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shiny happy cookies

As I’m sure every one of you follows Amanda from i am baker, then you know of her plea for help last week. She offered two dozen cookies to five of her readers most deserving of a pick-me-up. Well, she found each of the 165 responders deserving, so she reached out to us (“us” meaning the baking blogging world) to help out, and in no time at all, every responder had a baker match.

I spent an absurd amount of time trying to decide what cookies are the shiniest and happiest to send to my match. Suns, smileys, sparkley swirls, rainbows… I settled on suns, bugs and oodles of flowers. So I took a tiny break from my current madness, grabbed my daughter and made some random-act-of-kindness cookies.

Naturally, my daughter is a cookie maker extraordinaire. (If by any chance my match is reading this, I promise we washed our hands thoroughly and had no sniffles.) Seriously. She actually rolled out and cut out several of the cookies here. (And if such a task is not unusual for a three-year old, please don’t tell me this and ruin the illusion that mine is a prodigy.)  I told her we were making cookies to help someone who was a little blue, which encouraged her to make her own list of deserving people. A list that included almost everyone she knows. If she had her druthers, we’d still be making cookies for her list. She decorated these which we’ll bring to a friend tonight:

A huge thank you to Amanda for brightening the day of so many people.
 

Once again, I’m afraid the how-tos below will be sparing and illustration-free. When this whole crazy book thing is said and done, I’ll devote much more time here.

What I did:
For tips on finding supplies, click HERE. For tips on finding cookie cutters, click HERE.
Chilled it, rolled it out, cut out caterpillars, dragonflies, bees, ladybugs, suns (sunflowers, really), and little daisies.
I made my royal icing,
divided it and made black, white, two shades of yellow, turquoise, pink, red, and two shades of lime, and filled decorating bags fitted with couplers and tips, closed tightly with rubber bands.
For the suns,
I piped a swirl of darker yellow, immediately coated with yellow sprinkles, turned over to remove excess, then piped a swirl and triangles with lighter yellow.
For the ladybugs,
I outlined with black using a 3 tip and piped the head. I outlined the ladybug with red using a 3 tip. I thinned red icing a bit with water, filled an empty decorating bag, snipped the tip and flooded the cookie. I let it set and piped black dots on top.
For the caterpillars,
I outlined circles with lime using a size 3 tip and let it set. Then I flooded the circles with thinned lime. When that set, I piped a highlight with light lime using a 3 tip, piped white dots for eyes using a 3 tip, then black dots with a 2 tip.
For the dragonflies,
I used size 4 tips, and piped turquoise dots for the body and piped lime for the wings.
For the bees,
I outlined with black using a size 3 tip, then piped to fill the black and yellow, then flooded the wings with white.
For the daisies,
Using size 4 tips, I piped and filled a yellow circle and immediately coated with sprinkles. I piped dots for the petals.

Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

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This entry was written by meaghanmountford, posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:25 pm, filed under cookie decorating, cookies, flowers, royal icing, Spring, Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

26 Comments

  1. Kelsey-N-Tim
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 4:00 pm | Permalink

    your cookies are adorable! I'm sure they really brightened someone's day. I'm sure all those cookies made someone's day!
    Wish I was a follower of Amanda last week. pick-me-ups would have made last week better :)

  2. Save the Date for Cupcakes
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 4:38 pm | Permalink

    Those cookies would make anyone happy! So adorable!

  3. Mimi
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 5:46 pm | Permalink

    They make me happy.
    Mimi

  4. Amanda
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 5:52 pm | Permalink

    You are really going to be making a difference in someones life Meaghan… these are just WONDERFUL!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

    And I LOVE that your daughter did this with you… what a huge testimony!

    Blessings-
    Amanda

  5. SweetSugarBelle
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 5:59 pm | Permalink

    You make people smile just by being you!!! You've brightened my day more than once and encourage me often. I cannot wait to hear their reaction

  6. Meg
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 6:06 pm | Permalink

    What a wonderful thing to do and to teach your daughter about. Those cookies are bound to make someone smile from ear to ear. Love the caterpillar and the dragon fly especially!

  7. Heather
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 6:06 pm | Permalink

    You have just made my day…I do not decorate cookies but wish I had time for that too! Super sweetness found here! I was led here by the lovely I am Baker.

    Please keep being, doing, posting!

  8. Katrina
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 6:29 pm | Permalink

    Just precious! I'm making happy colorful flowers for *my* assigned family too! :) ♥- Katrina

  9. Paula
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 7:46 pm | Permalink

    How can you not smile when you look at these cookies! Bet the smile gets even bigger when you eat them.

  10. Sue
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 7:48 pm | Permalink

    Your cookies are SURE to brighten anyone's day! Your little apprentice baker is so cute! I'm sure her cookies will brighten your friend's day:)

  11. Beth
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 8:22 pm | Permalink

    Too cute! They make me happy just looking at them, and that's zero calories!

  12. Lorraine
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 8:39 pm | Permalink

    They are awesome. Such a wonderful thing to do for someone! I am sure they definitely brightened the recipient's day!

  13. paddle attachment
    Posted March 24, 2011 at 9:53 pm | Permalink

    Super cute. I love the dragon fly and those big green dots!

  14. Lauren @ Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.
    Posted March 25, 2011 at 1:45 am | Permalink

    These cookies are shiny and bright for sure! I'm sure your recipient is going to LOVE them! What a fun project for your daughter to help out with!

  15. Erin
    Posted March 25, 2011 at 9:45 pm | Permalink

    those look yummy.. I have never heard of amanda but will now be following her! Love love your stuff and going to try making your pig cookies this weekend for my daughters Olivia Birthday party coming up on April 9th.

  16. wenderly
    Posted March 28, 2011 at 1:08 am | Permalink

    And brighten someones day you did! My parents were the recipients of those stunningly beautiful Spring pieces of art! It was *perfect* timing too! My dad is having back surgery tomorrow and the cookies just made his day! Thank you (and your precious daughter) so, so very much!!!!!! Bless you both!

  17. Rowaida
    Posted March 28, 2011 at 6:40 am | Permalink

    So fresh and beautiful designs, wonderful. Meaghan your daughter is so cute and adorable, she is lucky to have you as her teacher. Good luck

  18. lamantissiére
    Posted March 29, 2011 at 10:41 am | Permalink

    really very beautiful

  19. Angie
    Posted March 29, 2011 at 2:17 pm | Permalink

    Your cookies are so cute!

  20. Katie @ This Chick Cooks
    Posted March 30, 2011 at 12:56 pm | Permalink

    I am featuring your adorable cookies today. Thanks so much for sharing. I know that all my readers are going to love them!
    Katie

  21. Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking
    Posted March 30, 2011 at 4:54 pm | Permalink

    These are such fun Easter and spring inspired treats! Thanks for sharing. You have a beautiful blog and I'm looking forward to exploring your recipes. :)

  22. franca
    Posted March 30, 2011 at 6:24 pm | Permalink

    ma che meraviglia questi biscotti che danno tanta allegria e fanno sentire la primavera,bravissima e anche alla tua piccola cuoca,
    ciao

  23. Haniela
    Posted March 31, 2011 at 6:58 pm | Permalink

    These made me smile, It's raining here so I needed a good smile.
    Thank you

  24. lizy b
    Posted April 3, 2011 at 12:53 am | Permalink

    Love the little caterpillar! Tell your daughter she's a superstar!!!

  25. Wic
    Posted April 13, 2011 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

    love them but the caterpillars are so cute that I have to get my hands on a caterpillars cutter.

  26. bridget {bake at 350}
    Posted April 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm | Permalink

    Love, love, love! I love the cookies and the "grass" you displayed them on….and your little cutie peeking in the oven!

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