Christmas Sugar Cookies

I recommend using your favorite sugar cookie recipe (mine's nothing special, so I'll spare you). I did, however, use two types of frosting to decorate. For the icing, which I used as a base and dusted with metallic powder, I used a confectioners' sugar/water/lemon juice base. For the decorative and adhesive frosting with which I attached the dragees, I used a royal icing with an egg-white base. (I'll provide the frosting recipes below.)

Sugar Cookie Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 Tb water

1 Tb lemon juice

Sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in liquids until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If it's too thin, whisk in more sugar. If it's too thick, whisk in more liquid.

Royal Icing

2 large egg whites, or more to thin the icing

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar, or more to thicken icing

Juice of 1 lemon

Beat the whites until stiff but not dry. Add sugar and lemon juice; beat for 1 minute more. If icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it is too thin, add more sugar. The icing may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

http://cookie-crumbles.blogspot.com/2005/12/dungeons-and-dragees.html