Ombre Pumpkin Cookies

Y'all know my philosophy on cookies.  Less time decorating, more time eating.  It's really my life's motto...spend as much time eating cookies as possible.

Here's a super simple decorated cookie idea for you: ombre pumpkin cookies. 

You'll just basically use one color icing for the main part of the pumpkins, in 4 shades.  I started with a medium shade, then added a little bit of it to white icing to make a couple shades lighter, and added a bit more food coloring in another bowl to make a shade darker.


For this orange, I used AmeriColor Orange and Ivory.

For the stem and tendril, I used AmeriColor Avocado.  This is only because I'm out of Leaf Green and it was too late to run to Hobby Lobby.


I made the cut-out cookies the day before, so decorating went really quickly.

Make your royal icing and tint.  Then, use a #2 tip to outline the sections of the pumpkin.  (You can even use a food coloring marker to draw on lines before piping...I did this for some of the cookies.)

Thin the icing with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into squeeze bottles.


Fill in the outlined sections, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and pop large air bubbles.

I really wanted the colors to be right up next to each other as opposed to separated by big outlines, so I brought the thinned flood icing right up over the outlines.  To prevent the colors running, I flooded areas that weren't touching, let them set a bit, then flooded the adjacent colors. 

Once the icing has dried about an hour, add the stem and tendril in green using a #1 tip.


I think these cookies would be super cute in shades of green or pink, too!

Psst...don't forget the super fabulous giveaway on the blog right now as well as ANOTHER KitchenAid Stand Mixer giveaway from my friend Add a Pinch. Woot!

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Don't look now, but that candy corn is totally staring at you.

I'm sharing the tutorial for these candy corn cookie pops over at Parade today.

Two things:

1. Cookies with faces always = cute.
2. Anything on a stick tastes 10x better. (Seriously, you can't tell me a corn dog tastes as good OFF the stick.)

I hope you'll pop over and see the tutorial...and then make them.  I'd love to see the funny faces YOU put on your version!  Be sure to tag me on Instagram or twitter with pictures!

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Monogrammed Pumpkin Cookies

What's better than a polka dot, monogrammed pumpkin cookie?

How about a DOUBLE-DECKER, polka dot, monogrammed pumpkin cookie?

What if I told you that this is the simplest design to recreate?  I'm not sure if you guys have noticed, but I LOVE a simple cookie. They're my favorite.  Easier to make = quicker getting to my tummy.

If you've never made a double-decker cookie before, it's time.  What are you waiting for?!?  Two cookies in one!!! 

Let me show you how to make them.  They're perfect for class parties or sharing with the neighbors!

 

To make monogrammed pumpkins, you'll need:

• cut-out cookies cut with a pumpkin cookie cutter and alphabet cookie cutters (I used chocolate cut-out cookies, but you could use any of the cut-out recipes listed here.)
• royal icing, divided and tinted with AmeriColor Orange, Leaf Green and Bright White
• disposable icing bags
• coupler and tips: #2
• squeeze bottles 
• toothpicks
• small ramekin

Use #2 tips to outline both the pumpkin (in orange) and the letters (in green).  Add the stem of the pumpkin with the green icing.

Thin the orange, green and white with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  (Reserve some of the piping consistency green icing for attaching the cookies later.) You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into squeeze bottles as needed.  

Fill in the outlines with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and to pop large air bubbles.

For the letters, work about 3-6 cookies at a time, filling with the green icing. Small filled areas are susceptible to cratering, so take care not to overfill and run a toothpick through the icing to dislodge air bubbles. Go back to the first cookie filled and add small dots of the thinned white icing with a toothpick. (This is a trick I learned from my friend, Lupita.)

Let the cookies dry uncovered, 6-8 hours, or overnight.

Here are the letters drying in the dehydrator...

Aren't they cute??!

(I think I bought these cookie cutters at Hobby Lobby, but I just bought a 100-piece set of cutters...because I *needed* 100 more cutters...at Home Goods that has letters as well.)

Apply piping consistency icing to the back of the letter cookies...just a few dots will do, we don't want oozing.  Actually, a little oozing is fine, but you don't need a lot of icing to make the letter cookies stick.

Gently press in place on the pumpkin cookie.  Let dry for 30 minutes or more to set.

These were so much fun to make.  I hope you'll try them at home, too.

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Sometimes you just need a little buttercream...

Much to the detriment of my hip measurement, I've fallen in love with buttercream frosted cookies.

Buttercream doesn't lend itself to decorating the way that royal icing does, but it can still be pretty...and takes about one tenth of the time.

There is just *something* about biting into a buttercream frosted cookie that makes me happy. Last night, I tried eating just half of one.  Is there any doubt in your mind as to whether I went back for that second half? ;)

I so, so love buttercream roses, but we are coming up on Halloween after all.  I used this recipe from Imperial Sugar.  It's an all-butter buttercream, so it stays nice and soft. 

For the pumpkins, I used #15 and #16 star tips to decorate and then and #2 tip for the stem. 

For the spiderwebs, I spread on a base coat of frosting with an offset spatula, then piped a spiderweb shape for the outer black outline using a #2 tip.  I piped two circles inside that, then used a toothpick to drag the circles toward each outer point. I added the spider with the same tip.

It's not as crisp looking as a royal icing decorated cookie (here's an example of a royal icing spiderweb), but still cute.

PS...I use Americolor food coloring with buttercream just like I do with royal icing.  For these cookies, I used Orange (tinting it two shades), Super Black, and Leaf Green.

Buttercream frosted cookies.  Tell me you love them, too!

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Nailed it.

Have you seen the "Nailed it" memes?  My favorite is the Cookie Monster Cupcake.  
{Please keep this in mind in a minute.}

Let's start at the beginning.  I had a moment of inspiration.  Peanut butter blossom cookies, but with mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the middle and chocolate covered pretzels for legs to look like spiders.

But, as with most things...this was not an original idea.  As I was walking through the grocery store to buy my peanut butter cups, the image of the cutest cookies by Kristan popped into my head.  Same idea, but with licorice legs.  I *pinned* them last year!  Duh.  I decided to make them anyway, using the pretzels.

This was going to be something quick and easy that I could make after picking kiddo up from school and before dinner. 

Well, I had my own "Nailed it" moment. (Kristan's cookies are on top.)  Behold:

Yeah. 

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Try 1: peanut butter blossoms scooped in 2 teaspoon scoops.  The cookie was too small, pretzels too big, and peanut butter cups are really melty.  Not pretty.

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Try 2: peanut butter blossoms scooped in 2 TBSP scoops.  Now the cookie is big enough to hold the pretzels, but the peanut butter cup looks too small. (Hint: wait a few minutes before adding the PB cup to reduce the excessive melting like the first batch.)

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Try 3: peanut butter blossoms scooped in 2 TBSP scoops. Peanut butter cups plus melted chocolate for the legs.  Passable.

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Try 4: peanut butter blossoms scooped in 2 teaspoon scoops.  Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips (these are nice, big chips) pressed into the middle, legs piped with melted chocolate.  Better.
Maybe even cute...

...until you look at the cookies with two chips.  Creepy doll eyes.  I guess it *is* Halloween season after all.

I'm working on eating all of the evidence. 

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