Oscar Award Cookies.

Awards Night Sugar Cookies
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 sticks salted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
Statue cookie cutter
Round cookie cutter

• Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer.
• Add eggs and extract mixing until well blended.
• Add flour in several additions with your mixer speed on low.
• Scraping the bowl in between each addition.
• When the dough is thoroughly blended, separate it into three-four sections.
• Flatten each section slightly into a disc shape. Cover in plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Unwrap one of the dough discs and place between two sheets of parchment paper.
• Use a rolling pin with rubber spacers attached to help you achieve thick, evenly baked cookies sturdy enough for standing.
• Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and use a statue cutter and a round cutter to cut shapes for each cookie award.
• Then cut an opening in the middle of the round cookie and remove the excess dough from the center.
• The openings should be slightly larger than the cookie cutter bottom.
• Leave the cut cookie shapes on the bottom sheet of parchment paper and transfer to your baking sheet.
• Repeat rolling and cutting cookie pairs until your baking sheet is full. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden.
• When you remove from the oven, you may need to recut the slots on the cookie bases after baking to maintain straight edges. Do this while the cookies are still warm.
• Repeat with more cut cookies using a second baking sheet while allowing the first cookie sheet to cool. Repeat until all of the dough discs are used. Reuse and roll the scraps to make sure you get enough cookies.
• Let cool completely. When cool, pair up the cookie award pieces and make sure the statues fit into the base. Score the bottom of the cookie statue to use as a guide for piping your royal icing.
• Makes 15 cookie statues and 15 cookie circles.

Royal Icing for Statues
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

• Combine all the ingredients using an electric mixer. Beat for several minutes until thoroughly combined.
• Add icing color until you achieve the desired shade. These were decorated using buttercup yellow form Wilton.
• Immediately cover the royal icing so it doesn’t dry out. Bowls with lids are great to have on hand.
• Prepare a decorator bag fitted with a #3 tip. Place about 1/3 of the royal icing in the bag. Cover the remaining 2/3 of icing while you pipe the outline of the cookie statues in yellow.
• Reuse any icing that is left in the bag and combine it with the remaining royal icing that you have covered in the bowl. Add a few drops of water and stir until the icing becomes more fluid. “Flood” or fill the inside of your piped statues with the royal icing.
• You can sprinkle the tops with gold sanding sugar while the icing is still wet.
• Or let the icing completely dry for a few hours and then paint them with luster dust to give them a metallic look. Place a small amount of super gold luster dust in a bowl. Add a few drops of clear extract (it evaporates quickly) and mix until the powder dissolves. Paint on the mixture with a brush and let dry.

Royal Icing for Circles
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoons lemon juice

• Use the same mixing instructions above, using black icing color to tint.
• Immediately cover the royal icing so it doesn’t dry out.
• Prepare a decorator bag fitted with a #3 tip. Place about 1/3 of the royal icing in the bag. Cover the remaining 2/3 of icing while you pipe the outline of the cookie bases in black.
• Then pipe more royal icing on to the bottom of each statue and insert into the opening of each circle cookie base. The royal icing will act as a glue as it dries.
• You can use a toothpick to help prop up the statues if necessary. Place one end on the cookie base and the other against the back of the cookie statue.
• Add a few drops of water to the remaining black royal icing and stir until the icing becomes more fluid. “Flood” or fill the inside of your piped circles.
• Let the icing completely dry for a several hours.

Statue cookie cutters can be found at coppergifts.com. The one used for these cookies is 6.5 inches tall and about 2.25 inches wide at the bottom. Use any round cookie cutter that is wider than the statue cutter bottom. The one used here is about 3 inches wide.

Borrowed from “Bakerella”.