Brian’s Shortbread Sugar Cookies with Lulu Behm’s Hard Divinity Icing
These are my favorite cookies. While Lulu always made sugar cookies, I like a little more hearty yet soft bite to my cookies. When she knew we were visiting for the holidays, Lulu Behm always brought dozens of Christmas sugar cookies to Grandma Doc's. Her icing melted in your mouth but stayed hard on the cookie, keeping the cookie fresh. So good! It is Lulu's take on southern divinity candy made into an icing.
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Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Brian's Shortbread Sugar Cookies
- 2 cups unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
Lulu Behm's Divinity Icing
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 pinch Cream of Tater
- 2 egg whites
Instructions
Brian's Shortbread Sugar Cookies
- Mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Sift together flour and baking powder and add to mixer on low speed until everything is mixed. THEN STOP!!! Do NOT overmix. Just mix until flour is incorporated.
- Remove the dough from the mixer, place it on plastic wrap, form it into a 2-inch high, flat disk, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350˚F.
- Remove dough from the fridge and roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a cookie cutter.
- Transfer to your parchment-lined cookie sheets using a spatula, leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- When the cookies are cool, whisk together the icing ingredients and dip them or spread them on them. You can smooth the icing with the back of a spoon.
Lulu Behm's Divinity icing
- In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, water, and Cream of Tater to a boil and cook until Medium Hard Ball (use a candy thermometer)
- Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, in a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff.
- Very slowly pour the liquid sugar mixture over stiff egg whites in a thin, steady stream while mixing at medium speed.
- Beat until cool.
- Ice your cookies. (Usually dense sugar cookies). I like to make my "Cookie Combo" of 1/2 sugar cookie dough and 1/2 shortbread mixed together)
Notes
* After icing cookies, leave the cookies on the counter for the icing to harden and dry. The cookies will remain somewhat soft to the bite.
Nutrition
Calories: 160kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 4gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 171mgPotassium: 92mgFiber: 1gSugar: 11gVitamin E: 1mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 1mgZinc: 0.4mg
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