Adventure in cooking healthy,,,,,and NOT so healthy.....

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Halloween Sugar Cookies

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com.  I was looking to see if there was a recipe that tasted better then my grandma's sugar cookies.  These are not.  If you just rolled them in a ball and cooked them, they were soft and yummy.  If you rolled them and cut them out, they were VERY crunchy.  Still good though.

Soft Sugar Cookies IV
 
recipe image
Rated: rating
Submitted By: Laura Stearns
Photo By: wifeyluvs2cook
Servings: 24
"This Recipe is a State Fair Blue Ribbon winner. This is an easy sugar cookie recipe, you don't have to roll it out, and the cookies are soft and chewy, unlike other sugar cookies. Anybody can make these."
Ingredients:
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until dough comes together. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in sugar. Place them on an unprepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottom is light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/16/2010


Here are mine.


I then covered mine in liquid fondant from Wiltons website.  I let them dry several hours.

Quick Pour Fondant Icing

Quick-Pour Fondant Icing is a great choice for covering cakes, cupcakes, cookies or petits fours with a dazzling silky finish. Place lightly iced cakes, cupcakes (narrow end up) or petits fours on cooling grid above a drip pan before pouring.
Source: Cupcake Fun

Ingredients:

Makes: About 2 1/2 cups of icing.

instructions

Cover cupcakes lightly with buttercream icing. Let set 15 minutes.
Place sugar in saucepan. Combine water and corn syrup; add to sugar and stir until well-mixed. Cook over low heat. Don't allow temperature of mixture to exceed 100°F. Remove from heat; stir in extract and icing color.
Place cooled cupcakes or mini cakes on cooling grid positioned over cookie sheet or pan to catch excess icing. Cupcakes which will be covered completely should be turned bottom side up. Pour icing on center of cupcake using pan or measuring cup. Or, pipe icing from a cut decorating bag. Cover the cupcake completely, or use your coating as a glaze to simply cover tops and drip over the sides. Touch up any bare spots with spatula. Let set.
Excess icing may be reheated just to pouring consistency. Don’t overheat the icing as it will lose its shiny finish.


 Be careful, once you pour it immediately starts to set up.  After that, any drips leave permanent marks, like this...

Not so pretty huh!



Next I made marshmallow fondant.  This really needs to sit in the fridge overnight. It is easy to make.  My tip is to make it on a vinyl tablecloth so you can shake out the extra powdered sugar in the yard, and then throw it in the washing machine.  So much easier then scrubbing a counter.  Also, to get a good black fondant, add coco powder to the melted marshmallow, then black food coloring. I got this recipe from Cakejournal.
http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-make-marshmallow-fondant/

1 bag of white marshmallows (8 oz)
Water (2 tbsp)
Powdered sugar sifted (1 to 2 pounds)
Crisco
Glass bowl
Spoon
Sift
Food colors or cocoa powder



Put the marshmallows in a glass bowl and add the water. Put the bowl in the microwave oven and heat it for approx. 2 mins. until the marshmallows puff up.

Stir the marshmallows until they get smooth. This is the time where you can add your chosen food color/cocoa powder or give it flavor.

Now add the powdered sugar and stir the mixture with a well greased spoon. Keep adding icing sugar until it looks like a dough. Turn out the “dough” on a greased work board and with your hands greased with Crisco start kneading the marshmallow fondant. Keep adding a little icing sugar at a time until it is not sticky anymore.
Be careful not to use all the icing sugar as to much icing sugar can makes it too dry. It is ready when it feels pliable and ready to roll. If you are not using the marshmallow fondant straight away then rub a bit of Crisco on it and wrap it in cling-film and seal it in a airthight bag.
Note: Some uses the marshmallow fondant right away but I prefer to let it rest for a day before use.
If your marshmallow fondant feels very hard you can always warm it up in the microwave for a few sec. at a time. Then it should be more pliable to work with. If it feels dry then knead in some Crisco or if it is too soft add more icing sugar. I hope you can use it.





Finally, I colored the fondant and played with it like playdough.  Wet the back a little and stick it on your cookies.  Here is a method I used to make candy corns.  I cut out the shape, layered the colors, rolled it and cut it again.




I wasn't sure how to get the extra cornstarch off that I rolled the fondant in.  I remembred watching cake boss and he steamed it.  I dont have a garment steamer, so I held my floor steamer over the.  Worked great! Then I gave them a quick blow with the cool part of my blow dryer.  Let those babies dry over night again.





I put these guys in plastic sandwich bags and tied little ribbons.  Cute! I am so proud of myself, I have never used fondant before.
















I think I am going to make a cookie bouquet with the rest.  If I do, I will add pics!

4 comments:

  1. Wow! You take your baking seriously! These are soo cute!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those are so nice they could be featured on the Martha Stewart Show. Seriously, they look great! I am so impressed. Wish we lived closer so we could come over and eat them and gossip. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those look amazing!! You are so talented!

    ReplyDelete