Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until smooth.

Then add eggs and vanilla. Mix well, then add the baking soda and baking powder.

Finally add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well in between. After all the flour has been added, the dough should start to come together.

Roll the dough out ¼ inch thick and then cut out shapes with your cookie cutters. Place these on a parchment paper and place them in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Then pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the cookies from the freezer and bake for 7-9 minutes (rotating the pan half-way through).

In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. Whisk on medium high speed for 4 minutes. You want to have stiff peaks form when you lift the whisk out of the icing. (This is piping consistency.)

For flooding consistency, divide the icing into smaller bowls and add in the food coloring gel. Stir until well combined. Then, add in 1 tablespoon of water to each bowl. Mix well. (This is flooding consistency.) Add in your choice of coloring and mix until there are no streaks.

Decorate your sugar cookies and then let them set out uncoverd for at least 1-2 hours. Once the royal icing is hard you can store them in an air-tight container.