The sweetest (edible) letter Mom will ever receive

Looking for something oh-so-simple and oh-so-sweet to give to Mom this Mother’s Day? Turning an iced sugar cookie into a handwritten note from the kids is guaranteed to melt any mother’s heart (and satisfy her sweet tooth).

This Mother’s Day, skip the generic card in favor of edible letter cookies made by her favorite munchkins.

This cookie is simple enough for kids to make with just a little help from Dad or grandparents. This recipe makes up to four letter cookies, great for multiple children or to make a few backups or practice cookies.

Start by making the sugar cookie dough, and then pull out a ball about the size of a large pear.

Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of parchment paper.

Lift off the top piece of paper, and use a pizza slicer to cut out a rectangle. Remove the extra pieces of dough, and transfer the bottom parchment paper (with the cookie) to a cookie sheet. Once the cookie is baked, let it cool before icing it.

To ice your cookies, put about 1/4 cup of royal icing in a bag with a writing tip or with a corner snipped off to make a small hole. Outline the cookies with a border of icing.

Once you have all the cookies outlined, put the frosting in the bag back into the bowl. Mix in about a teaspoon of water at a time until it’s the consistency of shower gel. This is your flood icing. Spoon some flood icing onto each cookie, and spread it evenly within the royal icing border.

Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles. The icing will then fill them in.

Let the cookies dry for at least 4 hours or overnight. The icing should be quite firm and smooth.

Once the icing has hardened completely, your child can use an edible marker to write their letter to Mom. The cookie letters will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Sugar cookie letter recipe

Yields 4

Ingredients:

For the cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

For the icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg white (use pasteurized eggs to prevent foodborne illness) 
• Water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Use a stand mixer to cream together the butter and powdered sugar.
3. Mix in the vanilla and egg.
4. Mix in the flour on low speed until the dough comes together.
5. Roll 4 pear-size balls of dough between pieces of parchment paper, and then remove the top sheets of the parchment paper. Use a pizza slicer to cut the dough into rectangles about 6 x 4 inches in size.
6. Place the rectangular cookies along with the bottom sheets of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until golden. Remove, and let them cool completely.
7. To make the icing, mix together the powdered sugar and egg white. Beat on high speed until the icing forms stiff peaks.
8. Place about 1/4 cup of icing into a pastry bag fitted with a #1 or #2 round decorating tip. You can also use a plastic bag with the very tip of a corner snipped off. Pipe a border along the edges of each cookie.
9. Put the remaining icing from the bag back into your mixing bowl. Begin mixing in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until your icing has the consistency of shower gel. Spoon the thinned icing onto the center of each cookie, and spread it toward the borders until the whole cookie is covered. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles.
10. Let the icing harden for at least 4 hours or overnight. Have your child use an edible marker to write his or her letter on the hardened icing. Keep the cookies in an airtight container until ready to surprise Mom.

More edible gifts for Mother’s Day

Tropical fruit flower bouquet
Child’s handprint sugar cookie
Cupcake Momosa

Updated by Bethany Ramos on 4/11/2016