SUGAR COOKIE BOUQUET RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add lemon zest. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet ingredients slowly. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Steps:

• Cut celery hearts down to about 2 inches from their bases, breaking off outer stalks until cross-sections resemble roses. Let sit 24 hr. to “soften.” Heat oven to 350°F. Roll sugar cookie dough between 2 sheets of parchment into rough 8- by 10-in. rectangle. Chill until firm, at least 20 minutes, then bake until light golden at edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Loosen royal icing to thick glue consistency. Transfer to piping bag and snip off tip. Pipe a rectangle around cookie, leaving 1/4- to 1/2-inch border all the way around. Let set. Snip a little more off end of bag and pipe icing to fill in rectangle, spreading with skewer as necessary. Let set until firm, at least 12 hours. If using natural food colors, hydrate with just enough water to make a thick paste. Paint a thin, even coat onto the celery; stamp onto iced cookie. Repeat to fill cookie with roses, then use a thin paintbrush to paint rose stems and leaves.