Skip to main content

American Flag T-Shirt Cookies

Let's display the star-spangled banner around our home and bake up some treats for the Fourth of July decorated in red, white, and blue.  If you're heading out to a parade, attending a celebratory gathering or are hosting a delicious barbecue, I encourage you to make iced sugar cookies with images of the American flag.  Let's celebrate!


This year I decided to make some t-shirt cookies with American flags to surprise some guests at a four-family gathering.  Rather than just having rectangular images of old glory, I wanted to include stars and hearts for variety and visual interest.  What I had in mind was a plain white t-shirt, with a bold image right in the middle.  True to my style of decorating cookies, I kept the images simple, yet thoroughly prominent.  There is nothing whatsoever difficult about these American Flag T-Shirt Cookies, and what's nice about them is that they can be made any time of year.  You don't have to wait for the Fourth of July to be patriotic.  

Make some this week for your festivities and place them out for everyone to enjoy.


Ingredients

This versatile T-Shirt cookie cutter was a recent addition to my collection.  What I love about the shape and size of the cookie cutter is that it has plenty room to get creative.  I can see this being used for birthday parties, school picnics, college treat packages, sporting events, company logos, etc, but it's just the thing to make American flag t-shirt cookies.  

It's up to you what cookie dough flavor you make, but do make sure that it's delicious and good to work with.  You want the cutouts to hold their shape.

There are only three colors you're working with here, white being the easiest. In order to get a true 'navy blue' royal icing, you need to tint a small batch with 'royal blue' until it's quite vivid and deeply saturated, and then you add one drop or two of black gel paste food coloring.  The 'flag red' is also treated the same.  Tint a small batch of royal icing with 'red red' gel paste making sure it is bright cherry red, then add one or two drops of black gel paste. Mix the colors together well and let the red and blue sit at least 30 minutes so that they have a chance to deepen even more.  If it's the color you desire, proceed with filling your pastry bags or squeeze bottles.

Although the flag centers of the t-shirts are quite simple, they still require a bit of thought.  Using a food-safe marker, trace a heart, star, and rectangle shape with small cookie cutters, making sure each shape is centered.  Divide the canton and stripes evenly within the shapes.  

Using a good, flooding consistency royal icing and #1 piping tips (or #1.5 if you have them), outline and flood the canton in navy blue, and then outline and flood the red and white stripes.  Do this step first on every single cookie you'll be decorating.

I let the flag shapes dry.  

The easiest step is using flooding consistency royal icing to outline the t-shirts (leave about 1/4" of space from the edge just in case the icing wants to shift a little) and then quickly flood the entire cookie in the white icing.  This is best done with a #3 plain piping tip.

The final touches are also very easy.  Pipe a plain white border on each star, rectangle and heart using a #2 piping tip.  Pipe small white 'dot stars' on each canton.  With #2 piping tips, pipe either a red or blue hem and neckline, then pipe the other color for the sleeves.  Let dry.  

Done!

Once the cookies are dry you can place them on platters or if you want to hand these out as party favors, slip them into clear cellophane bags.  I found these American flag stickers at a craft store and thought to seal each bag with one. Fold the opening of the bag behind the cookie and seal with a sticker.  Easy!


As I was telling my dear friend when I delivered these cookies, there won't be one left at the end of the barbecue because everyone is going to want one. Have fun making these patriotic treats!  

★   ★  ★
Labels:

Comments

  1. Co.Co.June 28, 2015 at 12:40 PM

    To cute!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good Things by DavidJune 28, 2015 at 3:28 PM

    Thanks! I loved making these. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. happyvalleymomJuly 3, 2015 at 7:36 PM

    Perfect cookies once again. Love the simplicity of the white t-shirt which really sets off the Stars and Stripes! Happy 4th to you and yours David.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good Things by DavidJuly 4, 2015 at 12:14 PM

    Thanks Happyvalleymom, that was the idea! Happy Fourth to you!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank You for Posting!

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Salt Cellars

There was a time when salt cellars played an important role on the dining table for the host or hostess.  As a result of it being such an expensive commodity several hundred years ago, salt was seen as a luxury and it was the well to do that made salt cellars quite fashionable & a status symbol for the home.  A single salt cellar usually sat at the head of the table and was passed around throughout the meal.  The closer one sat to the salt cellar, the more important one was deemed by the head of the household.  Smaller cellars that were more accessible and with an open top became a part of Victorian table settings.  Fast forward to the 20th century when salt was no longer a luxury and when anti caking agents were added to make salt free-flowing, and one begins to see salt cellars fall out of fashion.  Luckily for the collector and for those of us who like to set a table with Good Things , this can prove to be a boon. Salt cellars for the table come in silver, porcelain, cut glass
50 comments
Read more

Collecting Jadeite

With its origins dating back to the 1930s, jadeite glassware began its mass production through the McKee Glass Co. in Pennsylvania. Their introduction of the Skokie green & Jade kitchenware lines ushered in our fascination with this jade color.  Glassmakers catered jadeite to the American public as an inexpensive alternative to earthenware soon after the Depression, both for the home and for its use in restaurants.  The Jeanette Glass Company and Anchor Hocking introduced their own patterns and styles, which for many collectors, produced some of the most sought after pieces.  Companies marketed this beautiful glass under the monikers of jadite , jadeite , jade glass , jad-ite , jade-ite , so however you want to spell it, let it draw you in for a closer look.  If you want a thorough history of the origins of jadeite, collectors’ pricing, patterns & shapes (don’t forget the reproductions in 2000), I highly suggest picking up the book by Joe Keller & David Ross called, Jadei
48 comments
Read more

A Tour of Turkey Hill with Martha Stewart and Friends

Martha Stewart led an intimate tour of her former Westport, Connecticut home and gardens for a few of my friends this past weekend.  From the photographs I've seen of that special day, it was an experience that will be remembered for a lifetime by those who were in attendance.  As much as I regret not going to this momentous occasion, my friends were kind enough to allow me to share their amazing photographs here on the blog. Let's take a tour of Turkey Hill with Martha Stewart and a few of my friends. Without the kindness of Jeffrey Reed, Dennis Landon, Darrin David, Anthony Picozzi and Colin Eastland, this post would not be possible.  It must also be stated that the fundraising event was graciously hosted by the current owners of Turkey Hill, the Bergs. Many thanks to the Berg family for opening up the property. Turkey Hill is the Federal style home that was purchased, renovated and landscaped by Martha Stewart and her then husband, Andy, back in 1970.  It was he
17 comments
Read more