Marbleized Easter Egg Cookies Food

MARBLEIZED EASTER EGG COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
• Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 6-inch fluted egg-shaped cookie cutter. Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer; freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
• Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
• Divide royal icing evenly among three small bowls. Color each portion of icing with desired shade of food coloring, stirring with a toothpick to combine. Transfer each color of icing to a separate small squirt bottle. Using the colored icing, decorate according to template instructions.

WATERCOLOR EASTER BUNNY COOKIES

Steps:

• Royal Icing: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and 2/3 cup water on low speed until smooth, about 7 minutes. Icing should be the consistency of glue. (If icing is too thick, mix in a little more water. If icing is too thin, add more confectioners' sugar.) Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week. Stir before using.
• Cookies: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a flat disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/4 inch thick, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Using a 3-inch bunny- or carrot-shaped cutter, cut out cookies; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Reroll scraps once; cut out more shapes. Repeat with remaining disk. Freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges are light golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely.
• Transfer icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (such as Ateco #3). Pipe a thin line of icing around the border of each cookie. Pipe an even layer of icing in center of cookies; using a toothpick, spread icing into corners and edges of cookies. Let stand at room temperature until set, at least 2 hours.
• Place 1/4 teaspoon of each luster dust color in separate small bowls. Add 1 teaspoon water to each bowl and stir to combine. Working with one color at a time, use a small food-safe paintbrush to paint brushstrokes over surface of cookies, applying pressure to paintbrush to create more saturation. Let stand until dry, about 1 hour.

MARBLEIZED EGGS

Steps:

• 1. Decide the color or combinations you want to use-you may use one or more colors of paint for each marbling bath.
• 2. For each bath, fill a roasting pan with about 4 inches of water. Put on the rubber gloves. Add about 1 teaspoon of each color paint in the chosen combination. Swirl the end of a skewer through the paint.
• 3. Place an egg on the end of a skewer. Swirl it around through the paint and water. When the paint has adhered to the egg in a marbled pattern, remove the egg from the skewer to an egg carton and let it dry.
• 4. Repeat this process for each egg, using the different color marbleizing baths as you wish.
• 5. To dispose of paint responsibly, pour each bath slowly through a coffee filter, letting the water drain down the sink and capturing the paint. Throw away the paint.

EASTER EGG COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Tip the butter, sugars and vanilla into a bowl. Beat with a hand-held electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat again. Tip in the flour, bicarb and a pinch of salt, then use a spatula to mix together before adding the chocolate chunks and about half the crushed mini eggs (set aside the larger pieces) and mix again until everything is combined.
• Scoop golf-ball-sized mounds of cookie dough onto the baking sheets, making sure you leave plenty of space between each one. (You should fit 4-6 cookies on each, so you'll have to bake in batches to make the total 20 cookies.) Push the remaining mini egg pieces into the tops. Can be frozen at this point for up to three months. Defrost thoroughly in the fridge before baking. Bake for 15-18 mins, swapping the sheets around halfway through. For soft and chewy cookies, the cookies should be golden around the edges but still pale and soft in the middle. If you prefer a biscuit texture, you will need to bake them a little longer.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack, then bake the second batch. Continue until all the cookies are baked. Will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.