Lalabye Baby: Simply Convenient Modern Cloth Diapers

Instructions

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) (make sure oven is at temperature for at least 1/2 an hour before baking!)
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs and almond and vanilla extracts. Mix well.
4. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix at low speed until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
5. Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see hint below)
6. Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes.
7. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees F (176 C) for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.

HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess

• Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.
• Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator.
• Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut.
• Re-roll leftover dough and repeat the process! Added bonus: you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.

Royal Icing

Ingredients

5 tbsp meringue powder

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup warm water

2 lbs powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In a mixer, combine meringue powder, light corn syrup, clear vanilla extract, and water.
2. Using a hand whisk, mix ingredients until the mixture becomes foamy.
3. Add the powdered sugar to the mixture.
4. Hand whisk the mixture until the powdered sugar is incorporated and looks soupy. (I do this step so the powdered sugar doesn’t fly everywhere when I start the mixer in the next step.)
5. Attach the paddle attachment and beat mixture on medium-high for about 4-6 minutes.
6. The mixture should begin to thicken and whiten.
7. Mix until the icing forms peaks. (If you remove the paddle and wiggle it, the icing should kind of jiggle but the peaks will remain intact.)

Storing Royal Icing

After the royal icing is done mixing, I immediately prep it for storage. Royal icing can dry and start to crust over fairly quickly. I like to store my icing in the same mixing bowl. I know others like to transfer the icing to another bowl or into Tupperware for storage, which works great too. Below is just my preferred way of doing it.

1. Scrape the sides of the bowl and gather the icing with a rubber spatula.
2. Cover the top with plastic wrap touching the icing surface. Be sure to cover the edges of the icing. Any exposure to air will dry out the icing.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel. This prevents little dry crusties of icing from forming and getting into your icing, which would clog your icing tips when you try to decorate.

From this point, I scoop out the amount of icing I need at a time, while recovering the icing with plastic wrap and the damp cloth when it is not in use. I leave this bowl of icing at room temperature on my kitchen counter. Royal icing will keep for a few weeks.