Baby Onesie Sugar Cookies

These cookies were shipped off to North Carolina for my sister-in-law's baby shower.  We're so excited to be welcoming our third nephew in November!

For whatever reason, baby onesie cookies have been my achilles heel in decorating with royal icing.  They just never turn out as beautiful as I envision.  But, I may have finally broken that curse!  These aren't "beautiful" in the same sense as the brush embroidered cookies from earlier in the week, but they were definitely pretty and worthy of a celebration for a little boy.  I was able to find duckie ribbon and "It's a boy ribbon" that topped it all off wonderfully.

So, just a few tips about these cookies....

Always chill this shape before baking.  For whatever reason, these cookies tend to puff and spread more than other shapes. And puffy onesies just end up looking like those sumo wrestler suits unsuspecting guests are talked into wearing - and humiliating themselves in - at baseball games.  You know...rollling around out in the outfield, trying to stand up and having 30,000 people laugh at you as you repeatedly fall on your face.  And, what self-respecting onesie wants to look like that?

Hmm.  Moving on...   

Be very careful with the blue or it will become too dark much too quickly.  This blue is ONE drop of Americolor Sky Blue and lots of Bright White.  The green is also ONE drop of Leaf Green and lots of Bright White.  Deep Pink (the pink I use the most often) is the same way.  And, the tricky part is they don't look dark when you mix them.  This is why it is always smart to let the colors rest for a bit after mixing but before using.  After about 20 minutes, the color will be more accurate.   

Have fun!

Frosting for the Cause - Brush Embroidered Sugar Cookies

Today, I am guest posting over at Frosting for the Cause.  This is a wonderful website dedicated to raising money for cancer research and to sharing our baked goods with those who help cancer patients.  When I signed up for the post, I agreed to donate $25 to cancer research, to do a tutorial and to donate the baked goods from my tutorial to a local cancer or hospice center.  So, today I am delivering my brush embroidered royal icing sugar cookies to the Life With Cancer center here in Fairfax, VA.  While the cookies are certainly a small gesture, I do hope maybe they will bring some joy to the staff who devote their lives to helping patients wage courageous battles against a horrendous disease.  If any of you would like to sign up for Frosting for the Cause, please do.  It certainly is a worthy cause...

Mason Jars & Volunteers

When I think about these cookies it makes me laugh a little because, really, I just don't think it's possible for these to be more Southern... 

A close family friend (and woman I call the "baby whisperer") placed an order for cookies that looked like mason jars with fireflies flying out of them.  They were for her son's 30th birthday and were to match the invitation.  Rusty is one of the kindest and funniest people I've ever met, and I was so worried about these cookies I actually dreamed about them.  Rather, I had a nightmare that I just couldn't make them work.  I so wanted them to be perfect.  Once they were completed, I loved them.  I personally thought they were gorgeous and just hope everyone at the party did, too.  I covered the "fireflies" in citrus disco dust, and normally would brush away the excess, but the tiny bit left on the cookies added a perfect amount of sparkle underneath the packaging.   

My husband took off to Tennessee with some great friends this weekend to see a football game and to visit with more of our favorite people (Hi, y'all!).  I couldn't let him go down there empty handed so I sent him off with these UT cookies.  I told him they had to at least make it to TN.  From what I understand, they were a big hit and only a few made it to the tailgate.  They were stunning (if I do say so myself), and fairly easy to create.

 

Our dear TN friends have an adorable 4 year old little girl, as in, you just can't help but smile when you're around her (& her 8 month old brother is just as precious).  So, I wanted to send her a little something special and made these butterfly cookies.  I was actually surprised by how beautiful they were.  I played with disco dust again on a few of them and it was so gorgeous.

  
 And, I, of course, couldn't let UT be the only team celebrated around here.  Because the girls and I were headed to NC for my dad's birthday, I whipped up a few Tarheel feet, as well.  They were actually really sweet and would be perfect for any Carolina celebration (you know, when we beat Duke).

 

Engagement Ring Cookies (With A Few Pig Friends)

 

These cookies were so much fun to make.  I am now completely in love with disco dust (a.k.a. edible glitter).  The finished product had the date, 8-28, written on the band in edible ink.  I thought they were adorable and delicious.  The only issue I had with them was the earthquake here on the East Coast...

  

My husband, our two girls, and I were in the car at the time of the earthquake.  We didn't feel a thing.  But, when we arrived home (3 minutes later), our neighbors were all outside, completely freaked out and warned us most everything would probably have fallen from the walls.  Um...nope.  A few pictures were crooked, but nothing was damaged (and here in DC, we supposedly took the strongest hit...).  But, when I started to pick up these cookies, already individually packaged and waiting to be boxed for shipping, I noticed several of them had broken along the edge of the diamond and band.  I always make plenty extra so it wasn't a problem, but I, of course, become completely stressed out over whether they would arrive in one piece or not.  Thankfully, they arrived just fine and the pictures from the Tiffany-themed party were stunning!  My cookies accompanied a gift-box shaped cake and were all set atop a table that looked as though it was strewn with loose diamonds.  Gorgeous!

 

Along with this order came a request for a dozen pig cookies, and I knew exactly how I wanted to do them.  Disco dust!  That was it.  The only detail.  I simply covered the cookies in pink royal icing and while still wet, coated them in pink disco dust.  I, maybe, just a little bit, fell completely in love with these cookies.  They were just begging for me to show my admiration and eat them.  I may have obliged.  Just a little.

 

Recipes:  

I used this chocolate cookie recipe (To. Die. For.):  The End All for Chocolate Cookies.  Follow her directions.  She knows what she's talking about. 

And, then I used this no-chill recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle (because time was an issue) for the sparkly pig friends:  Basic Sugar Cookies.

For my husband...

Even as I type this, I'm not sure which recipe I will choose to accompany this post.  However, it has been on my mind since I read of Jennie's sudden loss.  I don't know Jennie, and only discovered her blog after seeing so many posts in the food blog world in tribute to her husband.  But, I have learned in the last few days that Jennie isn't much different from me.  She has two young girls and a husband she adored.  She laughs and works hard and cherishes her family.  But, last week her husband was suddenly taken from her by a heart attack.  She's now a single mom and a widow, and from what I can tell she's not much - if any - older than me.  This is a time in our lives when we're supposed to be fretting over lack of sleep and how to potty train and teach manners.  We're not supposed to be learning how to cope without our husbands.  Our soul mates.

In loving memory of her husband, Jennie asked that everyone bake a peanut butter pie and share it with the ones they love this past Friday.  I found her posts on Saturday as I was already in the midst of baking a tart for Sunday School.  But, I haven't been able to get her - or her girls - off my mind.  Jennie's enormous loss has made me think about the love I have for my husband and how blessed I am God brought him to me.  I cannot imagine having to face each day without him beside me.  He's an incredible father who brings joy to each of our two daughters every day.  He's my partner, my best friend, my love.  Even in our worst moments, I love him fiercely.  So, with Mikey's memory in mind and in acknowledgement of the turmoil Jennie is facing, I wanted to bake my husband something truly special.  We don't eat peanut butter much in this house, as we are not yet sure if our girls have allergies, but my husband does love sweets.  And, I love baking them for him as they bring him such childlike joy.  I'm blessed not to be standing in Jennie's shoes, and I want to make sure my husband knows how much I truly cherish him.

But, which recipe should I bake?

Well, when my husband treats himself with a sinful, store-bought dessert, it is typically with Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.  I'll admit, they're a weakness of mine, so he knows to hide them away in his desk somewhere so I don't even know they're in the house.  But, because I know how happy they would make him, I've decided on a homemade version.  These were incredibly easy, and tasty - and I think he'll have to hide them, as well.

On half of the cookie pairs, I added a thin layer of melted chocolate to each inside, then plopped on the creme.  I didn't want to alter the original too much, which is why I only applied the chocolate to half.  (I have a tendency to want to over-complicate things).  It's all just a matter of personal taste, but I've included the how-to for adding it, if you want.

Oh, I also made these milk-free because, well, I'm not an idiot.  I know eventually, I'll give in and eat one.  But, the only ingredient to substitute was the butter.  Otherwise, the recipe is already milk-free.

Enjoy these and make sure you share them with someone you love.  For Mikey.

Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies:

For the cookies:
1 cup butter (or Earth Balance vegan butter)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
scant 1 Tbs. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
scant 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups quick oats (I don't think old fashioned would work as well here)

For the creme filling:
2 tsp. very hot water
1/4 tsp. salt (I used kosher, but I think regular ole table salt would dissolve better)
7 oz. marshmallow fluff
1/2 cup shortening (do not substitute butter.  The flavor will be off.)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugars, molasses, vanilla, and eggs.  Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on low until combined.  With the mixer on low, add in the quick oats and mix until incorporated.  Drop dough in roughly equal amounts - about a Tbs. - onto cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.  Bake for 10-12 minutes (typically took about 10.5 mins).  The edges should just be starting to brown and the cookies should look just a little undercooked.  You do not want them to brown all over.  Move to a cooling rack and prepare the filling:

 In a small prep bowl, combine the very hot water and the 1/4 tsp. salt.  Allow the salt to dissolve and the water to cool.  Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the marshmallow fluff, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the cooled water and mix well.

Once cookies are cooled, spoon filling onto one cookie, and top with another cookie similar in shape and size.

Makes about 15 sandwiches.

If using optional chocolate: 

Combine approx. 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and a splash of vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and spreadable.  Spread thin layer on desired number of cookies before topping with filling.

Source:  Slightly adapted from Nosh With Me. 

Sugar Cookie Recipe - Update

Since I last posted about the sugar cookie recipe I like most, I have officially changed my mind.  I know, I know.  But, I really do like the Martha Stewart recipe best.  It just makes a ton of dough and makes delicious cookies.  A difficult feat.  They do tend to puff out more than I like, but that just means I have to roll the dough thinner.  And, don't let the cookies touch on the baking sheet.  This will make them rise more (but do touch biscuits against one another for more fluffiness).

Martha Stewart's Roll-Out Cookies (from Martha Stewart Living's July issue):
4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting surface
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Sift flour, baking powder and salt into large bowl.  Beat butter and sugar on medium high speed until pale and fluffy about 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Reduce speed to low and add in flour mixture, then vanilla.  Refrigerate dough, wrapped in plastic, for at least an hour (but if you leave it too long it will be difficult to work with.  When this happens, I microwave it in 10 second intervals until it's pliable again).  Roll on floured surface until about 1/4" thick and cut into desired shapes.

Martha's recipe says to refrigerate cutout shapes for 30 minutes prior to baking and to bake for 17-19 minutes.  I don't always refrigerate and it only takes about 10 minutes for the cookies to bake when I do not.  Whether I chill the cut dough usually depends on my time, whether I'm concerned about the dough losing shape (chilling will retard any spreading/rising) and whether the shapes have appendages likely to break off (in which case, I do chill).  Regardless, do use greased parchment paper.  I usually get 2-3 dozen out of this dough, though it will obviously depend on the size of your individual cookies.  And, baking time largely depends on the size and thickness of the cookies and the temperature of the dough.  Just start checking it at 10 minutes until you reach the desired color.  Remember, you do not want the cookies to brown, but you don't want them to be too soft, either.

If you are concerned about your dough losing shape during baking, you must roll this dough out to be thin.  It does tend to puff more than the previous recipe I posted, but my husband swears they are much tastier.  They are a bit sweeter, I think.  The biggest reason I have been choosing this dough is because it's just a larger batch; therefore, it simply produces more cookies at once.


Happy Baking!

Decorated Sugar Cookies

I am going to do a how-to post for royal icing at some point.  I promise.  I'm no expert, but I am learning more and more helpful tips and I'm anxious to share them.  But, that will be a very involved post with lots of pictures and, well, I just don't have the time at the moment.  In the meantime, though, I will continue to post photos of cookies that I decorate in case you're looking for inspiration.

Also, my husband has convinced me to set up an etsy shop, so if you're in the market for some cookies hop on over to Sugar Loaf Eats and shop 'til you drop.  If what you're looking for isn't listed, just shoot me a message on etsy.  Chances are I have the shape you need and can get it out to you in just a few days.

In the last few weeks I have baked and decorated *almost* countless amounts of cookies.  First, ice cream cones and cupcakes for Bible School.  Followed by seahorses and starfish for my daughter's second birthday.  Then, baby onesies for an expectant friend.  And finally, my mother-in-law actually became my first paying customer.  I didn't like it.  I was definitely uncomfortable letting her pay me for anything, so I eased my conscience by sending lots extra.  She threw a Mexican themed party this weekend and wanted accompanying cookies.  So, I made sombreros with moustaches, maracas, and red chili peppers.  I also included a few just for my father-in-law because he loves the icing, which is reminiscent of those childhood animal crackers with the smooth, hard frosting.


So, here they all are in *almost* chronological order...


Ice Cream Cones and Cupcakes for the VBS teachers at our church.  They had over 600 kids in VBS this year and we are not a mega-church - that's just mind-blowing!

Starfish and Seahorses for my daughter's birthday party.  We used them as the party favors.  Her cake was an awesome fondant covered birthday cake with mermaids and seahorses.  My cousin made it for me and I will post pictures of it as soon as I get them from my mom.  I am still in awe that she was able to do everything she did for the cake - and that she did it for free!  She truly is a talented baker (visit her Facebook page, Sandy K's Cakes).

 

 

Mexican themed cookies for my mother-in-law's party.  The maracas were all different, though made with the same four colors.  I used a very simple marbling technique.  I packaged the sombrero's with the moustaches, and they were adorable (at least, I thought they were).

And, these are my absolute favorites!  I just learned this technique and was really just trying it out on these cookies.  I wanted to send a few just to my father-in-law and thought, what better time to practice?  I knew he wouldn't care if they were ugly, but they turned out to be absolutely stunning.

 

And, then there were these.  I ended up tossing them out (and by tossing them out, I mean eating them, but I did not send them).  I thought I would try a new royal icing recipe, because, well, the grass is always greener.  Thank goodness I thought ahead enough to start this batch before the Mexican cookies or I would have been in trouble.  You see, my friend (who was due this weekend) is not expecting these so it was okay to not send them.  But, this is essentially how cookies turn out when you get careless with the mixing and over fluff.  Too much air = bleeding and uneven drying.  See all that splotchiness on there?  Not good.  They didn't even harden.  Just stayed a semi-wet crumbly mess.  It was really too bad, too, because I love how the designs turned out.  They did still taste pretty great, though.

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

I have somewhat recently discovered the art of decorating sugar cookies with royal icing.  The simple frosting leaves a smooth and polished look on the cookie.  Though not pliable like fondant, it still gives a very impressive result, and with practice, is not that difficult (when it all works out, that is).  While royal icing is nothing more than sifted powdered sugar, meringue powder and water, it is a seemingly complicated process that is too involved to include in this post.  One day, when I have oodles of free time (ha!), I will post a how-to on royal icing based on my personal experiences.  Until then, go on over to Bake at 350 and check out her tutorials and decorations.  She is incredible!

A component that cannot be left out of royal icing cookies is, of course, the cookie.  And, this is where my quest for the perfect sugar cookie comes in to action.  You see, I love sugar cookies.  Soft, chewy and not too sweet, they are the perfect cookie.  Unless they are hard and brittle and a complete disappointment.  In my obviously important opinion, there are few culinary disasters worse than a hard, dry sugar cookie.  So, naturally I want my decorated cookies to be tasty as well, and I have tried no less than 10 different recipes to figure out which one I like best.  And here is what I have discovered along the way that applies to nearly all recipes:

1.)  You must roll the dough out to be very thin, or most sugar cookie recipes will puff and spread too much during the baking process, losing their shape.
2.) For most recipes, you do not want the cookies to brown completely, but you do want to cook them until the edges have *just* started to brown or they will be too soft.   
3.)  Against all better judgment, you want the cookies to be on the harder side.  The moisture from the water in the icing will soften them up, so you don't want them to be so soft they fall apart.
4.)  Put the dough in the fridge even if the recipe doesn't call for it.  Stiffening it up just a little will make it easier to roll and cut.  If you refrigerate it too long, soften it in the microwave in 10 second increments until it is just pliable.


But, now that I've said all that, I must contradict myself a bit....I just like my cookies soft, and I like them to be thicker.  I can't help myself.  And, no cookie should exist solely to look pretty.  It should also be delicious and too much icing to cookie ratio destroys that.  So, while I like the taste of many of the recipes I have tried, the most reliable for tasty cookie decorating is this:

Sugar Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour

Sift flour and set aside.  Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the powdered sugar and mix well.  Blend in the egg, followed by the vanilla and salt.  Add the flour and mix just until combined and dough forms.  Pat the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about an hour, or even overnight.

When ready to roll dough, generously flour the surface you will roll on, as well as your rolling pin.  It also helps to pat a small amount of flour onto your own hands and the top of the dough.  Roll the dough to ¼” thickness (or as much as 1/2", though it is not recommended by any other baker out there) and cut with cookie cutters and place cookie sheets that have been well-greased or lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 375° for 8-10 min (start with 8, and check every 30 seconds until done). Cookies should not brown.  Cool and decorate with frosting of your choice.  Makes ~30 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie.

And, here are just a few examples of cookies I recently decorated.  Notice how smooth the finish is of the icing (that's glorious for a type A like me)!

Source:  Adapted from Annie's Eats.