For the Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies

• In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.

• Add the egg and vanilla bean paste. Mix for another 2-3 minutes.

• Add the flour, salt, and cinnamon. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and looks like scooped ice cream.

• Divide the dough in half, roll it out onto flour dusted parchment paper to about 1/2″ thickness. Chill for 30 minutes to an hour.

• Cut out your desired shapes. Place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. They won’t spread in the oven, but leave a little space in between.

• Put cookies of similar size on the same cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375.

• For large cookies (3-4 inches) bake at 375 for 8 minutes. For mini cookies (1-2 inches) bake at 375 for 4-5 minutes. The cookies shouldn’t brown at all in the oven and still look slightly wet in the center when you remove them from the oven.

• Let them cool on the hot cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Royal Icing

• In the bowl of your stand mixer add the meringue powder and lukewarm water. Use a whisk to combine the water and meringue powder. Continue to whisk until the meringue powder dissolves and the mixture looks like beer foam.

• Add the powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

• Mix in the clear vanilla until combined. Then, decide what colors you want and divide the royal icing into bowls.

• Use gel food coloring to color the icing however you like. Then use water to thin out the icing to a 25-30 second icing.

• Add the icing to tipless piping bags and decorate however you like.

• Let the icing dry at least 4 hours, up to overnight. It should set completely and be stackable.