Recipe Index

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup softened unsalted butter
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons meringue powder
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 9-12 tablespoons water (room temperature)
• gel food coloring

Method

1. Line 2 to 3 baking sheets with parchment and heat the oven to 350°F before mixing the sugar cookie dough.
2. Whisk the all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set the dry mix aside.
3. Beat the softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg yolks, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon extract to the butter bowl and mix until just combined, scraping the bowl down.
5. Mix the flour bowl into the butter mixture until the Easter egg dough comes together with no streaks of flour remaining.
6. Roll portions of the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick, cut out egg shapes, gather and rest the scraps for about 5 minutes, then reroll and cut until all the dough is used.
7. Space the cut cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined sheets and bake them for 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are just set and the cookies stay very pale.
8. Rest the baked cookies on their pans for 2 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before icing.
9. Beat the sifted powdered sugar and meringue powder on low speed in a large bowl for the royal icing.
10. Add the light corn syrup and about 8 tablespoons of the water, mix on low until the sugar is moistened, then beat on high for 2 to 3 minutes, adding more water a tablespoon at a time until the icing forms soft peaks like soft-serve.
11. Reserve 1 cup of the thick icing under tight plastic wrap for outlining the egg cookies.
12. Thin the remaining icing with water a teaspoon or two at a time until lines drizzled back into the bowl melt back in about 10 seconds, then divide and tint the flood icing with gel food coloring, keeping each bowl covered.
13. Tint the reserved thick icing in separate covered bowls, pipe outlines around each cooled cookie with the thick icing, and flood the centres with the thin icing to finish the Easter egg sugar cookies.

Prep: 60 min · Cook: 8 min · Total: 68 min

Nutrition (per serving, where published)

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient data