Madeline is getting ready to be baptized on March 5th, and I am planning on hosting a luncheon (post here) at our home following the ceremony. I have been looking on Pinterest lately to figure out what all I want to do for her big day, and I love all of the beautiful cross cookies. I have called around to different places, and I have found that these can be quite expensive (but beautiful)! Since I am not currently working and am a fairly crafty person, I have decided to attempt to make these on my own. I made a trial batch last night, and I was fairly happy with the result. Here is what I have come up with on my first attempt:
I definitely need to practice my decorating skills, but I think this is the recipe that I used:
For The Cookie Cutters:
Cookie Cutter Set: (link)
Basic Cookie Recipe:
IN ONE BOWL:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
IN A SEPARATE BOWL:
1 stick SOFTENED unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 tsp vanilla
- In the bowl with butter and sugar, beat in a mixer for two minutes
- Then beat in 1 large egg and 3/4 tsp vanilla
- Slowly add flour mixture in until just combined
- Take dough in half and wrap two chunks in plastic wrap
- Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight (can also be freezed to be used at a later date)
ONCE YOU ARE READY TO MAKE THE COOKIES:
- Roll out to 1/4″ and cut out in desired shape (MAKE SURE YOU USE LOTS OF FLOUR BECAUSE THE DOUGH IS STICKY)
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes (this, of course, depends on your oven – I have found that eight minutes works best for my oven)
- LET COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE YOU GLAZE
This is what they looked like out of the oven:
As you can see, the edges were slightly brown on this batch (which was cooked for nine minutes). After doing several batches, I recommend watching them closely around the eight minute mark.
Basic Glaze Recipe:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 cup light corn syrup
1/8 cup water
1/16 – 1/8 tsp almond extract (I like 1/16 tsp so the flavor isn’t so intense, but this is completely up to your preference)
*Beat glaze in a mixer until combined completely (about one minute)
*Add food coloring, if desired
***For these cookies, I actually used Wilton white icing color
For The Decoration:
I just used simple white sugar pearls that I got from Michaels. If you look right now, they are on sale with all of the Valentine’s items! You can also find them on AMAZON
I applied the glaze on top of the cookies with one of Madeline’s baby spoons. It worked GREAT!!! 🙂
Helpful Tips:
-This dough is much better if you make it ahead of time and let it sit in your refrigerator or freezer. When you first make it, it is a little on the buttery side. However, the flavors really start to develop if you let it sit. It is also nice to be able to make the dough ahead of time, so you can split up the amount of time to make the whole cookie. 🙂
-Make sure and let the cookies cool completely before you put on the glaze!!! You don’t want it to melt.
-Make sure the glaze has completely hardened before you stack your cookies. You don’t want to try and move them too soon and mess up all of your work.
I am going to make these for sure for the luncheon, and if they are a hit, I will try and remake them for Madeline’s birthday party in May. This will be very helpful if they do turn out well, because these cookies at a bakery can run you around $3 a piece (because they can be labor intensive). I typically have of the ingredients required, which means I can save a lot of money by making these myself. Hooray!!!
Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a fabulous day!
P.S. Please follow my Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook pages for more fun ideas from One Cheerful Mom!
