Chocolate Peanut Butter Cut-out Cookies...and a very special birthday!

I've talked before about how my very favorite part of blogging is something that I never, ever expected.  I always thought the sugar would be the highlight of blogging, but no...it's the people I've had the pleasure to meet.

That leads me to Jessica from the blog, How Sweet It Is. 
Jessica is having a milestone birthday today...

THIRTY!!!

{Ahhh, I remember 30.  Kinda.}

Now, Jessica has been one of my favorite bloggers for a long time.  I love this girl.  I admire Jessica for her amazingly creative and delicious recipes...her stunning photography...her hilarious sense of humor and writing...her impeccable style...her blogging and social media smarts...and her beautiful, fun spirit.

{Jessica...this hot pink was as close as I could get to neon. ;)}

In August, I met Jessica and I can tell you, she's even more lovely in person.  (I won't hold it against her that she was BORN just about the same time I was going to see Grease 2 (2!) with my fellow 13-year-old girlfriends.)  I wanted to make a little something to celebrate her big day.

I just had this inkling that Jessica likes peanut butter and chocolate.  Maybe it was Jessica's Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Cups, or Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle, or maybe Peanut Butter S'mores Squares...I sensed a trend.

So, I made cookies.  I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Cut-out Cookies.  And, y'all...you need to make them, too.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cut-out Cookies for Jessica
{makes 12-18, depending on size}

2 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch-processed cocoa (such as Hershey's Special Dark)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (not all-natural)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, use a paddle attachment to beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the peanut butter until smooth.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.

In three additions, add in the flour mixture beating on low until just combined.  Scrape the bowl to incorporate any dry bits on the bottom of the bowl.

Divide the dough in half, form into two discs, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Mix flour and cocoa powder together to coat the rolling pin and rolling surface.  Roll the dough to about 1/4"-3/8" thickness.  Freeze the cut-outs on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before baking.

Bake for 9-12 minutes.  Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate as desired with royal icing.

OH!  And, Jessica?  I ate them for you, too. ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet girl!!!

Please Eat the Wrapping Paper (cookies inspired by Paper Source)

Have you ever been to a Paper Source shop?  Oh, they are so beautiful..and fun...and inspiring.

I don't get to ours very often because it's about 45 minutes away and in a pretty dangerous part of town.  By dangerous, I mean, it's next door to Sprinkles Cupcakes and just a few steps away from Crate and Barrel. See what I mean?

Well, Paper Source has the most beautiful wrapping paper sheets.  I've used them before for photo backgrounds, like for these Homemade Oreos:


And for these Posie Cakes:

When I saw this wrapping paper, I decided to use it ON an cookie.  Well, not the wrapping paper itself, the wrapping paper printed onto a frosting sheet.  

So, that's just what I did.

• I scanned the wrapping paper. 
• printed it onto a frosting sheet,
• baked the cookies (remember these?),
(you can see a bit of the rough edges from the trimming)
• outlined and filled the cookies with white royal icing,
• plopped on the edible images, 
• and added a few details.

That's it!  These went to school with kiddo for his teacher's birthday.  I hope he didn't tell her she was eating wrapping paper.  I guess we will find out when report cards come home. ;)

Hey There, Cupcake

 
You know what's weird?  I was shopping at Crate & Barrel recently and these cookie cutters popped in my shopping basket.  Strange how things like that happen.

I can already tell that this is going to be one of those cookie cutters that I use over and over again.  They'd look cute in any color and would be darling for a birthday party or just as an "everyday" cookie.

This version is so, so simple.  Two colors (I used brown and a light pink), some sprinkles and a few red sixlets.  (I'm starting to love sixlets...remember those cherry cookies?)



For the cupcake cookies, you will need:

• cupcake sugar cookies
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Chocolate Brown and Soft Pink
• disposable icing bag
• coupler and tips (#3 & #1)
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• chocolate jimmies
• red sixlets (or a bit of red icing)

Using a #3 tip, outline the cookie in brown. (I like a larger tip here so the outline stands out.)  Reserve some of this piping consistency for later.

Thin the brown and pink icings with water, a little at a time, until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit several minutes.

Stir gently with a rubber spatula to pop any large air bubbles that have formed. Transfer to squeeze bottles.


Fill in the bottoms of the cupcakes in brown.  Use a toothpick to guide to edges or pop and large air bubbles.


Flood the tops of the cupcakes with the pink icing, working about 6 at a time.


Leave the bottoms solid, or come back over the wet icing with a squiggle of pink icing going across.


After flooding, sprinkle chocolate jimmies on the tops....don't worry, the icing won't dry before you get back to it.


Add a bit of piping consistency royal icing to the top of the cookie to attach the sixlet.  (If you don't have sixlets, just add a dot of red icing.)

Switch the tip on the brown icing to a #1 or #2 and pipe lines on the "wrappers" that don't have the pink squiggle.

Let dry 6-8 hours, or overnight.

That's it!  Easy as pie cupcake!

Cookies for I Heart Faces

I'll admit that when Amy from I Heart Faces asked me to make some cookies for a photography workshop, I was a little, ok...a lot, intimidated.  The cookies were part of a stylized birthday party with some absolutely adorable little girls.

{These are not my pictures (obviously); they are from Rachel at Savor Photography.}

Amy found the inspiration for the flower cookie from this AMAZING blog from (I think) Japan, called Rosey. All of her cookies are incredible!  With that as a starting point, Amy came up with some designs for heart cookies to coordinate with them. 

Want to make the flower cookies?
You'll need royal icing in just two colors....Super Red and Super Black.

Here's a little slide show tutorial....

(Does this slide show look out of order to you guys? It's showing up out of order for me....I'll figure out how to fix it...I think. Sorry, I'm new to slide shows!)

 

{While you have all of that red icing made, go ahead and make some little heart cookies. :)}

To make the black hearts, you need only 2 things: black royal icing and silver dragees.  Well, and the secret weapon for placing dragees....tweezers. CLEAN tweezers! Place the dragees on the cookies while the icing is still wet.

I don't know about you, but I remember EATING dragees when I was a kid.  I remember them on cupcakes and Christmas cookies.  Now, even though they are made of sugar and sold in the bakery section, they are marked "for decorative use only."  {I think a few now and then won't hurt us.}

Let me give a few shout-outs here:

Photography workshop: I Heart Faces

I Heart Faces founders: Angie Arthur & Amy Locurto

Coordinating Printables: Living Locurto

Photos used here: Savor Photography
More photos from the workshop: Angie Arthur

Cookie inspiration: Rosey

Thanks so much, Amy, for asking me to be a part of the workshop!  Next time, I want to tag along and bring my camera! :)

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! COOKIES!

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I even learned what a Wubbzy was (I'm old). My cousin's little girl, Violet (don't you LOVE that name?), was turning 3. Her party was Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! themed and she needed Wubbzy  cookies.

To tell you the truth, I was a little crushed that kids weren't watching Blue's Clues anymore. You see, Steve and I had a relationship. Some days, he was the only adult contact I had until my husband got home...and he and I became *thisclose*.  (Then he left and they brought Joe on board, who might have been cuter, but didn't have Steve's charm. But I digress.)

Back to Wubbzy....character cookies make me nervous. Just look at Batman. So, I took the chicken's way out and used my icing printer.

But, I think the key to these cookies is the sprinkles.

I really like edible image cookies with a decorative edge. That's probably because I never get them on exactly centered.  Here's an example of edible image cookies with a piped edge.

If you don't have an icing printer, you can usually have them printed for you at a bakery supply shop...call ahead, you'll probably need to format the image for them. I've even heard you can get them from the grocery store!

Just cut the images and peel away from the backing and place on wet royal icing.  Allow 2 days of drying time. For the sprinkles, mix equal parts meringue powder and water. Brush on the edges and sprinkle. Voila!

Happy birthday, Violet!

Now, I'm going to check hulu for my old friend Steve.

Cookies for a 2nd Birthday

 

Aren't second birthdays sweet? They can hold up 2 fingers when you ask how old they are and say, "this many."  They really haven't gotten into the terrible twos yet...and they still NAP!

(Mine is 11, so that's how I'm choosing to remember it. When he's 30, I'll be waxing nostalgic about his teenage years.)

These cookies incorporate two of my favorite cookie decorating tricks...dots and a #16 tip.

Here's what you need to make them:

• tiered cake cookies
• royal icing tinted with Americolor Gel Pastefood coloring in turquoise, egg yellow, super red and regal purple
• #3 plain tip
• #2 plain tip
• #16 star tip
• disposable icing bags fitted with couplers
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks

Once the cookies are cooled, pipe a border in turquoise royal icing using a #3 tip.  Let dry 15-30 minutes.

Reserve some piping consistency icing in turquoise and red.  Thin the remaining icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit several minutes.

Stir the icings gently to pop and air bubbles that have risen to the surface.  Transfer thinned icing to squeeze bottles.

Working 6-8 cookies at a time, flood the cookies withe the yellow icing.  Use a toothpick to guide along edges and to pop large air bubbles.

Starting with the first cookie flooded, drop dots in the other colors onto the wet yellow icing.

{This is what happens when you get distracted.}

Let dry for at least one hour.

Using a #2 tip and reserved red icing, pipe a number 2 on the top of each cake.

Change the tip on the bag of turquoise icing to a #16. Using a pulsing motion, pipe the detail on the cookies.

Let dry overnight.

 

 

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I'll be linking this post to my friend Cheryl's I'm Lovin' It linky party!