5 tablespoons meringue powder (45 grams, on my measure)
2 to 3 teaspoons oil-free extract (I use vanilla)
½ to ¾ cups warm water
food coloring: YOU CHOOSE. Pick the antithesis of your learned archetypal gender-divided colors. MIX IT UP. I used teal (mix of blue and green Wilton gels) and pink (also Wilton) by request for the main colors. I also reserved some untinted royal icing and made some lavender (Americolor purple gel) for detailing.
Instructions
TO MAKE THE COOKIES: Measure and sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl or in mixer bowl with paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and the sugar. Once smooth, add the eggs, almond extract and combine well.
Add the dry flour mixture to the butter / egg mixture, but by bit. Mix until the dough is smooth.It will be thick.
Shape into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour, though overnight works. You can freeze the dough here too (but thaw in the fridge before using).
ROLLING: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you chilled the dough more than an hour, allow it to warm very slightly to encourage better roll out. Roll between long pieces of parchment, to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and to obviate the need for any extra flour. Roll to between ⅛- to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out dresses and shoes, or whatever you choose, and bake for about 8 minutes, or until tops are matte. Cool slightly before removing from pan and cooling on rack. Wait at least 2 days before icing the cookies. You can freeze them for months, thaw in the fridge, and then decorate.
ICING: Find a tutorial on flood icing and piping icing consistencies. There is no one way to do this; you need to find your preferences. Piping icing needs to pretty thick for the detailing. I use Sweet Sugar Belle's "20-second icing" to do most of the dress and shoe main colors.
Whip up the icing: Begin by stirring the extract into half the water (start with ¼ cup).
Using a paddle attachment, gently mix the sugar and meringue powder. No need to sift.
Set the mixer on its lowest setting slowly and add the water/extract mix to the dry ingredients. The icing will become thick and lumpy as the water is added. Don't worry! It will become smooth.
Continue to add the remaining water (this may or may not be the entire amount) until the mixture reaches a thick, honey-like consistency.
Turn the mixer to medium speed and whip 2 to 4 minutes until the icing is thick and fluffy. You want a soft peak consistency.
DECORATING: Divide up bowls to make up your color choices. Save some icing to not tint for detailing (frilly bits, flowers, steampunk, tartan, whatever). If you do not need to use all of the royal icing at once, it keeps well for about a week, untinted, at room temperature and well wrapped. If already tinted, sometimes remixing can bring it back to life before using (I usually don't find there is a problem unless the weather is really dry and the icing gets clumpy). Just remix it if the water starts to separate. Allow the undercoats on the cookie shapes to dry some before adding the details, to achieve pointy, textured effects (like the dress flowers). Otherwise, if you want to melt the detail colors into the undercoat colored icing, thin it down a bit and use right after piping the undercoat on. You can achieve the swirling striped effect by doing this and running a toothpick through the stripes.
Allow to dry completely before serving, usually overnight. I recommend serving with wine to instigate and lubricate a discussion about gender assumptions and fashion.
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/dessert-recipes/dress-and-shoe-sugar-cookies-recipe/