Recipes for the Web

Barrington Software Incorporated

Flag Cookies

This simple sugar cookie, decorated with royal icing in red, white, and blue, makes a perfect

patriotic treat. To achieve flawless flag stripes, use plastic squeeze bottles to flood the cookies

with royal icing.

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 pinch of salt

Royal Icing

Super-red, tulip-red, royal-blue, and violet paste food colorings

1. Cut a 3-by-5-inch template out of lightweight cardboard, or create a template by stacking

several index cards together, then wrapping them in plastic wrap, leaving one side smooth; set

aside. Line 2 baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside.

2. Heat oven to 325°. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream

butter and sugar for 1 minute. Add vanilla, flour, and salt, and mix until just combined, 1 to 2

minutes more.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Place the smooth side of the

template onto the dough, and cut out a rectangle using a paring knife; repeat to make a total of

sixteen rectangles, re-rolling dough as needed.

4. Transfer rectangles to prepared baking sheets using a wide spatula. Chill for at least 1 hour.

5. Bake cookies until they are just beginning to color and are lightly firm to the touch, 15 to 18

minutes. Remove to cooling rack, and let cool completely.

6. Make the royal icing. Divide evenly between four bowls, and cover each tightly with plastic wrap.

Set one bowl aside for outlining the cookies. Add super-red and tulip-red food coloring to one of

the bowls, and mix thoroughly, adding more food coloring if necessary to obtain desired color. Add

2 to 3 teaspoons of water to icing so that it is loose enough to flow easily off of a spatula when

lifted and forms a ribbon that dissolves almost immediately. Replace plastic wrap, and cover

tightly. Repeat this process with one of the two remaining bowls of icing using blue food coloring.

To the remaining bowl of icing add just the water, and mix thoroughly. Recover all bowls tightly with

plastic wrap.

7. Transfer the reserved outlining icing to a small pastry bag fitted with a #5 tip. Pipe an even line

on the outside edges of the cookie. Divide the cookie in half with a horizontal line. To form the

outline of the canton (the field of stars), pipe a vertical line one third of the way from the left side of

the cookie until it meets the first horizontal line. To form the stripes, pipe two evenly spaced

horizontal lines above the original horizontal line and to the right of the canton. Pipe three more

evenly spaced horizontal lines from left to right under the canton. Repeat this process on the

remaining cookies. Reserve the icing in the pastry bag for the stars. Allow the icing to dry for at

least 1 hour.

8. Place the remaining three icings into separate squeeze bottles. Flood the field of stars with

enough blue icing to fill the space evenly without overflowing. Use the tip of a small knife or a

wooden skewer to push the icing completely into the corners. Using the same technique, flood

every other stripe with the red icing. Allow the icing to dry for at least 2 hours. Flood the remaining

stripes with the white icing.