Dough: In a mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and eggs. Mix together until smooth, it may look a little curdled but it will smooth out with the addition of the rest of the ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, baking soda, cream of tartar and flour. Pour the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture in batches, mixing between additions.
Once they have mixed well, place the dough into a large ziploc bag and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least one hour. I like to chill it overnight.
Bake: When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 335°F. Line baking trays with parchment and set aside.
You can either roll the cookie dough into 1 inch balls & dip them in granulated sugar or roll the dough out to about 1/4" thickness on a floured surface and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
Place the dough 2 inches apart on prepared tray. Bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes or just until the edges appear browned. Do not overbake them.
Remove them from the oven and carefully place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to completely cool before frosting them.
Royal Icing: Place all the icing ingredients in a blender and mix for approximately 5 minutes. This makes a thicker consistency which will be used for the border of the cookie. Transfer about 1/3 of the icing to a piping bag. We use this (white frosting) for a dam to hold in the thinner frosting that you use to flood the cookie with (pink and purple). You can also make them the same color if you’d like.
Add about 2 TBSP- 1/4 cup more water to the remaining icing in the blender. Blend until smooth. Transfer to bowls and add food coloring to create the colors you’d like.
Decorate: Using the thicker frosting (white), create a border around the cookie. Fill in with the thinner frosting (pink or purple). When filling in the cookies with icing, use a small amount of icing at first and spread it around. Using too much icing will cause the dam to break, so to speak! Use the thicker frosting (white) to create details in the cookie.
Allow the frosting to completely dry before plating them. This could take a couple of hours, but you can also place them in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Notes
Large batch recipe yields 5-7 dozen cookies. Your actual yield varies depending on what kind of cookie cutters you use.