brown sugar trees w/ royal lemon icing

you can double this recipe for a family,

i cut it in half as i make them for just two.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted, soft butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 tbls pure vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

royal icing (recipe follows)

in large bowl with mixer on medium, beat butter & sugars until light & fluffy.

add in the eggs & vanilla & beat until well mixed.

in a medium bowl mix dry ingredients.

slowly add to wet on low speed.

pat the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic & chill for 4 hours or up to overnight.

preheat oven to 350

remove dough from fridge and let sit for 10 minutes to soften.

on a lightly floured surface roll the dough into 1/4 inch thickness.

carefully transfer the tree cutouts onto the baking sheet with parchment paper.

bake for roughly 10 - 15 minutes, turning the baking sheet once during baking.

cool completely then ice.

royal icing:

1 egg white

roughly 2 - 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

juice of half a lemon

with a wire whisk beat the egg white like crazy until it forms stiff white peaks, stir in sugar until desired consistency, add in lemon.