Hi, everyone, it’s Meghan here from Nutmeg & Honeybee_._ For this collaboration with Gray, I really wanted to stay true to his unique style and bright photographs. May marks an exciting month for Gray because his new book BEACHES was just released. As a way to celebrate this special month, I decided to recreate the cover art for BEACHES onto some decorated sugar cookies. In order to see all of the beauty from Gray's cover photograph, I made the cookies a little larger than normal. This helps you see all of the intricate beach towels and colorful umbrellas. I used my favorite easy cookie recipe and delicious icing, and then did some decorating. I had a blast making these cookies to celebrate Gray's work, and hope you guys enjoy them as well!
## **Sugar Cookie Recipe**
_Yields 2-3 dozen cookies_
**Ingredients:**
- 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
**Instructions:**
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place parchment paper on cookie trays to ensure your cookies will not stick to the pan. This recipe does not call for any baking powder/baking soda, so your cookies will not spread. They will keep their shape.
2. In a large bowl, add flour and salt. In another mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. On a low setting, add eggs one at a time to the butter/sugar mixture, while scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla to the mixture. Slowly incorporate the flour/salt mixture into the mixing bowl (keep mixer on low). Once the dough begins to clump in the middle and the flour is fully incorporated, you can remove the dough and place on parchment paper.
3. To make your life easier, put the dough in the refrigerator for thirty minutes to an hour. This will harden the dough making it easier to roll out.
4. Once you let the dough chill, you want to roll out the dough with a rolling pin. If the dough feels too sticky, you can add flour to both sides of the dough and begin to roll. You will want to flatten the dough and create a smooth top. You should roll your dough so the thickness is about 1/4 of an inch.
5. Now you can use rectangular cookie cutters to cut out the shapes of the book. You will need to re-roll your dough a few times in order to get as many cookies as possible.
6. Once you have finished cutting out your cookies, place them on the cookie trays lined with parchment paper. Bake your cookies for 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. You will need to let you cookies cool for 20 minutes before you can start decorating.
## **Royal Icing Recipe**
**Ingredients:**
- 1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
- 2 ½ Tbsp. meringue powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup water
**Instructions:**
1. In medium mixing bowl, using the whisk attachment, add confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder.
2. In a small bowl, add the vanilla to the water. Slowly add the vanilla water to the confectioners sugar and meringue mixture.
3. Mix on low for 2 minutes and then increase speed to high for another 5 minutes or until your icing has stiff peaks (when you lift your whisk attachment and there is a peak that keep its shape). This is your basic royal icing.
## **For Decorating**
I used a thinner version of my royal icing and created a tan icing for the base. I piped the word "beaches" in a white 20-second icing (meaning the icing is thin enough so when you draw a line with a spoon in the icing, it takes 20 seconds to disappear). Instead of piping all of the small umbrellas and beach towels, I used a paintbrush and edible food coloring to make the designs. _A huge thank you to Mehgan from_ _Nutmeg & Honeybee_ _for sharing this amazing recipe with us!_
**Are you going to give this recipe a try?** **And have you picked up your copy of** **BEACHES** **yet?** You can also snag the collector’s edition of the book by clicking here.
Xx Team GM
##### Photos: Nutmeg & Honeybee