Autumn Tree Cookies

These Autumn Tree Cookies just kind of evolved as I recently baked and decorated a batch of cookies just for fun so that I could experiment and practice.

When it comes to cookie decorating, I will never rest on my laurels. There's always something to learn and new cookies to attempt.

The falling leaves on the cookies were added with a #67 Wilton leaf tip.  These cookies came together quickly and what I found most difficult was trying to decide where to add the leaves. I wanted their placement to look natural and for me that was hard to do.

I used dark blue royal icing for the trees and added them while the white base coat was still wet.

I'm now thinking that for Halloween I should make black trees on an orange base coat.  I think that would look really cool and I could also add some black crows and a full moon. I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I can't help it, I really enjoy the creative process of cookie decorating.

Here's how to decorate Autumn Tree Cookies:

Outline the cookies with medium consistency royal icing using a #2 tip. Let this dry for about 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.

Put flood consistency blue and white royal icing into pastry bags that are each fitted with a #2 tip. Flood the cookie with the white icing.

Then immediately use the blue icing to make a tree trunk. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Add some branches.

Here's another example. Let the cookie dry completely before adding the leaves.

It usually takes anywhere from 8 to 12 hours for the cookies to dry completely.

After the cookie has dried, pipe dark orange leaves onto the tree using stiff royal icing and a #67 Wilton leaf tip. Once the leaves are added, use a skewer or scribe tool to gently flatten them. If you leave them sticking up and out like in this photo, they will be too fragile for packaging.

This is how the leaves look after gently flattening them. Wait for the leaves to dry completely before packaging.

Here's an Autumn Tree Cookie with some Double-Decker Mini Pumpkin Cookies that were also part of my recent practice batch. Happy Autumn!

Fall Cookies For Sale

These double decker Fall cookies topped with acorns, leaves, pumpkins and pears are going to be for sale at the Trinity Artisan Fair this weekend.

I really like how the gold scalloped edge looks on the base cookies and it really wasn't hard to do. The most important thing when piping a contrasting colored edge is that the piping icing be thick enough to hold its shape yet soft enough to settle and not leave peaks. It's always a good idea to practice piping onto a plate first.

Here's how:

Bake cookies.

Using a #1 pastry tip and piping consistency icing, add your border. Let the icing dry a bit before flooding the cookie.

Flood the cookie and use a skewer to help ease the icing into the edges.

Wait for your icing to dry and then use stiff royal icing to glue your decorative cookies on top. Let the cookies dry completely before packaging.

Double Decker Thanksgiving Cookies

These are the perfect cookies for your Thanksgiving celebration.

I used mini acorn, pumpkin and leaf cookie cutters and large fluted square cutters to make them.

All you need is a dab of royal icing to adhere the mini cookies on top of the larger ones. I think the clean white background really makes the colors pop.

A bit of sanding sugar on the acorn and a special icing technique on the pumpkin add texture and interest.

Here's how I made them:

Bake an even number of large and mini sugar cookies. After they have baked, outline and flood the large cookies with white royal icing.

To add texture to your pumpkin, first outline and flood the two outside sections of the pumpkin. Let this dry for 10 to 15 minutes before moving on to the next step.

Flood and fill the middle section and you'll get these cute real looking pumpkins.

Add a stem and when the pumpkins are dry, adhere them to the top of your large cookies with a dab of royal icing.

 

With dark brown royal icing, flood and fill the oval on top of the acorn.

While the icing is wet, sprinkle with brown sanding sugar. I always do this over a clean paper towel so that at the end I can lift it up to pour the excess sugar back into my container.

After shaking off the excess sugar, the acorns will look like this.

Add a lighter brown royal icing to the body and tip of the acorns. After it has dried, you can add it to your large cookies.

Flood and fill the leaves with a dark yellow royal icing. I mixed a bit of brown in with my yellow coloring. After filling, immediately pipe a dark brown line down the center and add a small stem.

While your yellow and brown icing is still wet, us a skewer to pull it out towards the edges. Be sure to wipe your skewer after swipes. Let it dry before sticking to the top of your large cookie with a dab of royal icing.