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Mexican Flag Sugar Cookies
by Tami Rose
Make these Mexican flag cookies for your Cinco de Mayo
celebration this year. They will add a bright, festive look to
your table and kids will absolutely love to help you make them.
What You Need
1 tube of "slice and bake" cookies or your
favorite sugar cookie recipe*
flag cookie cutter
confectioner's sugar icing or royal icing*
red & green paste food coloring
icing bag or plastic baggie
Making Cookies:
Roll out cookie dough to 3/8 in. thick. Cut out flag shapes and place them on a cookie sheet, making sure that the cookies are not touching. Bake as directed until light golden brown.
How To Choose The Right Icing:
If you are planning on eating the cookies immediately and not storing them, you can frost them with confectioner's sugar icing. This quick and easy icing will harden slightly once it's on the cookies but will not harden enough to stack the cookies without ruining the designs on your cookies.
Confectioner's Sugar Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP water
1/4 tsp. of flavored extract such as vanilla (optional). Make sure to use clear extract because any color will tint the icing.
If you are planning on packing the cookies in containers, I would recommend using this Royal Icing recipe. It takes a bit more work in the beginning but the end results are quite worth it when the cookies keep their "freshly made" appearance. This icing will harden to allow stacking in containers without ruining any of the cookie's designs.
Royal Icing:
1 1/2 TBSP meringue powder
2 cups sifted icing sugar
3 tablespoons cold water
Mix on low with a hand mixer for 10 minutes.
Decorating Cookies:
Divide icing into 3 bowls. Tint one bowl of icing green, one bowl red and leave one bowl white. Using icing bags or making your own out of plastic baggies, start on the left-hand side of the flag coloring it green. White frosting goes in the middle and red on the right-hand side. Give ample time to air dry.
Freezing Cookies:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper, then lay cookies in a single layer onto the paper. Freeze. Once frozen, the cookies can be stacked on top of each other. To thaw, place cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate-do not thaw cookies while they are stacked together or the icing will stick to the other cookies.
**Tami's Favorite Soft Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional) I leave it out for white cookies
1/2 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix shortening, sugar, egg, & vanilla thoroughly. Blend dry ingredients. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream.
Divide dough; roll out on a well-floured board. Cut with cookie cutters (metal cookie cutters w/ open tops are the easiest) You can make these as thick as you want... the thicker, the chewier.
Place cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar unless you are going to ice them. Bake 7-8 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. Makes 3-4 dozen but I never get this many because I make mine thicker.
If you use the nutmeg in them, you don't even need the icing but it will give your cookies a slight off-white appearance if they are left un-iced.
If you like chewy cookies, roll them out a little thicker. If you like thin, crispy cookies, roll a kind of thin but not real thin or you wont be able to remove to them from cookie pan.
This dough is very easy to work with! I always double it because I like the thicker cookies.
More You Might Like:
Cheesy Recipes for Cinco de Mayo
Basic Homemade Tacos
Earth Day Globe Cookies
Watermelon Cookies
About the Author:
Tami Rose lives in North Carolina with her husband and 2 children. She is always on the
lookout for fun, easy crafts that any age group can make. She is the Assistant Administrator on the FamilyCorner.com forums. You can find her there under the username of "ajrsmom". She is also the Assistant Editor for FamilyCorner.com and provides valuable support for the website.
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