Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Carrot Sugar Cookies


These sugar cookies are fun and pretty simple to make. The dough comes together quickly so you can easily make it the night before then stick it in the refrigerator and make your cookies in the morning. When rolling out the dough be sure to use enough flour so the dough does not stick to the rolling pin. If you find the dough is getting too soft to work with, stick it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes until it firms up a bit. I find it helpful to use a metal spatula to transfer the unbaked cookies from the work surface to the baking sheet.

Sugar Cookies 
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 Egg, Room Temperature*
3/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together the butter and the powdered sugar till fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Add the flour mixture and beat to incorporate. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Working with half of the dough at a time (leaving the other half in the refrigerator), on a floured work surface roll out dough then cut into shapes. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12-15 cookies

* To bring the egg to room temperature place the egg in a bowl and fill the bowl with hot tap water. Allow egg to sit in water for 10 minutes.

Adapted from Taste of Home

Frosting 
8 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
1 tablespoon Meringue Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
3 tablespoons Milk 

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter, meringue powder and vanilla until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat to combined. Pour in the milk and beat for a few minutes, until frosting is nice and fluffy. 

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Assembly
Place 1/3 cup frosting in a separate bowl and stir in two drops of green food coloring until all frosting has been colored. To the remaining frosting add 4 drops of orange food coloring and beat until all the frosting has been colored, add more food coloring if desired. For the coconut, place 2 drops green food coloring in a container fitted with a lid. Add 1/4 cup shredded coconut, cover and shake until all coconut has been dyed. 
Frost the carrot leaves first then sprinkle with coconut. To frost the carrot, fill a pastry bag fitted with the star attachment half way full with the orange frosting. Line the border of the carrot with stars, then fill in the middle.



3 comments:

  1. These are super cute! I love sugar cookies!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They're just adorable!!!!! I love how you dyed the coconut too! Wish I had one for Easter! :)

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