For decorating:
- ½ batch of royal icing
- Pink food coloring
- Edible gold leaf optional
Equipment
- 1 fine mesh sieve
- 1 Mixing Bowl with a Paddle Attachment
Instructions
TO PREPARE THE DOUGH:
- Place the freeze-dried raspberries in between parchment paper (or plastic bag) and crush them with a rolling pin. (Alternatively, you can use a small food processor and pulse until powder.)1/3 cup freeze dried raspberries
- Sift the crush raspberries through a fine mesh sieve and discard the seeds and large bits.
- In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, mix the prepared raspberry powder, flour, sugars, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.3 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup packed brown sugar, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt, 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Add butter and mix on low speed until the mixture is evenly moistened, 1-2 minutes. The mixture should resemble wet sand.1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
- Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. The dough will be crumbly, but it should stick together when you squeeze it in your hand.1 large egg, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Knead it into a smooth ball. Place each dough ball between 2 parchment sheets and roll it out into ¼-inch-thick disc. (TIP: Place a silicone mat under the parchment paper to roll it out, so it stays in place. And this adjustable rolling pin is nice for rolling out even dough.)
- At this point, you can move on to shaping and baking the cookies right away. Or you can put the dough into plastic bags and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
TO SHAPE AND BAKE COOKIES:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment papers, or silicone mats.
- Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate the cookies for at least 5 minutes before baking.
- Gather the scraps of dough, roll out and then chill before cutting more cookies. Repeat until all the dough is used.
- Bake the cookies for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges start to turn light golden color.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them onto a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
TO DECORATE:
- Make half batch of this royal icing recipe and add a few drops of pink food coloring. Transfer the royal icing into tipless piping bag.½ batch of royal icing, Pink food coloring
- For the textured icing look, cut out 2x2-in (5x5cm) square parchment papers and crumble them slightly, then flatten. (I use these small hamburger patty parchment papers.)
- First, outline the cookies with royal icing in a tipless piping bag with a small opening.
- Then, flood the cookies with more icing. I use the same consistency of royal icing for outline and flooding.
- To create the textured icing look, immediate after flooding the cookies, place the prepared parchment paper on top of the wet icing and lightly press it so that the paper touches the entire surface of the icing.
- Repeat the steps with all the cookies. Let the icing set completely, preferably overnight. Then gently peel off the parchment paper.
- If using, place a few pieces of edible gold leaf on the cookies. I use tweezers and scribe to handle the gold leaf as it tends to cling to the fingers more. TIP: Avoid excessive handling of the gold leaf. The more you handle them, the higher the risk of the gold leaf peeling off.Edible gold leaf
Notes
Note 1: I love how brown sugar adds subtle flavor and softness to the cookies. I’ve made this recipe with both light and dark brown sugars. Dark brown sugar yields darker cookies, so I prefer light brown sugar.
Make Ahead Tips:
- Prepare the royal icing up to 2 weeks in advance, or freeze it for up to 2 months.
- Prepare the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Store prepared cookie dough in the fridge, wrapped tightly in plastic. Thaw frozen cookie dough overnight in the refrigerator.
- To bake, let the chilled cookie dough come to room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling, shaping, and baking as the recipe instructions state.
- To decorate, let the icing come to room temperature for 30 minutes before transferring it to a piping bag. Storing Tips:
- Once cooled, leftover decorated cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- To prevent them from sticking together, place a piece of parchment paper between each layer.
- Freeze decorated cookies for up to 1 month.
- Thaw frozen cookies on the counter at room temperature for 8-12 hours without opening the lid. Keeping the lid closed will prevent condensation from forming.
- Prepare the royal icing up to 2 weeks in advance, or freeze it for up to 2 months.
- Prepare the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Store prepared cookie dough in the fridge, wrapped tightly in plastic. Thaw frozen cookie dough overnight in the refrigerator.
- To bake, let the chilled cookie dough come to room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling, shaping, and baking as the recipe instructions state.
- To decorate, let the icing come to room temperature for 30 minutes before transferring it to a piping bag. Storing Tips:
- Once cooled, leftover decorated cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- To prevent them from sticking together, place a piece of parchment paper between each layer.
- Freeze decorated cookies for up to 1 month.
- Thaw frozen cookies on the counter at room temperature for 8-12 hours without opening the lid. Keeping the lid closed will prevent condensation from forming.
Nutrition
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 118kcal
Carbohydrates: 17g
Protein: 1g
Fat: 5g
Sugar: 8g
Sodium: 37mg