Easy Game of Thrones Sigil Banner Cookies

It’s here! Can you believe that the Game of Thrones FINALE is tomorrow evening?

And the real question… what are we going to watch on Sunday nights now? Selecting a Sunday night show to watch is a real dilemma, but by the looks of it, HBO has us covered with their upcoming Big Little Lies S2 and their new series, the Watchmen. Anyone else excited for those two? *this girl sure is*

Per the request of my blogger friend Nancy (check her blog out at Plus Size Nerd!), this week I baked a batch of Game of Thrones cookies decorated with simple royal icing patterns ahead of the finale. This was the first time I’ve baked something for someone other than my family members or co-workers (they’re my guinea pigs!), so I was a little nervous to see how it would all come together. The jury is still out on if the cookies made it in one piece or not, as I sent them via the postal service (wrapped up in a lot of bubble wrap), but fingers crossed that these will be a nice addition to her GoT finale party!

Side note, the lady at the post office tried to argue with me that cookies were not fragile… I beg to differ! These are very important cookies, okay?

Game of Thrones House Banner Cookies

What You Need:

For the Cookies:

• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), room temperature
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• Parchment paper

For the Icing:

• Black food coloring
• Icing bag and icing tip (I used a Wilton no. 2)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of meringue powder
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons of water
• Wilton edible food marker, black
• Toothpicks (just a couple)
• Game of Thrones house logos — Stark DOWNLOAD, Targaryen DOWNLOAD, Lannister DOWNLOAD

To start, combine the butter and powdered sugar together. Add the vanilla and slowly incorporate the flour, mixing thoroughly. Note — this is a dryer cookie, so at first, it may seem as if the dough does not have enough “wet” ingredients to bring it together. Keep mixing the dough together until it does — trust me, it was like my stand mixer was performing magic!

Next, form a large dough ball and wrap it in parchment paper to chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to 1/4 inch thickness. Using a rectangular cookie cutter or a piece of paper the size you desire as a stencil, cut out rectangles in your dough, then cut a small triangle at one end to form the shape of a banner flag. Place your cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sit it in the refrigerator to chill the dough for about 10 minutes. Then place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully so that the edges do not brown. As soon as you see the tips of your cookie start to reach a golden color, remove from the oven.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling sheet to cool while you prepare your black royal icing.

For the royal icing, beat the meringue powder, powdered sugar, and water in a bowl. Add black food coloring and mix well.

Tip: add more water to thin your icing or add more powdered sugar to thicken it. I’m a royal icing beginner, so I chose to use a thicker icing, helping it to retain the shape I wanted as I iced my patterns.

Add the icing to an icing bag with a round icing tip (I used a Wilton no. 2).

Place the cookies on a piece of parchment paper, then use your Wilton edible food marker to trace your cutout Game of Thrones house symbols (found in the list above) onto your cookies. Your markings do not need to be perfect, but they will give you a lot of guidance for how to ice your cookie (see example below).

Once your house symbols are stenciled on your cookies, carefully outline the shape with your royal icing, then fill in the shape with icing, smoothing it out to the edges with a toothpick.

Tip: test the icing on one cookie and let it dry before icing the rest of the cookies, that way you can see how much, if any, the icing spreads while drying.

Once your house sigils are iced, feel free to use your extra icing to embellish your banner flags. I added a thin line to outline the top and bottom of my cookie.

Let icing dry entirely (I let mine dry overnight).

Looking for Game of Thrones DIY Ideas?

DIY: Direwolf in Training Dog Bandana

DIY: In Case of White Walkers, Break Glass Sign

DIY: Make Your Own Iron Throne for Under $25

DIY: Hold the Door (Hanger)