Schroeder's Piano Key Cookies

Schroeder's Piano Key Cookies are inspired by the new Peanuts movie! Plus, links to many other ideas from the movie!

Who is going to see the new Peanuts movie?! My kiddos have been anxiously waiting for the movie to come out - and I have to admit, I am looking forward to it, too! I grew up watching Charlie Brown and the gang, so it's a bit of a trip down memory lane for me. My kiddos enjoy the holiday specials. Since Halloween just passed, we have seen It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown about 50 million times .... and still counting. We DVR'd it so we'll probably still be watching it at Easter ....

Since the Peanuts movie is hitting theaters TODAY - some of my bloggy friends and I thought it would be fun to get together and come up with a few recipes for you! This is a new monthly series I'm jumping in on - so be sure to look for all of the posts!

One of my favorite Peanuts characters is Schroeder. Although I am not a fancy cake and cookie decorator, I was pretty happy with how these Schroeder's Piano Key Cookies turned out! That's why love bakes good cakes .... because it surely doesn't decorate well! :) My kiddos also thought the cookies were super fun - so that's all that mattered! Instead of lemon extract, I used raspberry extract. Feel free to use whatever flavor you like!

Schroeder's Piano Key Cookies

by Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Yield: varies

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1½ cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

For the royal icing:

4 egg whites
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon extract (you can substitute any clear extract)

Instructions

For the cookies:

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into rectangle shapes with a cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

For the royal icing:

Beat egg whites in clean, large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy (use only grade A clean, uncracked eggs). Gradually add sugar and lemon extract. Beat at high speed until thickened.

To assemble the cookies:

1. Tint half of the royal icing black. Place the black icing in a piping bag.

2. With the black icing, outline the rectangles. Carefully outline the keys using the pictures in this post as a guideline.

3. Place the white icing in a piping bag. Fill the keys in, using a toothpick to spread icing into corners, if necessary.

4. Allow icing to harden.