Christmas Sweater Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookie

• 2 and 1/4 cups of premium flour, plus extra for work
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 220 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

• 450 g powdered sugar (about 3 and 3/4 cups)
• 2 tbsp. dry egg white
• 5-6 tbsp water + more if needed
• Gel food colorings of different colors
• Coconut flakes, for decoration

Preparation:

1. Bake the cookies:

   
   Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and beat in the flour mixture in two additions. Knead until smooth. Divide the dough in half, form disks, and wrap in 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
   
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 disk of dough to a thickness of about 0.3 cm, adding more flour as needed. Using a 3-8 cm sweater-shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes from the dough. Gather the scraps, knead, and cut out more cookies. If the dough becomes too soft, refrigerate for 15 minutes. Place the shapes 2.5 cm apart on the prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350°F (175°C). Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until lightly browned around the edges, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze:

   
   In a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar and egg whites. Using a mixer on medium-high speed, beat in 5 tablespoons of water until soft, glossy peaks form, adding a little more water if needed. You'll need different consistency icing: thicker for the outline and thinner for filling. Adjust the consistency by adding a little more water. Tint the icing with food coloring if needed. Transfer to zip-lock plastic bags, snip off the corners, and decorate the cookies. If desired, rim the cookies with coconut flakes. Let them set for at least 1 hour.