Beach Blanket Sugar Cookies Food

BEACH BALL COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough into 5 equal portions. Tint each portion a different color with food coloring. Divide each portion into 24 equal pieces; roll each piece into a ball. Gently press together 1 ball of each color to form a larger ball; place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with bottom of a glass., Bake until bottoms are lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

CLASSIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat the superfine sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes; beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed until completely incorporated. Divide the dough in half, pat into 2 discs about 1/4 inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes to make rolling easier. Roll out 1 disc of dough at a time between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
• Gently gather any scraps of dough into a ball and press into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the disc until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour. Cut out as many cookies as possible and bake.
• For the royal icing: Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 1/3 cup water with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Beat in the food coloring if using. (The icing can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
• Decorate the cookies with the icing; top with decorating sugar and sprinkles if using.

BEACH SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• TO MAKE THE COOKIES: Measure and sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or in mixer bowl with paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and the sugar. Once smooth, add the eggs, almond extract and combine well.
• Add the dry flour mixture to the butter / egg mixture, but by bit. Mix until the dough is smooth.It will be thick.
• Shape into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour, though overnight works. You can freeze the dough here too (but thaw in the fridge before using).
• ROLLING: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you chilled the dough more than an hour, allow it to warm very slightly to encourage better roll out. Roll between long pieces of parchment, to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and to obviate the need for any extra flour. Roll to between ⅛- to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out rectangles, circles, and starfish shapes and bake for about 8 minutes, or until tops are matte. Cool slightly before removing from pan and cooling on rack. Wait at least 2 days before icing the cookies. You can freeze them for months, thaw in the fridge, and then decorate.
• ICING: Find a tutorial on flood icing and piping icing consistencies. There is no one way to do this; you need to find your preferences. Piping icing needs to pretty thick for the starfish body dots. I use Sweet Sugar Belle's "20-second icing" to do the water, beach, and starfish colors.
• Whip up the icing: Begin by stirring the extract into half the water (start with ¼ cup).
• Using a paddle attachment, gently mix the sugar and meringue powder. No need to sift.
• Set the mixer on its lowest setting slowly and add the water/extract mix to the dry ingredients. The icing will become thick and lumpy as the water is added. Don't worry! It will become smooth.
• Continue to add the remaining water (this may or may not be the entire amount) until the mixture reaches a thick, honey-like consistency.
• Turn the mixer to medium speed and whip 2 to 4 minutes until the icing is thick and fluffy. You want a soft peak consistency.
• DECORATING: Divide up bowls to make up blue, yellow, pink, and any other color choices. Save some icing to not tint (for the starfish body dots). If you do not need to use all of the royal icing at once, it keeps well for about a week, untinted, at room temperature and well wrapped. Just remix it if the water starts to separate. Allow the undercoats on the starfish to dry before adding the body dots, to achieve the pointy, textured effect. Otherwise, the dotting icing will melt into the undercoat colored icing.
• For the beach cookies: Pipe on the blue water, allow to dry at least 30-45 minutes, then pipe on the yellow and immediately throw on the gold sugar for the sand effect. If the gold sugar sticks to the blue, you can gently brush it away with a small paint brush. Allow these to dry completely (overnight) before moving on to the next step.
• Pipe the fairly thick white icing (for sea foam and wave whitecaps) along the blue-sand border. Using a small paintbrush, swipe the white against the blue to achieve the foam look. Pipe more waves on the blue with a similar approach. Allow to dry overnight. If you want to emulate the original artist, check out her page for piping beach accessories, such as flip-flops, beach balls, and shells. I did not do this. Remember: I hate the beach. I want it unspoiled.
• These cookies keep for weeks in an airtight container, more for visual enjoyment (in other words, they will be stale and edible but pretty).

BEACH DAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare the cookie dough according to the package directions for roll-out cookies, incorporating flour as instructed. Cut the dough into twelve 4 1/2-inch circles, rerolling the scraps as needed. Arrange on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Bake until the edges are light golden brown, 11 to 14 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, adding up to 1 tablespoon more water if needed, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer 1/4 cup of the icing to a piping bag fitted with a round number 3 tip. Spoon another 1/4 cup of the icing into a small bowl and thin with 1/2 teaspoon water to flooding consistency. You will know it has reached flooding consistency when you run a knife or fork through the icing and it flows back to where it was in 10 seconds. Add more water 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you've reached the right consistency. Transfer to a small piping bag (no tip needed).
• Add the food coloring to the remaining icing in the bowl and mix to combine. Transfer 1/4 cup to a piping bag fitted with a round number 3 tip. Thin the remaining blue icing with 1/4 teaspoon water to flooding consistency. You will know it has reached flooding consistency when you run a knife or fork through the icing and it flows back to where it was in 10 seconds. Transfer to a small piping bag (no tip needed).
• Using the thick blue icing, pipe the outline of the ocean and some waves on the bottom half of each cookie circle and let dry, about 20 minutes. Fill in the ocean with blue flooding icing using a toothpick to spread it all the way to the edges. Let dry completely, about 30 minutes.
• Outline the top half of each cookie with the thick white icing. Let dry completely, about 20 minutes. Fill in the empty space on the top half of each cookie with the white flooding icing using a toothpick to spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon crushed graham crackers over the wet icing on each. Let the icing dry completely, about 30 minutes, then tap the cookies to remove any excess crumbs. Pipe white ocean foam in swirls over the space where the blue and sand meet. Let dry completely, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, build the sandcastles: Dip 4 mini marshmallows in water, then roll in the graham cracker crumbs until completely covered. Use the thick white icing to stick 3 marshmallows together to form the base of a sandcastle. Pipe a small amount of icing on the bottom of the fourth marshmallow and stick it on top of the base. Repeat with the remaining marshmallows, cracker crumbs and icing to make 12 castles.
• Make the flags: Use a sharp knife to cut 12 small flags out of the rainbow sour candy. Cut 6 toothpicks in half for the flag poles. Stick each flag to a toothpick piece, then stick a flagpole into the top of each sandcastle.
• Make the sand buckets: Cut 12 strips from the green taffy, each 1/2 inch long and 1/16 inch wide. Roll 1 strip in your hand to a 1-inch-long rope for a bucket handle. Use thick white icing to glue the handle to a green gumdrop half. Sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs into the top of the gumdrop bucket. Repeat with the remaining taffy strips, icing, gumdrop halves and graham cracker crumbs to make 12 buckets.
• Make the shovels: Cut 12 strips from the green taffy for the shovel handles, each 1/2 inch long and 1/16 inch wide. Cut twelve 1/4-inch squares from the green taffy. Squeeze one square onto the top of each handle to make 12 shovels.
• Make the crabs: Use the round part of a number 3 piping tip to cut 12 half-circles out of the red taffy. Cut 72 strips for legs, each 1/6 inch wide and 1/4 inch long. Press 3 legs onto each side of each half-circle to make 12 crabs.
• Make the seashells: Use a sharp paring knife to cut 2 small pieces off the bottom of each white chocolate chip to create a seashell. Use the paring knife to make indentation lines in the shape of a seashell on top of each chip.
• Assemble the cookies: Use thick white icing to glue 1 sandcastle, 1 bucket, 1 shovel, 3 seashells and 1 crab to each cookie. Let dry completely, about 20 minutes.

SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk for 4 mins until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla. Whisk in the cornflour and plain flour until the mixture comes together into a dough. Put the dough between two pieces of baking parchment, and roll out to a 6mm thickness using a rolling pin. Chill for 30 mins.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Peel the top layer of parchment off the dough and stamp out circles using a 6cm round cutter (or the shape of your choice). Re-roll any offcuts and continue stamping out rounds until all the dough is used. Transfer the cookies to a second large baking sheet lined with baking parchment, spacing them 2cm apart (you may need two sheets). Bake for 7-10 mins. Leave to cool on the sheet for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Will keep in an airtight container for one week.