Tag: Easter cookies

Sparkling Easter Sugar Cookies

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor coronavirus will keep a baker from sending her favorite Maryland girls treats for Easter. These sparkling cut-out cookies, made simply from sugar cookie dough and colored sugar, are on their way to Mo and Margo as I write this along with a few other Easter favorites.

Colored sugar is a great alternative for sugar cookie decoration, especially when you’ll be sending such cookies through the mail. In addition to the pink and purple eggs in the photo at left, I also made some yellow and blue eggs, along with these adorable ducklings. You’ll need some miniature chocolate chips and very thick powdered sugar icing for the beaks, or you could use royal icing for the beaks if you prefer. Because I needed such a tiny amount, I just mixed a tablespoon of powdered sugar with enough water – about a drop at a time – to get the consistency I wanted.

Ingredients

  • 1 batch sugar cut-outs made with 2 extra teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • Pink, purple, yellow, and blue decorating sugar
  • Miniature chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • Water
  • Orange food coloring

Preparation

Prepare cookie dough and allow to chill for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness and cut with egg and duckling cutters. Place cookies onto prepared sheets and decorate with colored sugar; for the ducklings, I placed a miniature chocolate chip for the eye after covering the cookie with yellow sugar.

Bake for 9-10 minutes, until edges are very light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks for about 3 minutes, then place on wire racks to cool completely.

When cookies are cool, combine powdered sugar with enough water – about 1 drop at a time – and orange food coloring to make a very thick icing. Use a small spatula to frost the duckling beaks and allow to set completely before storing. Store cookies in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper.

My batch made about 24 eggs and 9 ducklings, so just shy of three dozen cookies.

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Easter Chick Cookies

These cookies are really adorable…and I sincerely hope they make it to Maryland for Maureen and Margo’s Easter in one piece. Baked as two balls of dough baked side by side so they form one cookie, they’re at risk of separating, particularly in transit. To explain the potential carnage, I already alerted their mom to the potential that they might lose their cute little heads en route despite my careful packaging. Cross your fingers that I don’t scar my nieces for life, please.

Adapted from a recipe I found at The Gold Lining Girl, these treats feature cake mix as their base. While the original recipe called for lemon cake mix, I used Pillsbury Butter Yellow mix and added some vanilla and yellow food coloring to the batter along with the other ingredients. Full disclosure: I made them way too big, so next time I’ll scale back the portions. I’d also recommending making their beaks and feet a bit darker orange. You’ll have a lot of royal icing left over from the recipe below, so you can use it to decorate other Easter cookies.

Ingredients

  • 1 box Pillsbury Butter Yellow cake mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Yellow food coloring
  • Chocolate chips (for eyes)
  • 1 tablespoon meringue powder
  • 1 cup plus 2 heaping tablespoons powdered sugar
  • About 1 1/2 tablespoons warm water
  • Orange food coloring

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cake mix, eggs, shortening, and vanilla until combined; add yellow food coloring to your desired shade.

To form each cookie, scoop balls of dough for the head and body, making sure the body is bigger than the head. Place the dough balls next to each other on the baking sheet so they’re just touching, leaving space between each cookie so they have room to spread a bit.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are set and tops are just barely golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately press chocolate chips into the top ball for eyes; allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make royal icing for beaks and feet, place meringue powder, powdered sugar, and water in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for about 7-10 minutes, until peaks form.

Fit a piping bag with a plain tip and pipe beaks in triangles, then add feet. Allow the icing to set before storing; royal icing will keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Before re-using, beat the icing with a paddle attachment to soften it.

Makes 12 cookies.

M&M Cookies

Easter is just around the corner, and I’m sending a little treat package to my goddaughter Maureen and her family. In it are these M&M cookies, a classic recipe that’s probably been made for many a school bake sale, church picnic, and holiday.

How does one get the M&Ms to look so perfect on the top of each cookie? One places them there immediately after removing the baked cookies from the oven, that’s how. You can certainly add a few to the top before the bake (notice the cracks in the purple and yellow M&Ms in the photo at left- those were ones I’d placed on the raw dough before baking), but to get that pretty food stylist look, you need to press them gently into the tops of the cookies the moment they come out of the oven.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup pastel M&M candies, plus another handful for decorating

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat to combine.

With the mixer running on low, slowly add flour mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, mixing until dough is completely combined. Stir in M&Ms.

Cover and chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325. Line several baking sheets with parchment.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart; press a few M&Ms into the top of each cookie.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until edges are light golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately press more M&Ms into the top of each cookie. Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Store at room temperature for up to 4 days. Makes 26.