While it’s true that April showers bring May flowers, it also brings fresh energy to try new things in the kitchen. Today, in honor of spring’s arrival, I’m going to show you how to give regular ol’ sugar cookies a shimmery makeover, turning them into silver clouds and pretty patterned raindrops.
To start, whip up a batch of Classic Sugar Cookie dough, cutting out cloud and raindrop shapes.
Tip: Pop your baking sheets in the freezer with the shaped cookies on them before they bake for 10 minutes. This little trick helps the cookies maintain their distinct shapes!
Once the cookies are all baked and cooled, make the Royal Icing.
Ice the cookies by using a squeeze bottle to draw a border and then filling in the center with icing and spreading smooth with an offset spatula. It will dry smoothly if left to dry at room temperature for two hours.
Once the icing has set, break out some of your favorite colors of luster dust and place about ¼ teaspoon of each color in small ramekins. Add lemon juice, 1/8 of a teaspoon at a time, and stir with a cheap (clean!) paint brush ‘til smooth.
Then comes the fun part…painting your cookies!
Feel free to overlap and mix colors or let one color dry before painting on another. Let them dry at room temperature, uncovered, for about an hour, or until no longer sticky. Once dry, cookies can be layered in an airtight container or frozen for up to a month.
Have you painted on icing before? If so, share your tips below!