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!!!

Who is YOUR Wonder Woman?

 
Who is your Wonder Woman?  Mom, wife, sister, aunt, cousin, daughter, friend?  I bet you have one.

I've always loved Wonder Woman and when I was younger, I dreamed of wearing a Wonder Woman outfit to a costume party.

{Now, at age 41, I don't see that happening....unless Wonder Woman starts donning capri pants and cardigans.}

 
And is it just me, or does that W look an awful lot like the Whataburger logo?  Maybe I *could* be Wonder Woman after all.  (And if you don't live in the south and don't know Whataburger, I'm sorry.  Really, really sorry.) 


The cookie shape itself was made from using 3 cutters I had onhand: bikini top, onesie and a circle for cutting.

First, I started with the bikini tops and the onesies.

The bikini top as is was a little "busty" for the onesie, so I performed a little reconstructive surgery.

Then, the top of the onesie was chopped off...

...and I made a cut out so that the top would fit.

I used the edge of a circle cutter to nip her in at the waist.  (If only life were so easy.)

And then, put the pieces together.

{Hint: I always freeze my cut-outs for 5-10 minutes before baking.}


For decorating, you'll need:

• royal icing tinted with AmeriColor Super Red, Royal Blue, Egg/Lemon Yellow, Super Black and a bit of Bright White,
• disposable icing bags,
• squeeze bottles,
• toothpicks,
• #1 & 2 tips and couplers,
• star sprinkles or white royal icing to make the stars

With a #2 tip, outline the shape in black.

{I originally started with a #3, because I wanted the outline to really show, but it was too thick.  If you make a mistake on a cookie, scrape it off and try again. :) Toothpicks are your friend.}

Thin the red, yellow and blue icings with water until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Let sit for several minutes covered with a damp dish towel.  Uncover and stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop air bubbles that have risen to the surface.  Transfer to squeeze bottles.

Flood the cookie with the thinned icing.

Let sit at least one hour.

With a #2 tip, add the black detail.  Go over the "W" and the belt in black as well.

Let dry for several hours.  If you are a good planner, add the white star sprinkles you have onhand with a bit of royal icing.  If you are NOT a good planner, ahem,  pipe the stars with white royal icing.

OH!  I almost forgot!  I made the Invisible Jet, too!


And and you must (MUST!)....go take a peek at Gail's (of One Tough Cookie) superhero cookie CAKE!  Isn't that the coolest?!?

Who is YOUR Wonder Woman?

{Happy, happy Mother's Day to all of you moms (Wonder Women) out there!}

 

Pretty Pink Seahorses . . . and finding inspiration

Once you've been making cookies a while, finding inspiration is not a problem...

"Ooo...that lamppost would make a great cookie!  Gosh, I think I'll make doorknob cookies." 

But if you're looking for some really CUTE inspiration, look no further than a printable site, like that of Living Locurto.  Amy of Living Locurto has the *most fun* party printables that are sure to spark some awesome cookie decorating  ideas!

Take a peek at these:

• Tiffany-inspired birthday
• Lego birthday party
• Pink Owl birthday party

These seahorse cookies were made to go along with Amy's *darling* Mermaid Party printables.   Amy provided a template and the cookies were hand-cut around the design.  You can find the template on Amy's site, here.

{A note about using templates.  Hand-cutting designs is time-consuming.  One way to make it a bit faster is to use the template as a guide and then let your decorating define the shape.  You can see the difference above.  See how the one on the left has each little point and arch cut while the one on the right is just the general shape.}

To make the seahorse cookies, you'll need...

• Amy's template
• cookies....I made chocolate ones
• royal icing colored with AmeriColor Bright Pink and Light Pink
• disposable icing bag
• #3 decorating tip and coupler
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• Americolor Gourmet Writer in black

With a #3 tip (a #3 will allow the outline to show more), pipe the outline of the seahorse in the darker pink icing.

Thin both the light and the darker pinks with water, a teaspoon at a time, stirring by hand until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles and transfer to squeeze bottles.

Working 6-8 cookies at a time, fill in the cookies with light pink icing.  Use a toothpick to guide into corners.
 
Going back over the same 6-8 cookies, add the cheek and stripe detail on top of the wet icing.  Also, fill in the "crown" and fin of the seahorse with the thinned dark pink.


Now add the light pink detail on top of the dark pink.

Let the cookies dry overnight.  The next day, add the eyelash detail with a food coloring pen.


 Want sand?  Crush up some graham crackers on a platter....you have sand.  (FYI...making sand takes A LOT of graham crackers.  Have a few boxes on hand. You can always spread the extras with Nutella....it's part of a balanced breakfast.)

Now, wouldn't your little mermaid like some pink seahorses?!?  
And, remember to check out Amy's Mermaid Party! 

*I'm linking these up to Cheryl's I'm Lovin' It party!*

Birthday ideas for a boy & a girl

I've been lucky enough lately to make some cookies for a few birthday parties and thought I'd share a couple cute party ideas...

for a boy:




I love this idea...a dance party! Complete with DJ and music note cookies!

{black sanding sugar....I don't get a chance to use it often, but I love it!}


for a girl:



A pink high heel shoe party! This was for a little one turning TWO! Apparently, she already has a love for shoes. How cute is that? I think this might be a great party theme for ANY age girl!

If you're looking for more pink, buzz on over to Pink Week over at Blooming on Bainbridge...one of my new favorite blogs!

Related posts:

• birthday butterflies
• pearly girly
• 40th birthday frogs
  

Birthday Butterflies

Cookie inspiration can come from anywhere...greeting cards, invitations, fabric, catalogs...and even going to mass.

Yes, going to mass. This summer, a woman sitting a few pews in front of me had on the prettiest 2-tone pink dress. Halfway through mass, I realized that her dress wasn't just a swirl of pinks, it was actually covered in pink butterflies!


I tucked the idea away for this week because one of my very favorite people, who just happens to be a butterfly lover, is having a birthday. I shouldn't even say "butterfly lover"...she's more like the butterfly whisperer. She has a talent for butterflies...butterfly gardens, butterfly photos...she is an inspiration. ONE DAY, despite my black thumb, I am determined to have a butterfly garden liker her. :)

I think she needed pretty, pink, birthday butterfly cookies! Don't you?

For the cookies themselves, I wanted them to be extra special. I used my regular cookie recipe, but instead of 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, I substituted 1 tsp vanilla bean paste.

{The color is a little off here, but I like that you can see the vanilla bean flecks. This is the same recipe I used for PW's cookies.}

To decorate:

• Make Royal Icing in two shades of pink; I used AmeriColor Deep Pink and Soft Pink.
• With a #2 tip, make the body of the butterfly (I used dots of icing) and outline the wings.
• Thin both shades of icing with water until they reach the consistency of a really thick syrup. Cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit several minutes.
• Stir the icings gently with a rubber spatula to pop any air bubbles that have formed on top and transfer to squeeze bottles.
• Fill in the interior of the wings with light pink, but don't bring the icing all the way to the edges...leave about a quarter of an inch. (Work a few cookies at a time.)
  


• While the light pink icing is still wet, add the dark pink icing to the edges and add the veining. The dark pink and light pink icings will dry as one smooth surface. (I was going for a Monarch butterfly here, but feel free to get creative!) :)
  


• Drop in a few non-pareils on the wings for detailing.

Related posts:

• taking flight
• for BEEing sweet
• BEE my honey