Tag Archives: cut-out cookies

Happy Flower Cookies

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Ruthanne

Flower cookies3

These delicious cookies will make you smile anytime of the year! With a touch of coffee in the cookies, and crunchy chocolate-covered sunflower seeds on top, they are also really delicious!

Flower cookies2

Confession: I made these last spring jotted down the recipe as I created, brought them to a party where they got rave reviews, and then got so busy with summer that I never sat down to share the recipe with you all! So here (finally!) you go!

I absolutely love these cookies. In March, I tweaked my favorite chocolate cut-out cookie to make Bailey’s Irish Cream Cookies. They were soooo yummy that I wanted to keep tweaking them and try a variety without the Baileys. This is the result, and they are such a soft, delicious cut-out cookie. Goodness. They are exceptional at keeping their shape when cut (I just did circles, but you could make these in any shape). I just iced them with royal icing, but the sky is the limit with flavor combinations you could use. This recipe is a keeper in our house! 🙂

Here is the recipe (printable version):

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 20 medium cookies)

Cookies:

1 (1/2 cup)stick of butter (softened)
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of half and half
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
2 Tablespoons of instant coffee granules
2 to 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon of clear vanilla flavoring
Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds
Round candy pearls

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in eggs.
Place half and half and instant coffee granules together in a small cup. Mix until coffee dissolves. Add this mixture to the batter and combine well.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough).
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter.
Cut into circles (or whatever shape you want!)and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Cool completely before removing cookies from paper.

Icing:

Beat together all ingredients and add powdered sugar until it becomes a thick glaze consistency.
Place about 1/3 of icing in a zip-top bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Pipe icing around edges of cookie and allow this to harden.
Add water to remaining icing until it is a little thinner than the edge icing. Place it into a second zip-top bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Fill center of cookie with icing, spreading it to the edges that have hardened.
Before icing is completely hard, set sunflower seeds and pearl in the shape of a flower.
Allow icing to harden completely.
Enjoy!!!

Flower cookies6

Aren’t they fun??? Once the icing fully hardens on these, you can stack them up without worrying that the icing will get messed up (the joy of royal icing). As you can see… I am no professional at piping a perfect circle… so no worries if you are not experienced- they will still be beautiful! Flower Cookies 1

My thoughts: I’m glad to finally be sharing this with you all! I figured I’d better get this out to you before fall hits and all things are pumpkin and leaves 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try these cookies- I really think you will love them! Enjoy! ~r

Flower cookies4

Since I am so late in sharing this… how about some fun back-to-school/ make your kids smile ideas? Just click a photo to see the recipe!

Gingerbread Easter Eggs

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Ruthanne

Delicious gingerbread cookies drizzled with colored chocolate- who says you can only have these cookies at Christmas?!?

I love gingerbread. Goodness, it is probably my favorite cookie at Christmas. My go-to recipe is my grandma’s, and it is already shared on Easybaked (here)- but it is TOTALLY worth sharing again! I made these last week for a friend who requested gingerbread cookies, and I couldn’t resist decorating them up for Easter. They were so cute that I thought I’d share them with you! Once Easter has passed, cut these into flowers or butterflies for spring! So. Fun!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 36 medium egg-shaped cookies)

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 cup of dark molasses
2 tablespoons of vinegar
5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of cloves
Wilton’s candy melts in a variety of colors (just maybe 1/4 cup of each color)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar.
Beat in egg, molasses and vinegar.
Blend in sifted dry ingredients.
Chill 2-3 hours (this is optional- I have found that the dough rolls out pretty well right away)
Roll 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick on a floured counter or board and cut into egg shapes.
Place on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Check often- take out when cookies have risen slightly. Slide parchment paper off cookie sheet onto counter with cookies on top. Cool.
Melt Candy Melts in individual bowls in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Spoon each color into a small zip-top bag and seal.
Clip a tiny corner off, and pipe back and forth over each cookie, adding as many fun colored stripes as you wish!
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I love these cookies all year round. There is something fun about having the scent of gingerbread in the house during spring. New tradition I think!!! 😉 I hope you get a chance to try these! ~r

Other spring recipe ideas: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cookies and tagged cookie recipe, cookies, cut-out cookies, easter cookies, easter cut-out cookies, easter egg cookies, family cookie recipe, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, grandma's cookie recipe, grandma's gingerbread recipe, holiday cookies, old-fashioned gingerbread recipe, striped easter egg cookies. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Covered Coconut Cut-out Cookies

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Ruthanne

Crunchy bits of toasted coconut make these cut-out cookies one of my favorite cookie recipes ever!

I love coconut! It reminds me of sunshine and beaches and (for some weird reason) Easter. Well, it isn’t Easter yet, but you can practice up so you are ready next month!

Story time!!!!! Last Christmas I made shortbread cookies with really cute little Christmas chocolates on top. The mold I used was made by Silikomart in Italy, and I got them on Amazon. I loved that they were a thin mold- so they added a cute bit of chocolate to a cookie without being too much chocolate. I looked for other varieties and found these ADORABLE winter animal ones. Cute little foxes, and hedgehogs?? I had to find them!

I found them on Ebay and ordered them- but they sent me the wrong ones…from Italy… and then told me afterward that they were out of stock.

Sigh.

The only other place I found these was on a website out of Poland- that only ships to Poland. But I have friends in Poland, and long story short, I just got these in the mail with a fun note and a Polish chocolate bar.

I’m telling you this so that you won’t think it is easy to get this particular mold. Silikomart has a lot of other molds on Amazon (they call these chocolate tags)- so hopefully you can find one you like and make similar cookies to these. Of course, if you live in Poland…or Italy…. 🙂

Here is how we made these: (printable recipe for the cookies here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 48 small cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 teaspoons of coconut flavoring
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of shredded sweetened coconut (or one cup of toasted, chopped coconut)
2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in dark chocolate
Edible shimmer dust (if desired)

DIRECTIONS:

Start by making your chocolate tags.

Set mold on a small cookie sheet so it is easy to move.
Melt candy melts in a bowl in the microwave. Stir every 30 seconds until smooth.
Spoon melts into a zip-top bag. Clip a corner and squeeze chocolate out and into mold. Tap on counter to flatten out into mold and remove bubbles Photo of this here.
Place in freezer for about 5-10 minutes and then pop out of mold onto clean and cool surface.
Repeat 2 more times (so you have 48 pieces)
Use a food-grade paint brush to add a little edible color and shimmer to these (if desired!)

Then toast your coconut.

While you are waiting for these to harden, preheat oven to 350F degrees and spread 2 cups of coconut out in a baking dish.
Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes and watching closely. Coconut toasts fast- so be careful not to burn it!
Cool coconut to room temperature and then place in a food chopper and chop it up fine. Set aside.

Finally, make your cookies.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and coconut flavoring and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients except coconut and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough.
Add coconut and knead it in.
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness (I made them fairly thick)
Cut into rectangles just a little bigger than the size of the molds you use on top and place on a parchment-paper covered baking sheet.
Bake at 350F degrees for 8-10 minutes and slide off the cookie sheet (leaving on parchment paper) to cool.
While the cookies are still warm, set a chocolate on top and then let them cool completely. The entire chocolate will get soft. It won’t lose it’s shape, but if you touch it before it hardens back up you will make a mess 🙂
Allow cookies and chocolate to cool completely (a couple of hours)
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I love coconut, I love coconut and chocolate together, and I think these are simply the cutest little chocolate molds ever! Please Silikomart— sell more things in the US!!! Your stuff is SO fun!!! 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try these yummy little cookies out- I think you will love them!!!! ~r

Plus, if you don’t want to bother with the molds, you can cut these cookies into any shape and just drizzle them with the candy melts! Less fuss…same amazing cookies. I totally did a few- just so you can see 🙂

Other favorite coconut recipes here: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

Candy-coated Cut-out Cookies!

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Ruthanne

These buttery cut-out cookies are decorated in melted candy and designed to replicate our Josiah Venture Camps Theme for 2016!

There is so much to talk about with these little cookies! I will start with the WHY.

I work for an organization named Josiah Venture. We are a movement of God among the youth of Eastern and Central Europe that finds its home in the local church and transforms society. We plan over 100 evangelical camps each summer in 13 different countries, and each camp has the same theme. This year the theme is “Did You Get My Message?”, and this is the camp logo- on all of the t-shirts and banners and materials.

Last year, I made cookies that replicated our camp theme “You are Here” and they were such a hit that people asked if I planned to do this again… I’m starting to be a little afraid of the next year’s design!!! THIS year was pretty easy- and a lot of fun!

Now for the HOW.

Have you ever pieced two cookie parts together to make a shape not available in the cookie cutter world?

Me neither. When I was challenged to re-create this design in cookie form I knew I could get a hexagon cookie cutter- but how to add that cute little circle at the top? Then, how to decorate them without using Royal Icing? I’m not a fan of all the waiting for it to harden between colors.

Here’s what I did- and it worked (and tasted) GREAT. I realize you will want to make your own shapes and decorations- just adjust the amounts and colors of Wilton’s candy Melts accordingly. (For a printable cookie recipe, click here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of butter flavoring
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in blue (or in whatever colors you want to decorate in!)
1 bag of Wilton Candy Melts in white
1 bag of Wilton Candy Melts in red

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and butter flavoring and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough (add additional flour if necessary).
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness (I made them fairly thick)
Cut into whatever shape you want- and if you want to join two shapes like I did, gently set one piece against the other on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and press gently together.
Bake at 350F degrees for 8-10 minutes and slide off the cookie sheet (leaving on parchment paper) to cool.
I needed a full circle on top of each cookie, so I used a cookie marker to trace the cookie cutter as pictured.

I needed 2 items drawn on top of each cookie- an envelope and an question mark. I drew the envelopes out on my computer, found a good bold font for the question marks, and printed several sheets of these. I taped them under parchment paper and used melted white candy melts to trace them. To melt candy melts, you heat them in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth.
Then I took that same melted white chocolate and outlined the circle- using my lines as a guide.
Melted blue candy was used to outline the hexagon.

Finally, red candy melts are piped into the circle, filling it completely. I tapped the cookie gently on the table to get rid of bubbles before gently setting a question mark in the center. This step further cements those cookie pieces together.
The last step is to completely fill the hexagon with blue, tap out bubbles, and gently set an envelope in the center. I swirled a little white in the blue to copy the logo’s wave look.

Any squeeze bottle that can be fitted with a small round decorating tip will work, but aren’t these so fun? These are from the Kuhn Rikon Decorating Set. That’s a link to find them on Amazon, but I got mine in a clearance bin at Marshall’s and didn’t even know how much I would love them!

The best part about working in candy melts rather than frosting is that they harden up SO fast. No waiting between colors- and no bleeding of one color into another. Plus they taste like a cookie covered in white chocolate! The cons are color choice. You are fairly limited in what colors you can use- although the Wilton’s site does have this handy chart to help you mix colors. I will use this again- for sure. I loved it.

So. Fun. *smile* ~enjoy!!!

My role with Josiah Venture is as their intern coordinator. Every year we have over 100 college age interns that spend the summer in Eastern and Central Europe. They partner with local churches and help them reach young people through English, Music, and Sports camps, with the message that God loves them. We also invite churches from the US, Canada and the UK to bring groups of young people over to serve short term. I’ve taken two college-age groups over to Slovakia, and it is a life-changing experience! If you are a part of a church that might be interested in helping next summer, or you might be interested in being a summer intern- check out our website for more info. Applications for 2017 internships will be available in July!

Here’s a link to internship opportunities.

Here’s a link to short-term opportunities.

Here’s a link to a great video that explains more about who Josiah Venture is and what God is doing in Eastern and Central Europe.

Our 2016 interns!

Other cut-out cookie recipes you will love! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged butter cookies, candy, candy icing, cookie decorating, cookie decorating ideas, cut-out cookies, dessert, easy cut-out cookies, Josiah Venture, recipe, royal icing, sugar cookies, Wiltons candy Melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Spiderweb Cookies

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Ruthanne

Delicious sugar cookies covered in chocolate spiders and webs. Too cute to be scary!

I’m on a spider kick for Halloween. I’ve had some decently horrifying experiences with spiders at my house this fall, so when I think scary- this is it! My last post featured them on cupcakes and this week it’s cookies. These are delicious, easy, and so much fun to put together!

Here’s how I made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of butter flavoring
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts in whatever colors you choose (I used orange and purple)
1 bag of Wilton’s Candy Melts in dark chocolate
Vanilla Wafers
Candy eyes

DIRECTIONS:

Make spider “faces” first so they have time to harden up. Melt chocolate candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Dip vanilla wafers entirely in the melted chocolate until coated. Remove using a fork, tap against side of bowl and slide bottom along edge.
Place on parchment paper and place 2 eyes on each. Allow these to harden completely. Save excess chocolate to use for web on cookies.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and butter flavoring and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough (add additional flour if necessary).
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness.
Cut into spider webs with a cookie cutter (I used this one– totally got it at Wal Mart)
Place cookies on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper and bake at 350F degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Slide baked cookies and parchment paper together onto a counter to cool completely.
Re-melt the chocolate candy melts and spoon them into a small zip-top bag.
Melt colored candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Place cookie on a baking rack that has been set over a plate and spoon melted candy over the top of the cookie, spreading it to the edges and over. Use a fork to lift cookie, tap excess off and slide onto parchment paper.
Take bag of melted dark chocolate and clip a corner off. Pipe a swirl of chocolate onto the still- melted candy on the cookie and immediately pull line through this from the center out using a toothpick or skewer.
Set a spider “face” in the center of the cookie and allow everything to harden up.
Enjoy!

Aren’t they cute?????

My thoughts: These really are fun and delicious. It takes a little time and patience to cover the basic cookie in the candy melts- but I love how the color goes all the way over the edge! Since these harden up, they are perfect to make ahead and tie up in cello bags for fall parties. Enjoy!!!! ~r

Other fun fall recipes to try: (click on a photo to be taken to a recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged candy melts, cookies, cut-out cookies, Halloween, halloween cookies, kids recipe, recipe, spider cookies, spider eye cookies, spider web cookies, suagr cut-out cookies, sugar cookies. Bookmark the permalink.

The BEST Chocolate Cut-out Cookies Ever!!

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Ruthanne

They taste…like rich chocolate brownies. They cut…perfectly, no refrigeration needed. The recipe…is so simple to make! Absolutely perfect cookies!

Well. Here we are. It has been over a month since I have posted a recipe here, and I miss you all! It’s funny how blogging creates community, isn’t it? I’ve really missed hearing from you all, and reading many of your blogs!

So, what have I been doing? These cookies are more than just a recipe- they tell the story of summer in Eastern and Central Europe, and they tell the story of new chapter in my life.

For those of you who have followed Easybaked for years, you know I spent most of my life working in the field of medicine. You also know that I spent most of last year in Arizona, working with a small church on the Navajo Nation~ a journey and experience I absolutely LOVED.

When my time drew to a close with the Navajo, I wondered if I’d return to medicine, but God had other plans, and I was invited to join a mission organization called Josiah Venture as their Intern Coordinator. Josiah Venture’s vision is to be a movement of God among the young people of Eastern and Central Europe, that finds its home in the local church and transforms society. We have missionaries in 14 countries, and this summer there were over 100 college age interns sent to help local churches host camps and outreach events in their cities. My job is to recruit, resource and prepare these interns to go each year.

I’ve spent the 1st part of this year training for this position and raising the financial support I need to be able to do this job full-time. I was able to be in the Czech Republic at the end of May to welcome this year’s interns. It was incredible to see so many young people giving up their summer to serve God overseas. I loved it!

Each year, Josiah Venture has a theme for the summer camps hosted by local churches. This year it was “You are Here”. The logo was a Metro map. They used #urhere on Instagram and Twitter to connect people, and if you visit these hashtags you will see incredible testimonies of God’s faithfulness this summer!

I was invited to a cookout this summer with some missionaries visiting the US from Slovakia. I was asked to bring dessert- because when you have a baking blog, everyone asks you to bring dessert! 😉 I made these cookies for them, and they were SO much fun. I keep saying that I hate royal icing, but there are some times when it is your only option.

So… this is what I’ve been doing. It has been a struggle to keep baking and sharing with you all because it has been such a busy summer with so much travel. I keep telling myself that Easybaked is a HOBBY, and I am allowed to take a break for awhile. But I will be back- I promise! My head is swimming with new ideas 🙂

Before I share this recipe, I want to ask a favor. If you are reading this post, and you are a follower of Christ that wants to see the incredible news of God’s love shared around the world, would you consider becoming a part of my support team? I am slated to begin this position on September 1st and I am not fully funded yet- but I’m SO close! I am looking for people who are able to give toward this ministry on a monthly basis, and to pray.

If you are interested in learning more, here are a few links:

More about Josiah Venture here.

More about how to become a part of this ministry (and how to contact me with questions) here.

More about summer internships for college students interested in missions here.

More about me (my personal/ ministry blog) here.

Thank you dear followers, fellow bloggers, and friends. I have been asking God fervently to provide what I need before September 1, and who knows? Maybe he will answer my prayers through you!!!

Now, that cookie recipe!

It is the best cut-out cookie recipe ever. Plus it’s chocolate, which is bonus in my book!

I’ve shared this recipe many, many times on this blog. I’ve added espresso to the recipe for the delicious cookies posted above, I’ve made them into cookie cups to be filled with all sort of sweet happiness, and I’ve even made them into cookie lollipops. I don’t even feel bad re-sharing this recipe with you because it is one I keep returning to as a staple for so many ideas.

I simply cut this particular batch into squares, and decorated them using royal icing (click here for icing recipe) with the actual camp logo as a guide!

Here’s the cookie recipe (printer friendly recipe -by the way, this says to chill the dough, but you definitely don’t need to. Experimentation has proved otherwise! :))

INGREDIENTS: (makes 30-32 medium square cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. I like them fairly thick.
Cut into squares and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface.
Frost as desired. A simple powdered sugar glaze would be delicious on these, or if you want to get fancy, use royal icing to create whatever your heart desires!

I hope you enjoy these delicious little cookies! Thank you for letting me share with you a little beyond the recipe today! *hugs* ~r

Here’s a few more of my non-baking stories from the past 2 years!

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Posted in Cookies, Uncategorized and tagged best, chocolate, cookies, cut-out cookies, dessert, Josiah Venture, mission internships, missions, outreach, recipe, royal icing, summer camps. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Crossword Cookies

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Ruthanne

These delicious chocolate cut-out cookies are the perfect way to spell out your love to Mom on Mother’s Day!

Goodness, I love these cut-out cookies. They are one of my very favorite chocolate cookies and they roll out and cut beautifully! I’ve used them often with various projects here on Easybaked.

This Mother’s Day is different. It is my very 1st Mother’s Day without a Mom. For those of you who follow me here at Easybaked, you know that we lost mom very suddenly last Christmas season to cancer. Almost every day feels strange without her here, but I guess Mother’s Day seems even more strange.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I would have a recipe this year here in celebration of Moms- and I said, “Yes!”

Moms are such a wonderful gift, and if you have one this weekend– give her a big hug and really enjoy having her in your life. I have no regrets about my time with my mom- we made so many wonderful memories together and I love thinking about all the times we spent talking and laughing in my 44 years.

This idea is for her. She was positively addicted to crossword puzzles, and I know that these cookies would have made her smile.

My icing skills are not something to be terribly proud of…man, I cannot draw a straight line!!!!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 30, 1 1/2” square cookies)

1 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Wilton’s candy melts (to mold or write letters with)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter, using a floured rolling pin.
Cut into 1 1/2″ squares and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface.
Before frosting, make letters by using a candy letter mold in 1″ letters. Pipe melted Wilton’s Candy Melts into the letters you need and allow them to harden completely before tapping to remove. You can also just “write” letters on the frosted cookies using melted chocolate or even use pens designed to write in edible ink.
Frost using Royal Icing. Click here for my printable royal icing recipe and instructions for use.
As soon as you frost, lay letters in place before the frosting hardens (if you are “writing” directly on the cookie you will wait until the frosting is very hard 1st).
Decorate extra cookies with fun sprinkles.

My thoughts: These are yummy little cut-outs! If you don’t want to go with a crossword theme, you can cut these into any shape and decorate them just for your mom!

I will leave you with a (very!) old picture of my mom and I together. I’m so thankful for all the years between this picture and now.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Looking for that perfect gift for moms and grandmas? Get them my cookbook- specially designed to use with kids and grandkids, teaching them both kitchen skills and about God’s love for them! Fun!!!

Life Is Sweet: 12 Baking Devotions for Kids

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Posted in Cookies and tagged baking devotions, candy melts, chocolate, chocolate cut-out cookies, crossword cookies, cut-out cookies, dessert, fun, kids devotions, letter cookies, mom, mothers day, mothers day cookies, mothers day gift ideas, recipe, royal icing. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Football Cookies!

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Ruthanne

These soft and chewy chocolate cut-out cookies make the perfect little footballs! Are you ready for the season to start? Kick it off with these adorable treats!

NFL football starts this week with a Thursday night game against the Packers (GO PACK GO!!!!!!) and Seattle. Let the season of fun tailgating and snacking begin!!!

These are seriously the yummiest chocolate cookies ever, and the PERFECT, not-sticky, dough for cookie cutters. I’ve used this recipe SO many times here on easybaked. When I thought about making football cookies I automatically defaulted to this wonderful family recipe. I promise, you will love it!!!

Here’s how they are made: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. I roll mine thick, so I get nice and chewy cookies.
Cut into football shapes using a football cookie cutter and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave a little room for the cookies to spread.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Cool completely before moving- this allows the cookie to “set”.
Frost as desired. I used royal icing in a zip-top bag with a corner clipped off to decorate these. You can click here for my royal icing recipe and instructions for use. You could also use regular icing or even melted white chocolate.
Allow icing to harden up before stacking.

My thoughts: These are so cute, and so yummy that I kept wandering by the table just took look at them while they hardened up. I couldn’t help but smile every time….and eat one. Which was bad, because I’ve eaten too much fry bread here on the Navajo Nation and I need to diet! They are irresistibly good…so I quickly have given them all away! Happy football season everyone!!! Bring on the fun!!!!! ~r

Other desserts that use this cookie recipe:

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Posted in Cookies and tagged baking, chocoate, chocolate, cocoa, cookie cutters, cookies, cut-out cookies, dessert, football, fun, Green Bay Packers, idea, NFL, party, sports, tailgate. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Fudge Cut-Out Cookies!!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Ruthanne

The rich dark cocoa flavor of these cut-out cookies sets them apart as one of the yummiest cookies I’ve ever had!!

This weekend was a special treat — my good friend (and fellow baker/blogger) Megan came to visit me from Pennsylvania. We met in 2010 on a mission trip to Russia and we have been best of friends ever since.

Megan and her mom and sisters create the most beautiful and unique cakes I’ve ever seen, and they blog about life and caking on their blog Happily Ever Cakes. Megan has such great decorating ideas and she promised to share some of her recipes and techniques with me this weekend.

We spent hours in the kitchen (often accompanied with friends who wanted to help and learn too!) It was so much fun, and I’m so excited to share with you all the things I learned!!

Holding our personalized mug cupcakes–technique coming soon to Easybaked!
Such a fun weekend!

I wasn’t sure which project to tell you about first, so I decided to begin by dedicating this post to some truly yummy chocolate cut-out cookies.

Megan wanted to prove to me that royal icing isn’t always a tedious mess…. but honestly, royal icing is a tedious mess no matter what your technique or recipe (in my humble opinion!)

They are cute. Super super cute cookies. But 24 cookies took three of us about 3 hours….which means if I’d done them alone they would have taken me 9 hours….yeah.

So there are a lot of pictures because this will likely never happen again.

We even put some of them on lollipop sticks which was a really fun way to display them.

When Megan suggested a royal icing project I immediately thought of this great family recipe. I’d never made them as a cut-out cookie or attempted to bake them with sticks inserted, but I thought it would be worth experimenting with since they taste SO good. The verdict?? These dense chocolate cookies are easy to cut into shapes and worked great with or without lollipop sticks. The dark cookie really made all the fun colors in our frosting stand out too!

Ready for the recipe? (printer friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 24 large cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
Allow cookie dough to soften a little at room temperature
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. If you are adding sticks, you will want to roll the cookies out thick (about 1/3″)
Cut into desired shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Insert lollipop sticks, if desired, by gently pushing stick into cookie about 1- 1 1/2 inches. You will need to arrange cookies to fit with sticks on top of cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Cool completely before moving- this allows the cookie to “set” around the stick. Even when it is cooled, handle it with care. It takes a little time for the cookie to harden around the stick.
Frost as desired. A simple powdered sugar glaze will be delicious on these, or if you want to get fancy (and have a nice hard surface on your cookie) click here for Megan’s royal icing recipe and instructions for use.

Fun chocolate cookie cut-outs My thoughts: These cookies are SO yummy. I’m not usually a huge fan of cut-out cookies, but these are truly worth the effort of rolling out and cutting! I like them thick- even if you don’t add sticks to make them into pops. They are so much fun all set up in a vase~ what a perfect way to serve cookies at a party! You could wrap these in cello bags and tie them with cute ribbons too- a perfect favor for a wedding or shower! Hope you have fun with these treats!!! Enjoy!! ~r

Other fun cut-out cookies to try:

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Posted in Cookies and tagged baking, chocolate, chocolate cookies, chocolate cut-out cookies, cocoa, cookie pops, cut-out cookies, dark cocoa, fun cookies, icing gels, lollipop sticks, party favors, recipe, royal icing, sugar. Bookmark the permalink.

Honey Cookies (Medovniky) in fun fall colors!

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Ruthanne

It’s almost too late for these cookies. Around here the leaves are turning brown and falling fast! The good news is that these incredibly flavorful cookies can be cut into any shape for any season!

These are a traditional Slovak cookie, generally made around Christmas. When I traveled to Slovakia I fell in love with a traditional cake called Medovnik (if you want to see my attempt at it, click here). When I came across this recipe on the Slovak Cooking blog, I knew I had to try them.

They are wonderful. A little like honey graham crackers, a little like gingerbread cookies, a little like spice cake… an incredibly unique cookie that is SO easy to roll and cut out (I can’t stand sticky, messy cut-out cookie dough!) They filled my house with wonderful fall scents when I baked them and I will definitely be making them again. Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

4 ¼ cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ¼ sticks (5 oz.) of unsalted butter
3 ½ tablespoons of honey
½ cup of water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon
½ tablespoon ginger
½ tablespoon cloves

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the sugar, water and honey in a sauce pan until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly.
Stir in the butter, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
Once the butter has melted, let the mixture cool.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
Pour the sugar-spice mixture over it and mix well.
Knead lightly to form a smooth dough.
Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour. (the recipe called for refrigeration, but my dough was just perfect to roll out immediately.)
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
Roll dough out on a board dusted with flour.
Cut cookies in whatever shapes you want and place on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 5-8 minutes (they bake fast, so keep an eye on them).
Cool and frost with your favorite glaze or frosting (I used Royal Icing, click here for the recipe and for directions on how to use it)

My thoughts: I really do love these cookies. The recipe was so different than any other cookie recipe I’ve made before. I have a love/hate relationship with royal icing. I hate the 12 years it takes to frost my cookies, but then I LOVE the finished result. However you ice them, these cookies are a unique addition to your cookie recipe collection. Enjoy! ~r