Cookies with Friends

I jumped on the trend train a few months ago and tested out Words with Friends on my iPhone. Needless to say, it took just 2 short months to go from a time killer to an addiction. But I like to count the Scrabble of the 21st century among my healthy obsessions. After all, it helps me learn new words like “VARS” (78 points) and “QI” (63 points). Do I know how to use those words in a sentence? Heck no.

My entire family is hooked on the game and we all enjoy the daily dose of healthy competition. So healthy, in fact, that we take screengrabs of our biggest plays and blast them out in group emails laced with shame. That type of behavior usually leads certain people to be left with Words with No Friends, but ultimately all humiliation is forgotten with the touch of the “re-match” button.

Gaming obsession aside, these buttery sugar cookies are a great way to bake up hours of educational and edible fun. Bakers of all ages can get their hands on these tiny sweets, icing them with different colors then topping them off with their favorite letters.

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Cookies With Friends

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

3 cups unbleached All-Purpose flour, plus bench flour for rolling out the dough
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 sticks (salted) butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For decorating:

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
Yellow food coloring
Bittersweet chocolate chunks
Pastry bags

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Sift together the flour and the baking powder. Set it aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter.

Add the egg then add the vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds and beat it just until combined making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll into to approximately ¼" thickness.

Use a pizza cutter or knife, along with a ruler, to cut the dough into small squares.

Transfer the squares to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake the cookies for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.

Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. While the cookies cool, make the icing.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined. Add in the sifted confectioners sugar in batches and beat on low until all of the confectioners sugar is combined and the frosting has a smooth texture.

Whisk in enough yellow food coloring until you achieve the desired color. Transfer the icing to a pastry bag and decorate the cookies. If not using icing immediately, transfer it to an airtight container, as it will harden when exposed to air.

Once the yellow icing has air-dried, melt the chocolate in a microwave or using a double boiler. Transfer the melted chocolate to a pastry bag and pipe on your desired letters and corresponding numbers.

Let set until firm then eat and enjoy!

Cookie recipe adapted from Bake at 350, whose Scrabble cookies were an inspiration. Royal icing recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.

Posted by Kelly Senyei on December 5, 2010

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