The September 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Mandy of "What the Fruitcake?!" Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on Peggy Porchen and The Joy of Baking.
As promised by the challenger, these cookies did hold their shape very well. They did not spread out or puff up. I used the same cookie cutter on the marshmallow fondant as the cookie and it fit perfectly. While on a recent shopping trip I picked up a embossing sheet for fondant, it has a paisley (one of my favorite things) pattern on it. I took on the challenge and decided that royal icing on top of fondant would make a perfect pair with the matte finish that both provide. Thank you Mandy for the great assignment! I had a blast completeing it and anxiously await my next challenge on October 1.
The finished project, a black and white covered cookie that looks almost as good as it tastes.
My favorite ingredient: vanilla bean. Here you can see the seeds waiting to be added to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
The vanilla seeds waiting to be swirled into the sugar cookie batter. 
If you look closely you can see the individual vanilla beans in the batter, as well as an egg on the bottom of the bowl.
As you can see I switched to the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid Mixer. It makes bringing the dough together a lot easier. (the vanilla beans are still evident in this picture) 
After dividing the dough into thirds, it is rolled out between two layers of parchement paper and refrigerated for half an hour. After the inital cooling, cut out the dough with your choice of cookie cutter and then transfer to a cookie sheet and refrigerate it again for another half an hour. Then into a 350 degree preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
This is the cookie after baking before the fondant is added. For the recipe see:
