Cookies on sticks

Prepare a few cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
Depending on the size of your sheets, you will likely need a minimum of two sheets.
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy in texture.
Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture in three additions, mixing just until no dry flour remains. Do not overmix.
**Tip: If you are using a stand mixer, you can do this step with the machine. If you are using an electric hand mixer, rather mix the flour in by hand. The dough will get quite stiff and you might put too much strain on your hand mixer.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of minimum 8mm (⅓ of an inch).
This thickness will provide enough support for the skewer to hold the cookies securely.
Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Reroll scraps as needed.
For this recipe, we used a heart shaped cookie cutter that's 8cm across the widest part. This size cutter will yield 18 cookies at 8mm thickness

Using the sharp ends of the bamboo skewers, gently push them into the bottom point of each heart-shaped cookie.
As you insert the skewer, slowly roll it back and forth between thumb and index finger. This helps ease it through the dough.
Try to keep the skewer as horizontal as possible as you push it in. This prevents accidentally poking it through the top surface.
Place the fingers from your other hand on top of the cookie. You'll be able to feel the skewer's movement through the dough.
Push the skewer in as deep as possible without breaking through the top surface. This provides stability.
Once inserted, gently press down on the surface surrounding the skewer. This compacts the dough tightly around it.
If you are not planning on using royal icing for decoration, now would be the time to add any sprinkles to the cookies, before baking.

Transfer the heart-shaped cookies onto the baking sheets.
To save space on your baking tray, place the cookies in the pattern shown on this picture.

Preheat the oven to 180C/356F/gas mark 4.
To firm up the cookies before baking, place them in the fridge whilst preheating the oven. This will help the cookies hold their shape whilst baking.
Bake for 12 minutes or until the outside edges of the cookies are a light golden colour.
Allow the cookies to cool down slightly on their trays before moving them.
When the cookies are cooler, slide a spatula underneath each cookie and gently lift it onto the cooling rack.
At this stage, don't try and pick them up by the skewers, they will still be too soft and the skewer might break through the soft dough. Once completely cooled you can handle them to your heart's content.
If you find a skewer that's either coming out or feels a bit loose, you can pipe some royal icing into the hole and let it dry with the skewer in place.

For beautifully smooth and uniform icing coverage, you'll need to make flooding consistency royal icing.
In a bowl, mix together icing sugar/powdered sugar, egg whites and vanilla extract until well blended.
Before adding any water, test the consistency by drizzling a small amount of icing from a spoon onto the surface. It should slowly disappear after about 10 seconds.
If the drizzled icing ribbon disappears too quickly, the icing is too thin. Add more powdered sugar to thicken it up.
If the icing is too thick and the ribbon takes longer to disappear, the icing is too dense. Add a few drops of water and retest to get the right consistency.
Optional: For piping finer details, remove some icing before thinning the bulk of it. Thicken it to toothpaste consistency by adding more powdered sugar.
Set this thicker icing aside for adding details later after you've covered the cookies with the thinner icing.
Divide the prepared flooding icing between bowls for each colour you want. Use a toothpick to stir in the gel food colouring a little at a time until the desired shade develops.
Transfer the coloured icing to piping bags fitted with small tips. Decorate the cookies as desired.
See the blog post further up for links to the experts on how to pipe beautiful cookies and which piping tips to use for each method.
Allow the iced cookies to dry undisturbed for 12-24 hours before handling so the icing can fully set.