Chess or Checkers Cookies

This yummy checkers board is made from the Roll Out Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing and a colored candy like Skittles or M&M's.

For this cookie I cut the dough into squares and baked them.  Dye some of the royal icing with black coloring.  I find that the easiest way to do this is to use Wilton's Black Ready-To-Use Icing.  I then used some edible markers and a ruler to make a grid pattern on each cookie.  Now, I didn't do this, but I should have made a black outline around the edges of the cookies BEFORE filling the grid.  That would have made the cookie look nicer.  

Next I filled in each square alternating between black and white icings.  I did this as quickly as possible because the icing will start to crust and the finished product will have ridges.  Now that wouldn't be bad, but I wanted a seamless look like a real chess board.  When this is all done, I let them dry for about 24 hours.

When everything was dry, I placed the colored candies on the spaces.  All done!  This is a fun way to play and eat with your treats!

*I know that I made a chess board but used checkered pieces, if you want to have red squares instead of white either dye the royal icing red before decorating or use a red edible marker to color the dried white squares.

Boutique Treats

These were some free treats for a boutique!  They were for the customers so they could have a treat while perusing the crafts.  The flyer was green, blue, white and brown.  Hence the colors of the treats.

These are brownies that I formed into balls.  They are like cake balls, but you do not have to add frosting to make it stick together.  I put them in the fridge to chill and then just melted the chocolates.  I then dipped the chilled brownie balls and put them on wax paper.

These are Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies.  The cookies are all the same except the brown have cocoa powder added with the flour.  The green and blue are just sprinkles that I rolled the dough into before baking.

These mini cupcakes are all from cake mixes.  The Key Lime and Blue Raspberry are actually new mixes from Pillsbury.  The blue and green frosting are also the same flavors from the same brand.  I just put the frosting in a star tip and put some swirls on them.

These are grapes and blueberries in 2 oz serving cups.  I wanted to make sure to have an option for those who did not want something with sugar.

I displayed them on disposable doilies and had some flowers in a small vase.  I think it turned out nice!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies

This is from the Better Home and Gardens New Cook Book 12th edition.  These are really good!  They have some other really good recipes check it out here!!

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/2 cup of shortening

2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon of salt

3 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1 3/4 cups of flour (all-purpose)

    Beat butter and shortening until blended.  Add in the sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and mix well.  Make sure the side of the bowl are scraped.  Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla.  Add as much flour as possible using the mixer, then just mix the rest with a spoon.

    Roll the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.  Bake in a preheated oven of 300 degrees for 15 minutes making sure the edges do not brown.  Of course if the cookies are smaller or bigger, the time will need to be adjusted.  After letting the cookies cool for about 1 minute, put them on a cooling rack  and allow them to continue to cool.

This recipe will make around 60 cookies

Sugar Cookie Recipe

These are for roll-out cookies

3/4 cups shortening or butter

1 cup white granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavors you want to try)

3/4 cup whole milk

4 cups flour

3/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder( adding less makes them rise less)

Cream butter/shortening and sugar together.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Then mix in the milk.  Sift all of the dry ingredients together and then slowly add to the wet mixture.  Chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

  Roll dough to desired thickness* and cut out.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.**

* The thicker the dough is, the more it will rise.

** depending on how big or little your cookies are, the time may need to change, just keep an eye on them.