Tie Dye Wreath Spritz Cookies Food

TIE-DYE COOKIES

Steps:

• To heat the flour, place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until an instant read thermometer stuck into a few different spots of the flour reaches 180 degrees F. Let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups of the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, cream cheese and granulated sugar until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the applesauce and mix until combined. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Divide the dough among 3 bowls and add food coloring, keeping the colors separate. Wearing disposable gloves, knead in the color by hand, or stir it in with a spatula, until homogenous. If you don't have gloves, you can use a zip-top plastic bag.
• You can play with and bake the dough now (dust with a little more flour if it gets sticky) or you can put it in an airtight container and refrigerate for an hour or overnight to play with and bake later.
• Roll each batch of dough into a log about 2 1/2 feet long and 1 inch wide. Line up the three logs of dough and cut each into 6 equal portions. Twist one portion of each of the colored doughs together and roll into a ball to create the desired tie-dye pattern. Roll in sanding sugar, place on the prepared baking sheet and gently press down using your hand. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing the finished cookies an inch apart. Bake until very lightly browned on the bottom but still gooey on the inside, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

LIME SPRITZ COOKIES

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Beat the butter, confectioners' sugar and lime zest in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Transfer two-thirds of the dough to a separate bowl and set aside. Add the food coloring to the remaining one-third of the dough and beat with the mixer until combined.
• Assemble a cookie press according to the manufacturer's instructions. Working in batches, fill the press with about 3 tablespoons plain dough, then 3 tablespoons green dough, then 3 more tablespoons plain dough. Press cookies about 1 inch apart onto 2 ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are set but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

CHRISTMAS TIE-DYE SWEATER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix the sugar cookie mix according to the package instructions and divide the dough into 3 equal dough balls. Color one dough ball red and the other dough ball green so you have 1 plain, 1 red and 1 green.
• Tear teaspoon-sized pieces of each color dough and drop them on a piece of parchment or a silicone baking mat, alternating colors close together so it looks like confetti. Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on top of the dough pieces and roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Refrigerate the rolled out dough for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 hour (this helps keep the cookies from spreading).
• Using a sweater cookie cutter, press out as many sweaters as you can and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Re-roll the leftover dough and keep punching out cookies. (Note, the more you roll, the cooler the dough pattern will be, but if you over-roll it, it will become a muddy color.)
• Bake just until the bottoms start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before decorating.
• Mix the royal icing according to the package instructions. Divide the icing into three bowls. Leave one bowl white, dye another red and the last green. Add the icing to piping bags or squeeze bottles. Outline a cookie with one color, then another inside the first outline, working in from the perimeter and alternating colors until the whole cookie is covered. Drag a toothpick from the center of the cookie out to the edges to create a tie-dye effect. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Let set until dry, 20 to 30 minutes.

BUTTER SPRITZ COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the egg and mix to incorporate; don't worry if the mixture seems to separate.
• Sift together the flour and baking powder and add to the creamed butter. Mix until combined. Using a cookie press, press the cookies onto ungreased baking sheets. Top with sprinkles of your choice. Bake until firm but not yet browning, 6 to 8 minutes. After a few minutes, move cookies to a rack and cool.

TIE-DYE COOKIES

Steps:

• Divide the frosting evenly among three medium bowls. Add 1 shade of food coloring to each and stir to make three different colors of frosting.
• Transfer each frosting to a piping or resealable plastic bag with one corner snipped. Starting along the outside edge of a cookie, pipe concentric circles of frosting, alternating colors for each circle, until the surface is covered. Drag a skewer from the center of the cookie outward to make lines through the frosting, making sure to clean the tip of the skewer between drags. Continue to drag lines through the circles until a star shape is formed. Repeat the process on each cookie.