GHOST ROYAL ICING COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined, then add flour mixture gradually until just combined. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. When ready to roll, preheat oven to 350º and line two large baking sheets with parchment. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out dough until 1/8” thick. Using a ghost cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Re-roll scraps and cut out more cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheets and freeze for 10 minutes. Bake until edges are lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Place on a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.  Meanwhile, make icing: In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, corn syrup, milk, and almond extract.  Place about 1/4 of icing into a small bowl and dye black with black food coloring.  Place about half the white icing in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and pipe edges around cookies.   Thin remaining white icing by adding 1 teaspoon milk at a time until icing runs easily on cookies, but isn't water thin. Place icing in another piping bag with a small round tip and fill in centers of cookies. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles and to spread icing to help fill any gaps. Let cookies dry until icing is set, 15 minutes.  Place black icing in a piping bag with a small round tip and pipe eyes and mouths onto cookies. 

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.