Delicious chocolate sugar cookies that roll out mess-free and hold their shape during baking.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, coffee, and vanilla. Mix just until blended.
With mixer on low, add flour mixture gradually until well incorporated. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with a spatula and hand mix until no more flour is visible.
Divide dough into two equal parts. Leave one in the mixing bowl. Place the other on a long, rectangular piece of plastic wrap and press it down to flatten a bit with your hand. Place a piece of wax paper (the same size as the plastic wrap) on top of the flattened dough. (see video)
Using a rolling pin on top of the waxed paper, roll out to desired thickness. I roll mine about 1/4 inch thick.
Lift rolled out dough from bottom plastic wrap and place on a baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Repeat with reserved half of dough.
When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator/freezer and cut out using desired shapes, trying to place similarly sized shapes on the same baking sheet. Place cut out shapes on prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
Bake for 7-10 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies and how dark your pan is). Dark gray or black pans will cook the cookies faster.
Once baked, allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack, Cool completely prior to decorating or storing.
Re-roll scraps to make more cookies using the same technique as above.
Stir the flavoring into half the water
Using a mixer on low speed, mix the sugar and meringue powder
Slowly add the water/flavoring mix to the dry ingredients. The icing will start to become thick and lumpy.
Continue adding the water until icing reaches a thick, honey-like consistency. Then, turn the mixer to medium speed and mix for 2-4 minutes until icing is thick and fluffy. Watch carefully and stop mixing once icing forms a soft peak. See Notes for tips on icing consistency.
This makes about 5 cups royal icing. You can cut the recipe in half if needed.
To outline cookies, a firmer icing is needed. You may need to add a teaspoon or two of water at a time to reach the right consistency. It should be a bit softer than toothpaste, but not runny. I use a disposable piping bag and a #1 or #2 icing tip for outlining or piping details. Once cookies are outlined, allow to dry for about 30 minutes before flooding them. Flooding consistency should be honey-like. First. reserve some thick icing for piping details later on. Then, add water one teaspoon at a time and mix with spatula until honey-like consistency is reached. I place my flood icing into a squeeze bottle, but you can use a piping bag. Use a toothpick to help icing reach entire cookie or very small areas. Once flooded, the cookies will need to dry for a couple of hours prior to adding details. Use reserved thick icing for details.