You’re Puggin’ Awesome!

Instructions

1. Print and cut out the Pug cookie template. Cover the template in packing tape and cut it out again. This will help protect the template from the butter in the dough as well as make it a little stiffer and easier to cut around.
2. Mix your royal icing until it reaches a 20 second consistency (meaning icing scooped up and dropped back into the bowl takes about 20 seconds to full reabsorb). Place your template under a piece of parchment or wax paper. Scoop about 1/2 cup of royal icing into a bowl and color it dark brown. Pour the icing into a tipless piping bag or a piping bag with a small round tip. Using the template as a guide, pipe the muzzles onto the parchment/wax paper. Allow to dry completely (about 5 hours). Save the remaining icing for the ears and eye area.
3. Make one batch of sugar cookie dough per the recipe instructions. Roll the dough out to ¼” thick on a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut out your cookies using the template provided. Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for 7-8 minutes, or until the surface is no longer shiny.
4. Once the cookies have cooled completely, you can decorate them. If you need some guidelines for piping, you can cut up your cookie template and trace the pieces on using a food coloring pen.
5. Using the leftover brown icing, pipe the ears and the eye area. Spoon 1/3 of a cup of the white royal icing into a separate bowl and color the remaining icing a light ivory color. Pour the ivory icing into a tipless piping bag or a piping bag with a small round tip, and fill in the rest of the face. Immediately add the royal icing transfer muzzle on top of the still wet ivory icing.
6. Divide the remaining white icing into two portions and tint one black. Use the black and white royal icing to create the eyes and details on the muzzle.
7. Let the icing harden completely before packaging.