Spring has arrived and there’s so much to love about the season! Sunshine and blooms might be the best part, but the longer days are also at the top of the list!

What do you love most about spring?

Since cookies are such a big part of my brand (read more below) and I’m always looking to make new batches, I thought today’s floral infused sugar cookies would be a sweet way to welcome the long awaited season!

Hello Spring!

I cut the sugar cookies into telephone shapes using the cutest vintage telephone cookie cutter available in my shop!

Rose Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

Rose water was the key to incorporating floral notes, while the edible rose petals offer a touch of elegance! The vanilla bean pairs perfectly with the floral essence in the cookies, that is nicely balanced with the sweet royal icing on top!

Okay, I know…rose is an acquired taste, but I promise it’s subtle and not overpowering.

And you’ll love the delightful smell while the cookies are baking in the oven.

Like bringing spring indoors!

I envision serving these cookies for afternoon tea. They’d also be a beautiful treat option for baby and bridal showers, garden parties or backyard celebrations.

As with all the treats I share here, today’s cookies are dairy free. They can also be made gluten free by a simple substitution of the flour.

Yield: 24

Rose Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

Rose and vanilla bean infused sugar cookies with edible blooms and rose water. Decorated with royal icing for a taste of spring in every bite!

Ingredients

FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES:
3/4 cups vegan butter (or real butter softened)
1 cups white sugar
2 eggs
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
2 tbsp culinary edible rose (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp rose water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
FOR THE ROYAL ICING:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 TBSP Meringue Powder
1/4 warm water (+ extra to thin icing)
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
EXTRA SUPPLIES:
Edible gold paint for finishing touches
Food grade paint brush (for painting)
Tipless piping bags

Instructions

sugar-cookies-cookie-royal-icing-cookie-cutters-rose-recipe-telephone

FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream together shortening/or butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, until combined.

Mix in eggs, vanilla bean and rose water.

Stir in edible rose petals, flour, baking powder and salt.

Mix on med-hi until combined.

You'll know your cookie mix is ready when most of it sticks to the mixing paddle.

Roll dough out onto a floured surface (about 1/2 inch thick)

Cut into shapes with cutters of choice.

Bake cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 4-6 minutes. (Pull from oven before brown)

Remove from heat and cool.

FOR THE ROYAL ICING:

Combine powdered sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Add extract and water and beat on high for about 5 minutes. sugar-cookies-cookie-royal-icing-cookie-cutters-rose-recipe-telephone

For piping:

The icing will be very thick. Add warm water a few splashes at a time until the frosting is the consistency of toothpaste. This is for piping. Spoon out 1/4 of the toothpaste-like icing to a tipless piping bag. Seal closed.

For flooding:

Add the rest of the water to the remaining royal icing and mix on medium until combined. The consistency of this icing should be slightly runny. Use a few drops of water at a time or even a spray bottle to achieve the desired icing consistency. If you run a spatula through the icing it should take around 5-6 seconds to disappear. That's when you know it's ready! Transfer flood icing to tipless piping bag and seal closed.

DECORATING:

Slowly outline the the edge of each cookie with the paste like piping icing.

Flood the cookies with the thinner icing, using a toothpick or scribe to spread it evenly around the cookie.

Quickly poke away any air bubbles you find using toothpicks, before the icing dries.

Repeat steps so all cookies are fully covered in icing.

Once cookies have dried, add the decorative details.

For the telephones, pipe a medium circle of stiff icing in the center of the cookie for the keys. Make a small circle in the center of the outlined circle and then pipe 9-10 dots (keys) to the outside of the small circle.

Once dry, paint over piped details with a little edible gold.

Allow two hours to dry.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies and I go back, nearly 10 years.

When my oldest daughter was a baby, I baked and decorated sugar cookies for her birthday! This led to a slight obsession with cookie cutters, and the opening of my shop on etsy in 2012.

In 2015 I designed my first custom cookie cutters (a french macaron) and continue to introduce new shapes to the shop each season. You can see more here!

Royal Icing

I love Royal icing! It’s naturally dairy free, simple to make and provides endless gorgeous decorating possibilities. It can take a little while to get comfortable with it, but once you do, you will too!

It took quite some time to learn the proper piping flooding techniques with royal icing, (I’m still learning,) but tipless bags and a slow and steady and are a great place to start!

Because sugar cookies have been such a big part of my business, I’d like to create a new series for the blog.

Once per month I’ll be sharing a new set of sugar cookies, cut and decorated with a shaped cookie cutter from the shop! There will be something unique about each cookie, whether it’s the flavor, the shape or the inspiration, relating to the month that we’re in.