Little Men Mustache Cookies

For the little men party, I would like to start early with the cookies, since they could be made days in advance and would still be fresh.  I had bought Fred and Friends Crustache Novelty Mustache Shaped Crust Cutter for sandwiches, but it could be for cookies too! I found this cutter works better for cookies :) I baked up my favorite sugar cookie recipe, outlined them with Candy Melts, and filled them up with chocolate royal icing. 

 Basic Sugar Cookies

• 226 grams unsalted butter
• 180 grams confectioner’s sugar
• 1 egg {room temperature}
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 260 grams cake flour

Method: 

1. Cream together butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs and extract and mix well.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, add to wet mixture little by little until well incorporated.
4. Wrap the cookie dough with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or freezer for 5-10 minutes. 
5. Roll and cut cookies using the mustache cutter, dusting with flour as necessary.
6. Bake cookies at 355 Fahrenheit for 10-11 minutes until tops are appear dry rather than shiny. Do not brown.

Chocolate royal icing

• Confectioners’ Sugar: 360 grams (3 cups)
• Cocoa Powder: 3 Tablespoon
• Meringue powder: 3 Tablespoon 
• Warm water: 6 Tablespoon
• Vanilla Extract: 1/2 Teaspoon

Method: 

1. Use your mixer’s whisk attachment to incorporate the sugar and meringue powder.
2. Add the extract to half the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while mixing. At first the icing will be very liquid-like.
3. Add the remaining water to the mixture little by little. Continue to mix it at medium-high speed until it is fluffy and stiff peaks form. 

Storage: You can store royal icing in refrigerator for up to a month.