Anchor Shaped Sugar Cookies Are Deliciously Adorable

If your cookies are purely for decorating then shape will be the most important factor in the sugar cookie recipe that you use. My favorite sugar cookie cut out recipe is one that I've used for a lot of years and altered as I've gone. 

Vanilla Cream Sugar Cookie Cutouts

• 1 cup of salted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Beat the softened butter and sugar together until they are smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the milk and mix. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda and add to the creamed mixture. Add the heavy whipping cream and mix with a wooden spoon or dough hook until smooth. Refrigerate  at least three hours before trying to handle.

Roll dough out on a floured surface into 1/8 inch thickness. Cut cookies and bake on a very lightly greased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool completely before icing. If you're using the right anchor cookie cutter then these should be a nice thick, soft cookie! 

• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3/8 cup of milk (either 2% or whole- 2% isn't as nice as whole, though)
• 3/8 cup of light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk the icing super smooth. If you're wanting to drizzle glaze then this is what you will use. If you're wanting to pipe the edges then fill in with glaze, (like in the picture) then set back half of this glaze and continue to thicken it with powdered sugar until it runs in a thick, slow stream. Once it hits this consistency then put it in a piping bag or a ziplock. If you're using a ziplock then cut the very tinyest tip out of the corner of the bag and use that as your piping bag. 

Once you have the icing bagged, pipe an outline of the more defined shape of the cookie onto the cooled cookie. Once that has set up enough to have a hard crust you can fill it in with the runnier glaze, which you can color any way you like. You can also marbleize the glaze by filling in the piping with a shallow amount of one color of glaze then adding a second color in the center and swirling it together with a toothpick!