Wipe down the bowl and utensils with vinegar or lemon juice to remove any grease residue.

Into a bowl pour water ( 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons), pour in meringue powder (4 and 1/2 tablespoons). Beat or whisk until well combined and foamy, about 30 seconds.

Pour in powdered sugar and beat on medium low speed until thick and well combined about 1 minute. Then add your flavorings : Vanilla Extract (1 tablespoon) and Almond Extract (1 teaspoon). If the mass appears too dry add little more water, by teaspoons.

TIP : If your confectioner's sugar is lumpy, be sure to sift it first.

TIP : Use other extracts as desired, avoid using oil base extract, use only water and alcohol based extracts. To avoid use of alcohol use Vanilla Powder instead.

Beat until thick, about 3-5 minutes.

Use royal icing to decorate cookies or make sugar decorations.

Sift all purpose flour (3cups), baking powder (1/4 teaspoon) and salt (1/8 teaspoon) into a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl of your mixer beat room temperature butter (2 sticks, 226 grams), powdered sugar ( 1 1/4 cup) until creamy and well combined, about 2 minutes. Then beat in large egg (1 whole egg). Beat for 1 minute. Then beat in Vanilla Extract (2 teaspoons).

Gradually and on low speed beat in flour mix. Once flour is well moisten and your don't see any more flour streaks in the bowl pour in rainbow jimmies sprinkles and stir them in with a spatula until well distributed. Then using your hands gather dough into a ball. Knead it for 10 second until it comes together nicely. Flatten it into a disk.

TIP : If cookie dough appears too be too dry, add 1 teaspoon of milk

Roll the dough out between 2 sheets of parchment to about 1/4 inch thick. Chill for 40 minutes to an hour. Cut out 6 inch rounds with a large cookie cutter or use a smaller round cookie cutter.

TIP : Alternatively use a bowl and a knife to cut out 6 inch or smaller rounds.

Cut each round into 8 approximately equal wedges. Distribute cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 365F (185C) for about 7-9 minutes. Let cookies cool on a baking sheet of a minute or two then transfer them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Allow to cool completely before decorating.