After being asked to contribute to a very important bake sale, I consulted Pinterest for something that could potentially bring in a bunch of money for the very important cause. What caught my eye were meringues which I have previously made to quite the impression, and “watercolor” sugar cookies. Cookies that have a very hard icing so “paint” can easily be applied.

After consulting a few different websites, I found that most recipes used very similar ingredients. I wish I could remember those sites but if you recognize the recipe please give me a shout and I’ll give proper credit. Also, in place of butter and other dairy I used non-dairy alternatives and the cookies turned out perfectly fine.

SUGAR COOKIES
1 cup butter or butter alternative
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk or milk alternative
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Add milk. Add flour, soda, salt. Chill (I did overnight.) Heat oven to 350F. Roll out dough and bake 8-12 minutes.

SUGAR COOKIE ICING
1 cup icing sugar
2 tsp milk or milk alternative
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp almond extract

Mix everything together. Dip cookies into icing and let dry (overnight is easiest.) Ratios might need to be skewed a bit. In order to paint designs, mix gel food coloring with a clear extract or vodka and paint directly onto hardened icing. The alcohol will dry quickly. Only small bit of gel needed as a little goes a long way

MERINGUES
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 200F. Beat egg whites on low until soft peaks. Add sugar a little at a time. Beat until stiff peaks on medium/high. Beat in vanilla. Pipe or spoon little meringues onto parchment paper. Add sprinkles if you like. Cook about 1.5 hours, rotating sheet. Time may need adjusted according to oven and size of meringues. Learn from my mistakes. The photo below is of meringues pulled too quickly. GROSS!