Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

I made these for a playgroup Christmas party I am having tomorrow.  It's from The Joy of Cooking. I frosted some with E and have some for the kids to decorate tomorrow.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flower

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp (I used salted because I was too lazy to go shopping. Don't do what I did.)

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

2. In another bowl blend together the sugar and butter until fluffy and well combined (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the vanilla extract and eggs. Blend together until well combined. Add flour and beat until you have a smooth dough.

3.  Divide batch in two. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so, until firm enough to roll.

4. Preheat the oven to 350.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.

5. Bake 8-10 minutes, until edges are starting to brown.

Royal Icing Ingredients:

2 large egg whites (salmonella, what?)

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Directions:

Using hand mixer, beat together egg whites and lemon juice.  Add confectioners sugar. Mix well on low until it reaches desired consistency.

Notes:

Royal Icing dries very quickly so use it immediately. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.  I created small batches with various food coloring and put them in ziploc bags, then used those to pipe onto the cookies.