Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Tree and Snow wallpaper

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Let It Snow!


Did you know I've been living vicariously through you?  Yes, you there....the one with the snow. 

For those of us living in South Texas, snow seems very magical.  I'm picturing your kids coming in from making snow angels with little pink cheeks and noses. I dream of being bundled up in sweaters, scarves and coats with fur-trimmed (fake, or course) hoods. I can just see your family bursting in the front door to find a bubbling pot of chili on the stove and a fire in the fireplace.

{Yes, I've given this a little thought.}

So, these cookies are for you.  We don't wear many hats and mittens around here; we have to EAT them. ;)

These winter cap and mitten cookies are really simple to make.  What I love about using this "wet-on-wet" technique, is that you can make many different designs all at the same time.


To make them, you'll need....
{Right up front, I missed taking pictures of some of the steps....please forgive me.}

Using a #3 tip, outline cookies.  I used a #3 tip here rather than a #2 because I wanted the outline to really show.

Thin all colors with a bit of water until the icing is the consistency of a thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit several minutes.

Uncover and stir gently with a rubber spatula to pop air bubbles that have risen to the surface.  Transfer icings to squeeze bottles.

Working 6-8 cookies at a time, fill in the main color and the white trim.  Use a toothpick to guide into edges.

Going back over the same cookies, add lines or dots with the other colors.

You can make dots.....


...or try marbling.

 
I thought dragging the toothpick ACROSS the lines made it look a little like cable knit.

Let dry overnight.

The next day, mix equal amounts meringue powder with water. (I used 1/2 tsp. each for 1 dozen cookies.)

Using a small paintbrush, paint on the mixture on the trim and top of cap.  Sprinkle on the sanding sugar over a coffee filter.  Let the excess fall onto the filter and use that as a funnel to put back in the bottle.

Is it snowing where you are?!?  Tell me the fun you are having! I want to hear ALL about it!
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Dotty Winter Trees

...otherwise known as the "Trees of Indecision."
As soon as I saw these two-tone trees from A Dozen Eggs, I knew that tree cookies were in my future.

But, since I seem to have an obsession with dots....whether it be on cakes or apples or presents....I added some dots.
The indecision came in with the sanding sugar and the wood grain trunk. To sugar or not to sugar. To wood grain or not to wood grain.  Those were the questions.

{You know you are having serious cookie issues when you wake your husband up at the crack of dawn to say, "Sweetie, which do you like better, this plain tree trunk or the wood grain one?"}
Wood grain it was.

Now, *someone* in my house does not care for sanding sugar.  (Not the way it looks, but the way it tastes.)  Had I known this before marrying him, we would have been in for some MAJOR pre-marital counseling.
I, on the other hand, love that bit of crunch on a soft sugar cookie.  So, I went for half and half.

To make these trees, you'll need:
Dotty Winter Tree Cookie Tutorial:
With a #3 tip, outline the tree on green, piping 3 sections of the tree.
With a #2 tip, outline the trunk in brown.

Thin the green, light green and brown icings with water, a bit at a time, until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.

Stir gently with a rubber spatula and transfer icings to squeeze bottles.
Working 6-8 cookies at a time, fill in the trees in the 3 colors of green.  Use a toothpick to spread to edges and pop large air bubbles.
Come back over the filled trees while the icing is still wet and drop on dots of thinned icing.
Fill in the trunks in brown.  Use a toothpick to spread to edges and pop large air bubbles.

Let dry overnight.
The next day, set up a sanding sugar station.  Mix equal parts meringue powder with water.  With a small paintbrush, brush the mixture on the area to be sanded.  Sprinkle on the sanding sugar and shake excess over a coffee filter.  The filter can be used as a funnel to go back into the bottle.

For the wood grain, I used a cookie painted technique from Renee of Kudos Kitchen.  She is a fabulous artist, check out her painted tiles, and she shared a video of how to add wood grain on cookies at University of Cookie.

Basically, mix water with food coloring....a 1 to 1 ratio or so.  Trim your fan brush, so that it is uneven.  Dip the brush into the food coloring mixture, dab on a paper towel and brush onto your cookies. (I used the same technique on the Harry Potter broom cookies.)

Tell me....are you a sanding sugar lover like me, or do you side with Mr. E on this one?
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Flavor-of-the-Month . . . In Defense of Gingerbread


Is it just me? I love gingerbread cookies. I wait all year to make them, bake them once in December and start dreaming about next year.

They are the perfect cookies for all winter long! They're spicy and comforting...you know, I would eat them in a box and I would eat them with a fox. I would eat them in a house and I would eat them with a mouse. I would eat them here and..sorry...


Who's with me? Let me share my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe with you:

Gingerbread Cookies
(modified from Southern Living Incredible Cookies)

1/4 c water
1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c molasses
1 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
5 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 & 1/2 TBSP ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Line baking sheets with parchment.


Stir together the water and baking soda until dissolved. Stir in the molasses; set aside.

Beat butter & sugar until fluffy and combined.

Whisk together flour, salt and spices.

Add to the butter mixture, alternating with the molasses mixture. Begin and end with the flour. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350.


On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a floured cookie cutter and place on baking sheet. Freeze for 5 minutes before baking.


{They are going to spread.}
Bake 12 minutes (for a large shape). Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating with royal icing.

To decorate:


  • Using a #2 tip, outline the shape of the snowflake in white royal icing.
  • Thin the icing with water, stirring until it is the consistency of thick syrup. Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.
  • Stir gently to pop any bubbles that may have formed and transfer to a squeeze bottle.


  • Fill in the outline using a toothpick to guide into corners.
  • Let dry at least one hour.


  • Again with a #2 tip, pipe a snowflake pattern on each cookie.
  • Let dry overnight.
  • Mix a little meringue powder with water. (see sanding station here)
  • With a small paintbrush, paint the mixture on only the snowflake design.
  • Pour on sanding or sparkling sugar and shake of excess.



I also made some mini gingerbread hearts...very dangerous, these little bite-size ones!

I'm so looking forward to seeing YOUR cookies!!! Click below to link up. The linky will be closed on January 3rd to prevent spammers.

OH...and there is a new feature here....to add this post (or any) to twitter, stumble upon, facebook, etc, just click on the button at the end of each post. :)

Flavor-of-the-Month January Edition....BOOZY! :) Maybe you make a mean pina colada cake, or Kahlua tart, or a gingerbread martini (!)...link it up the last day of January! EVERYONE is welcome!!!



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Oh, deer!

To make this sweet little deer:

  1. In dark brown icing, outline the deer with a #2 tip. Be sure to close off the tail separate from the body. (Spectrum Chocolate Brown)
  2. Using the same icing and tip, pipe hooves using a back & forth motion.
  3. Change the tip to a #3 and pipe antlers.
  4. Thin a lighter color brown to the consistency of thick syrup. Cover with a damp towel and let sit for several minutes. Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any bubbles that formed on the top. Pour into a squeeze bottle. Fill in deer body and ear. (Spectrum Chocolate Brown)
  5. Using the method above, thin white icing and add dots to the deer body while the brown icing is still wet.
  6. Use the same thinned icing to fill in the tail.
  7. After drying for an hour or more, use a #1 tip and black icing to add a nose and eye to the deer. (Spectrum Super Black)
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