Quick Decorated Cookies

If you have your heart set on making decorated sugar cookies but don't have a lot of time, these simple mini cookies are the answer.

As I've mentioned before, decorated cookies are not something to be made last minute because they are time consuming to make and not just because of the baking and decorating. They take a full day just to dry.

Luckily there are exceptions and these Blue Mini Heart Cookies are one of them. Because the 1.5-inch heart is small, I was able to use a thicker flood icing to fill them which reduced the drying time to six hours.

Usually I flood cookies with 10 to 15-second icing which is icing that takes that long to settle back into place after drawing through it with the side of a spoon, but for these I was able to use 20-second icing.

Another time saver was that I didn't use a separate icing to outline the cookies. Instead, using the same 20-second icing,  I outlined and filled each cookie in one step. This kind of decorating goes really fast and in the end it took me just four hours to bake and decorate 100 cookies. They'll take another six hours to dry and then they are done and ready to package and/or serve.

Step 1: Make and bake the cookies.

Step 2: Mix 20-second icing and outline and fill the cookies. I like to decorate three cookies at a time. After filling, use a scribe tool or skewer to evenly distribute the icing and give each cookie a gentle shake to help the icing settle into place.

Step 3: Wait for the cookies to dry.

For added interest I went for an ombre look, using three shades of teal icing and I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

Using different shades of icing is a nice way to add interest to a simple design.

These cookies are going to be served at this Saturday's Leonard Cohen Liturgy to benefit Hunger Ministries at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. I hope you can join us. Everyone is welcome and the event is free. It's great opportunity to enjoy wonderful live music and eat cookies.

Here's more infomation:

LEONARD COHEN LITURGY
Saturday, November 15, 6:00 p.m., Kempton Hall. Join Trinity for an alternative liturgy set to the songs of popular music’s saint of solitude, prophet of the heart and brother of mercy. From “Hallelujah” to “Tower of Song,” Leonard Cohen stands with Bob Dylan as one of the world’s most fascinating and prophetic songwriters. But this Alt.Liturgy will show that he also stands with David in the Psalms, constantly asking, “Can you hear my song?” A freewill offering will benefit Trinity’s hunger ministries.

Radiant Orchid Ombre Hearts

In honor of Pantone's 2014 color of the year,  Radiant Orchid, I made these simple and sweet ombre hearts.

These cookies can be made quickly and are perfect for Valentine's Day. Tones of Radiant Orchid are pretty, elegant and a nice change from the more traditional Valentine colors of pink and red.

To get the colors I wanted, I divided an equal amount of icing into four bowls and used a combination of AmeriColor Electric Pink and Electric Purple colorings.

My icing divided and ready for coloring.

In the first bowl I put one drop of each color, in the second, I put two drops of each color and so on, ending with four drops of each color in the fourth bowl. This is the easiest way I know to get even gradations of color.

Before decorating the cookies, I thinned the icings with water to flood consistency.

To decorate the cookies, I thinned the icings to flood consistency and used a #2 tip to outline and fill. 

These cookies come together very fast. I like to outline and fill three or four cookies at a time and use a skewer to help evenly distribute the icing.

Be sure to let the cookies dry before serving or packaging. This takes anywhere from 4 to 8 hours depending on humidity.