I've gotten hooked on dealnews.com, a site reports on great deals from all the web. There are a lot of other similar sites but since Mike introduced me to dealnews, that's where I go for the deals. A couple of weeks ago, there was a 50% off sale on Williams-Sonoma Star Wars vehicles cookie cutters. The cookie cutters not only cut the shape, but then you can stamp the imprint on the cookie, making it easier to decorate. While I was on the site, I noticed they also have Star Wars Heroes and Villains cutters so I had to buy that set also.
Once I got the cutters, I decided to start with Heroes and Villains since they seemed easier to decorate. I made the sugar cookie recipe suggested on the box (less rising during baking means better imprints) and made about 5 cups of royal icing.
The cookies came out great even without any icing. The imprints stay strong so you don't actually need to use icing. Note: since Yoda has less mass and more pointy corners, he does cook a lot faster in the oven than the other ones so keep an eye out for browning.
Once the cookies were cooled, it was time to make the mess. A fair bit of the cookies require flooding (cover the entire cookie) so you do have to wait until the first layer dries before making any further decorations. Plus anytime you change colors, you have to wait for the layers to dry so they don't bleed into each other. The good news is since there were about 4 dozen cookies total, by the time I finished the first layer of colors, cleaned up all the piping tips and made new colors, the first set of cookies were dried and I could work on them. As long as I continued to rotate the cookies in the right order, it worked out ok. It did take me about 1.5 days total to finish everything (baking and decorating). The cleanup wasn't as bad as I imagined but that's because I would clean up between each color change. It definitely made the mess a lot easier to handle.
I love the way they turned out. I also figure it was a good practice session for me for the upcoming Christmas baking season. There is obviously room for improvement but still really pleased with the results. I did take notes so next time they will look even better! Mike did suggest that I flavor the cookies next time (chocolate for Darth, mint for Yoda).
Next up is to try the Star Wars vehicles.
Once I got the cutters, I decided to start with Heroes and Villains since they seemed easier to decorate. I made the sugar cookie recipe suggested on the box (less rising during baking means better imprints) and made about 5 cups of royal icing.
The cookies came out great even without any icing. The imprints stay strong so you don't actually need to use icing. Note: since Yoda has less mass and more pointy corners, he does cook a lot faster in the oven than the other ones so keep an eye out for browning.
Once the cookies were cooled, it was time to make the mess. A fair bit of the cookies require flooding (cover the entire cookie) so you do have to wait until the first layer dries before making any further decorations. Plus anytime you change colors, you have to wait for the layers to dry so they don't bleed into each other. The good news is since there were about 4 dozen cookies total, by the time I finished the first layer of colors, cleaned up all the piping tips and made new colors, the first set of cookies were dried and I could work on them. As long as I continued to rotate the cookies in the right order, it worked out ok. It did take me about 1.5 days total to finish everything (baking and decorating). The cleanup wasn't as bad as I imagined but that's because I would clean up between each color change. It definitely made the mess a lot easier to handle.
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| Last of the mess to clean up. |
I love the way they turned out. I also figure it was a good practice session for me for the upcoming Christmas baking season. There is obviously room for improvement but still really pleased with the results. I did take notes so next time they will look even better! Mike did suggest that I flavor the cookies next time (chocolate for Darth, mint for Yoda).
Next up is to try the Star Wars vehicles.
Comments
I may have to go and accidently buy these cutters myself.