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Baby Shower Cookies

I recently made these cookies for a baby shower and I'd like to show you step by step how easy it was to make them.  The chocolate cookies are true keepers.  Treat this particular dough as a rollout cookie and proceed from there.  The sugar cookies are always a favorite and the recipe makes wonderful cutouts.   It's important to chill the cookies before baking in order to retain that perfect shape.  Pick out your favorite cookie cutters and start rolling!

On a well floured surface, roll out your cookie dough.  I use a piece of plastic wrap over the dough to help me.  Doing this reduces the amount of flour you add to your dough when rolling it out.  Notice that I'm using a large 2 foot professional rolling pin.  This particular one is made by Ateco.

Start cutting your dough from the outside and work your way in.  Try to get the shapes as close together as
possible.  This is a smart way to work.  I always keep a dish with flour for dipping my cookie cutters.  This helps release your cutouts.  The remaining scraps can be gathered up and rerolled a second time.  The first cutter is a vintage baby chick and the others are collectible Martha by Mail ~ ABC Cookie Cutters made
of solid copper. 



My baking sheets are lined with silpats, but you can also use parchment paper.  Once you've cut out your shapes, give the cookies a good 1" clearance.  You don't want these cookies to run into each other as they bake.  I always chill the cutouts for 30 minutes and promptly bake them in my preheated oven.



Once your cookies have baked and cooled, you can begin to assemble your decorating ingredients.  The royal icing recipe is quite easy to make.  I've used pastel greens and yellows for these treats. 

These are the tools & ingredients I find most useful for decorating with royal icing.

-Ateco tips #2, #3, #4 and #5
-disposable 12" piping bags
-small glass bowls for mixing colors
-Ateco gel food coloring
-several glasses lined with wet paper towels
-a small offset spatula
-fine and coarse sanding sugar

 
Once I've filled my piping bags, I stand them up in glasses that are lined with wet towels.  This prevents the tips from drying out as I work from cookie to cookie.


The baby chicks have a simple outline, a wing and a cute little eye.  While the icing is still wet I flock them with sanding sugar.  Let your decorations dry completely.


Here is another tray of letters with a plain polka dot design. 

 
A small army of chocolate baby chicks.  Aren't they cute?


This batch of cookies was being shipped across the country, so I packaged them with great care.  Sturdy reusable containers with tight-fitting lids are ideal for this type of job.  When packaging cookies for shipping, it's important that they fit snugly and don't shift.  I have filled the gaps with crumpled up paper towels.  Find an appropriate shipping box and cushion the containers well.





These were very special cookies and the recipient was quite pleased to have them at her baby shower.  If you decide to make cookies such as these for a special occasion, be sure to personalize them by asking what the theme of the party will be.  Your recipient and their guests will thank you for these.    

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