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1
Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer.
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2
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
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3
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a second large bowl and mix well.
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4
Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture 1 cup at a time.
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5
Chill the dough for 3 to 4 hours.
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6
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
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7
Roll out the dough and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters or a knife.
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8
Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheet.
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9
If decorating with colored sugar, brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with colored sugar (if using royal icing, leave unfinished).
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10
Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
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11
Remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
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12
If using royal icing, decorate the cookies as desired.
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13
Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.
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14
Mix slowly with an electric mixer until stiff enough to form peaks; the icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly.
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15
If the frosting is over-beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with.
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16
If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.
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17
Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform.
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18
Gels are best with royal icing.
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19
You don't want to thin them with liquid colors.
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20
Be careful of adding too much color, which reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days.
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21
Store the icing at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.
