HOW TO FLOOD COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, then beat in egg.
• Add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Divide the dough in half, pat into flat rectangles, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
• Divide each dough parcel in half, and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line four cookie sheets with parchment paper, sprinkling with a little flour if the dough seems sticky. Cut out shapes from the rolled and chilled dough and place on prepared sheets 1-inch apart. Bake until golden around the edges, 8 to 13 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, prepare the royal icing: in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk until stiff and glossy.
• To tint the frosting, divide into small bowls. Cover the ones you aren’t using with plastic wrap; the frosting dries out very quickly. Use a rubber spatula to stir in desired food coloring. Though not necessary, it makes life easier if you make two versions of each color – one that is thick to pipe the outline on the cookie, and one that is thinned out slightly with a little water to flood the outline. Transfer frosting to piping bags fitted with very small round tips (sizes 1 to 2 work best).
• Pipe frosting onto cooled cookies and let set, at least 2 hours. Or use a pastry of paint brush to decorate cookies with the frosting.

Steps:

• Prepare the Cookies: Beat butter and sugar with a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, and, if desired, almond extract, and beat until fully incorporated. Gradually add flour and salt to butter mixture, and beat until combined. Remove dough from bowl, and shape into a flat disk. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°F, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface, and roll dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.
• Bake in preheated oven until cookies are slightly golden on edges but pale in the center, 6 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of cookie. Do not over-bake. Let cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Prepare the Royal Icing: Combine powdered sugar, water, and meringue powder in bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until fully combined and smooth, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape sides of bowl as needed. Increase speed to high, and beat until icing is no longer glossy, about 1 more minute. Divide into desired number of portions, and place each portion in a small bowl; tint with desired food coloring.
• Place icing in a piping bag or a ziplock bag with 1 corner snipped, and decorate cookies. (To  flood top of cookie with icing, thin icing by stirring in 1 tablespoon water at a time until spreadable consistency is reached. Pipe thinned icing onto cookie, and use a wooden pick to spread icing to edges and corners of cookie.)