This was my first attempt to make cookie cutter cookies that I iced myself using royal icing. I was very pleased with the results. While they were far from perfect. I think they turned out adorable and tasted divine. If I can do this then so can you. Here are some simple tips I followed.  First I found a professional cookie site Sweet Sugarbelle I followed all of their directions for the perfect cookie recipe....the only change I made was I let my dough sit in the fridge for 30 minutes so it wasn't so sticky.  Watch as they bake. I got mine a little too brown. Let cool over night. I used food coloring gel from Hobby Lobby to get the perfect shade of blue. If you have a stand mixer put it to use it is perfect for cookie making. When you pipe your outline onto your cookies be patient and go slow. You don't want any holes for icing to drip through. Allow the cookies to dry for 2 hours before flooding. I followed the tips at Sweet Sugarbelle to thin my icing. Be sure to watch the video!
The best tip to use a squeeze bottle for flooding cookies. I found mine in the candy molding section at Hobby Lobby. I also used a rubber tipped baby spoon to help spread the icing into the corners and to get rid of the bubbles if any formed. Allow flooded cookies to dry for a couple of hours and then use original royal icing ( not thinned) to add details using a piping bag and fine tipped point.Once I added all of my little pearl details on the cake I let them dry over night. I slid them into cellophane bags and adorned with a custom tag and a ribbon.
I loaded them into Tupperware containers for the long trek to Miami. I was surprised they all made it in one piece!

And my secret weapon for the most delicious cookie....add almond flavoring, just a couple drops into the sugar cookie dough as well as the royal icing. These were easy favors to make I will definitely be using this for future parties.