Fourth of July Sugar Cookies

For Cookies:
Cut out star shape, bake and let cookies cool.

For Royal Icing:

Combine meringue powder and water in bowl of an electric mixer. With your paddle attachment beat until combined and foamy.

Sift powdered sugar into meringue mixture and beat on low to combine.

Add in corn syrup and increase speed to medium high for about 5 minutes. You want the icing to look glossy and have stiff peaks. A still peak will not fall if jiggled. Do not overbeat.

Dived icing evenly between three bowls.

Prepare a piping bag with a #3 tip. Fill bag with one bowl of white icing. This will be used for your outlining (Any leftover can be thinned and used to fill cookies if needed)

Add red coloring to one bowl and with rubber spatula stir until desired color is reached. Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing.

Add blue color to other bowl and with rubber spatula stir until desired color is reached. Cover with plastic wrap touch the icing.

Outline your cookies with stiff icing and let rest for at least an hour before you attempt to flood the cookies. If you want to have sprinkles around the edges you can dip wet outlined cookies into a bowl of sprinkles. These still need to dry before being flooded.

For Thinned Icing:

Add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of syrup.

Cover with a damp dishtowel for several minutes. Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any air bubbles that have formed on top.

Put thinned icing into squeeze bottles.

For Flooding Cookies:

Gently squeeze flooded icing onto the cookies. Using a toothpick, spread the icing into the corners and edges of the cookie. Let cookies dry overnight.

For Decorating Cooking:

Dots: To add dots of different colors into your cookies you simply flood the cookie. Let it rest for a few minutes and then use another thinned icing color and squeeze little dots into the flooded cookie.

Swirls: Flood the cookies and let sit for a few minutes. Add a few dots onto the cookie and using a toothpick simply connect the dots (will make a heart shape) or just swirl lines into the cookie.

Sprinkles: Flood the cookies and sprinkle with sprinkles