The Fourth of July summer holiday is coming soon so I thought I'd post some a few of our stars and stripes decorated sugar cookies. The colors of red, white and blue always remind me of summer, the colors just seem right for a hot summer's day. I like the simplicity of these decorated sugar cookies in shapes of stars. We are baking the stars in different sizes, frosting with royal icing and then rimming with sanding sugars. These cookies can be made easily at home, star cookie cutters are easy to find and if you don't want to bother with royal icing, just use a simple buttercream icing and add some sprinkles. The buttercream frosting we use here is so easy!
Easy Buttercream Frosting
2 LB Confectioner's Sugar
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick ) melted Butter
1/2 cup Water ( approximate)
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla
Mix the melted butter in a bowl with the sugar. Just mix until the butter is coating the sugar. Add the water slowly and beat until you like the consistency for frosting. Beat for 1-2 min for a creamy mixture. Add vanilla or any other flavoring you may like. This frosting is so easy to spread and sets up nicely at room temperature, but you can also place the cookies in the refrigerator to help set your icing. The key to this recipe is the amount of water you add, add slowly and if you add too much, you can always add more sugar.
I really like the look of white icing with colored sprinkles, but you could also use food dye to add some color to your frosting, just allow for the added liquid. Food dyes will thin your icing somewhat.
