X-Men: Dark Phoenix Cookies

I’ve been on a cookie kick lately.

However, if I’m being totally honest, royal icing is NOT my favorite way to decorate, but I have been trying to give it a shot. Practice makes perfect, but I prefer when it’s “perfect” on the first try. (I’m kinda impatient like that…)

First I took on Poké Ball cookies — difficulty level easy (and they were oh so cute!). Next it was Game of Thrones house sigil cookies — difficulty level medium/hard (for my limited skills, at least). House Stark and Lannister were okay to ice, but when it came to the Targaryen sigil, let’s just say I ate a couple of the outtake cookies.

Now I’m on to my next batch of (colorful) cookies to celebrate the latest X-Men movie, Dark Phoenix. Difficulty level easy!

I’ve always been an X-Men fan, and I’ve especially loved the recent prequel series with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Now that Sansa, err, I mean, Sophie Turner is bringing the phoenix to life in the next installment of the franchise, I couldn’t be more excited.

Bake a batch of X-Men cookies, inspired by their latest blue and yellow suits, and sneak a bag of sweets into the theater when you see Dark Phoenix, opening in theaters this Friday, June 7.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix 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
• Blue food coloring
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet

For the Icing:

• Yellow food coloring
• Icing bag and icing tip
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of meringue powder
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons of water
• Toothpicks

To start, combine the butter and powdered sugar together. Add the vanilla and slowly incorporate the flour, mixing thoroughly.

Add blue food coloring to the dough, mixing well.

Next, form a ball with your dough, wrap it in parchment paper, and let it 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 round cookie cutter or a circular drinking glass, cut out circles from your dough and lay them on an ungreased baking sheet. Place the baking sheet with the cookies on it into the refrigerator for 10 minutes to chill (this will help the cookies keep their shape), then transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully so that the edges do not brown.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

Let the cookies cool completely while you prepare the yellow royal icing.

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

Tip: add more water to thin your icing or add more powdered sugar to thicken it.

Add the icing to an icing bag with a round or oblong icing tip.

Place the cookies on a piece of parchment paper, then add a diagonal line of icing from one corner to the opposite corner. Repeat on the other side to form an X.

Tip: if your parchment paper has grid lines on it, use those as guides when going corner to corner with your icing to keep your lines straight.

Next, fill in the rounded edges between each leg of your X, using a toothpick to smooth any edges of icing into the next section. Let your icing dry entirely before moving.

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.