Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I tried making chocolate sugar cookies for the first time several years ago, just to have something to change up the traditional sugar cookies I make for decorating. They tasted great right out of the oven -- like little brownies -- but they hardened quickly and didn't taste very chocolatey.

I've tested a few other recipes since then and had similar results. If they tasted great, they spread while baking. If they didn't spread, they didn't taste that great. And then I found this recipe. And I made many, many cookies, as evidenced by the small collection below.

I wanted to try a non-traditional color palette for these cookies -- something that would really pop against the deep chocolate color of the cookies (another major plus of this recipe). I decorated the cookies above using my FAVORITE ROYAL ICING recipe and four AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste colors -- Bright White, Royal Blue, Sky Blue, and (a very soft) Teal. I love the accent of the dark blue against the other shades -- it's almost like a Delft blue -- very rich and unexpected for holiday cookies. To get the fine detail, I used an Ateco #2 tip for the flooding and a #1.5 for the lines and dots.

There were so fun to make -- they are a deep chocolate flavor that holds it's shape while baking (see the snowflakes? You can't get much better than that) and makes for a striking backdrop for lighter shades of icing.

You can find the detailed recipe here: DARK CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I was going through Pinterest, like I do, when I saw these cookies from Baking a Moment. I immediately thought, "Wow, these are some of the prettiest cookies I've ever seen," followed quickly by "I need to try these".

I used another chocolate sugar cookie recipe because I'd already started making it when I saw these cookies; I just separated a bit of the dough and added Allie's recommended one (1) teaspoon of peppermint extract.

Decorating these cookies was really fun. I don't know how Allie kept hers so uniform, but even though mine alternated a bit in terms of number of lines, I don't think anyone other than me noticed.

There's something to be said for sticking to a simple color palette and common pattern. I love marbling as it is, but I've always focused on trying different pattern combinations. For these cookies, I followed Allie's lead and only changed the color of the dotted cookie borders (equal numbers red, pink, and white).

You can find the recipe here: CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Gilded Gingerbread Reindeer Cookies

Sweetopolita posted these cookies just before Christmas and my daughter and I became obsessed with trying to make our own versions. They're so simple and classic, yet cute and whimsical. I love making Christmas cookies, but I always like to make them unique and unpredictable; these gilded gingerbread reindeer head cookies definitely fit the bill.

Close-up of the golden antlers and pink Sixlet noses — **Close-up of the golden antlers and pink Sixlet noses**

Still learning how to work with luster dust...

As you can see from the close-up above, I'm still experimenting with luster dust. I wanted the sparkle of Rosie's (from Sweetopolita), and actually achieved it on some. But, it was also my first time working with a Gold gel color and I got a little heavy-handed. The color was still gorgeous, but I think it made the luster dust harder to see just because it was such an intense color.

Hand-drawn eyelashes make these cookies even more elegant

Decorating these cookies is pretty straight-forward. I began with the flooding the outline of the reindeer in white (using an Ateco #2 tip) and followed up with the antlers in Gold (using an Ateco #1.5 tip). After letting them sit for about two hours, I went back and added additional white icing to the reindeer's noses to hold the pink Sixlet noses in place. The next day, I drew on the eyelashes using a food marker (though this could be done with a very fine piping tip and black icing, too).

Here's a list of the materials I used:

Royal icing: AmeriColor Gel Paste colors (Bright White and Gold)
Luster dust (used on antlers): Wilton Luster Dust (Gold)
Nose: Sixlets (Pink)
Eyelashes: AmeriColor food marker (Black)

And, of course, the cookies and icing recipes: GINGERBREAD COOKIES and FAVORITE ROYAL ICING

Winter Sugar Cookies

Anyone who knows me knows that I love making holiday cookies more than just about anything in the world. I think it's because these were some of the first cookies I made and it's fun to see how I've progressed over the years. Also, it's Minnesota and it's cold out and somehow decorating mittens, hats, and snowflakes feels so perfect on a wintery day.

Here are some of my favorites from the 2014 holiday season:

For the cookie recipe, see FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIES.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Happy Halloween!

How adorable are these cookies! I was inspired by this post from one of my favorite baking blogs, Sweetopia. If you haven't checked out Marian's amazing site, you must -- it's a must-have for tutorials and inspiration. I saw these spiderweb decorated cookies on Sweetopia's website and just had to try making them myself. I'll never be as talented at Marian, but it sure was fun trying to recreate some of her beautiful cookies. Just follow her instructions and you're good to go. :)

I'm still learning so much about baking and decorating with royal icing that I haven't really ventured out to try coming up with my own recipes or designs yet -- this is a classic example of me seeing something I liked and trying to recreate it. I think it's the best way to learn.

These cookies were made using several techniques, including marbling. The trick is to just flood the cookie, wait a few seconds, and then take an alternate color and add stripes to the cookie. Shake it a little to get the icing to "melt" into the base layer and then take a toothpick and run it through the lines to create a pattern. Again, I'm going to refer you to Sweetopia for an excellent video tutorial -- she's the best.

Also, note all of the black used in these cookies. Be prepared to use a lot of food coloring and just accept the fact that your fingers will likely stain a nice shade of pale black for a day or two.

I used my FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIE recipe for these and decorated using Sweetopia's Royal Icing recipe.