Line your baking tray with parchment paper and it keep aside.

Take butter, egg, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until it’s combined and turns creamy.

Add flour, salt, and baking powder into the butter mixture and mix all together to form a dough.

Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.

Once chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out star shapes using a star-shape cookie cutter (I used the middle one from the set – 2.3 inches).

Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes.

Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes in the baking tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

ROYAL ICING:

In a large bowl of a stand mixer (or hand mixer) combine egg whites and lime juice and beat on high until frothy.

Add powdered sugar in batches and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and the mixture looks shiny.

Turn speed up to high and mix till the mixture becomes thick and starts to hold peaks.

Divide the icing into two equal parts and tint one part with red gel food color. Keep the other part as it is (white).

Put both the icings in different icing bags and decorate your cookies.

Outline the cookies with the icing first, keeping a little space on the edges of the cookies. Then flood the cookies with the icing; use a toothpick to spread the icing so it’s evenly filled.

Sprinkle sugar pearls on top of the cookies while the icing is still wet. Allow to set.