26 May Make these Shortbread COOKIES for Memorial Day!

My niece, Rachel Hamner, is in town for the summer interning with ThouArtExalted. Not only is she a stellar intern, but she is also a fantastic baker and loves to whip up sweet treats in the kitchen! Yesterday, we decided to make her AMAZING shortbread cookies for a family get together this coming Memorial Day weekend, and I thought it would be fun to share the recipe with you!
We decorated the cookies with red, white, and blue icing then added fun patriotic designs for the holiday. Here are ALL the details you need, PLUS a FREE DOWNLOAD of the recipe cards! (Click on images to download the cards.)

Ingredients and Instructions.
 

1 cup / 2 sticks unsalted butter {room temperature}
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Begin by mixing all the dry ingredients together in a bowl: flour, sugar, and baking powder.

Next, add room temperature unsalted butter, vanilla, and one large egg to the dry mixture.

Using a stand or hand mixer, mix all the ingredients together until dough forms and begins to clump together.

Then, using your hands, knead the dough until it’s one big ball of goodness. Pop it into the refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes. Once it’s chilled, roll the dough out on wax paper and begin cutting desired shapes using a cookie cutter.

Place cut cookies into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Here’s what you need for the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of water
Food coloring

Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, water and a few drops of food coloring into a bowl. Once cookies have cooled, dip the cookie face down into the bowl. Using a knife, spread the icing to the corners. If the icing is too runny, add more powdered sugar. Just look how beautiful and glossy they are!

Now the fun part – decorating! Place some of the icing into a zip-lock bag and snip one of the corners to create a piping bag. Get creative and decorate with any Memorial Day inspired designs for beautiful festive cookies!