Woodland Mushroom Cookies

Of all the cookies in my woodland set, these mushrooms took the least amount of time. I could have easily made more of them and trust me, I don't feel that way about too many cookies.

For the smaller mushroom, I just outlined and flooded the stem with white icing and outlined and flooded the top with red. While the red icing was still wet, I immediately dropped on small and large dots of white icing.

For the large mushroom, I outlined and flooded the stem with white icing and the top with brown. Then, I let that set for at least 30 minutes before adding detail with some piping consistency ivory icing.

I could have stopped there, but decided to add some green grass at the base of the mushrooms after the icing dried overnight. As paint, I used thinned green icing and I applied it with a small soft brush.

Here are more details:

Outline and fill the stem.

Outline and fill the top and have your white icing ready for dropping on the dots.

For the large mushroom, I outlined the stem with white icing and the top with brown. Then I let the icing dry for 30 minutes before adding details with ivory piping consistency icing and a #2 tip.  With the ivory icing, I outlined the stem and then piped some lines for the gills.

I let the mushroom cookies dry completely before I added the grass at the base.

For the grass I painted on thinned royal icing using a small soft paint brush. I tinted the icing with leaf green and moss green gel coloring.

All done!

Mini Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

These Mini Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies are perfect for parties. They are quick to make, your guests will love them and they are colorful and festive. You can tint the frosting any color you like and a spattering of colorful sprinkles adds a nice touch.

The addition of sour cream in the batter makes them very soft and tender and from a single recipe you'll get at least 80 cookies.

Here's the recipe:

Mini Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies
(makes 80 1.5-inch cookies)

2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 1/2 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. The recipe makes enough cookies to fill six sheetpans so you will most likely have to rotate using the same sheetpan and bake the cookies in batches. For these, it's okay to reuse the parchment paper.

Cream together the butter, shortening, almond extract, vanilla and sugar. Add the sour cream and eggs and mix well. Add the baking powder, salt and flour and mix just until the dough comes together.

Use a 1-inch scoop to drop cookies onto the lined sheepans, spacing them at least 1.5-inches apart. Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, just until the edges are golden brown.

Frost the cookies when they are cool.

Frosting
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
About 1/4 cup of milk or cream
Food coloring, optional
Sprinkles, optional

Mix together the shortening and sugar, the mixture will be dry. Add the vanilla and mix again. Add the milk a few tablespoons at a time. You want to add just enough milk to make the frosting smooth and spreadable. You don't want it too thin. Tint the frosting, if desired.

To Assemble:
Add about 1 teaspoon of frosting to the top of each cookie and use a small table knife to spread it around, keeping it 1/4-inch from the edges of the cookie. I found it easiest to put the frosting in a disposable pastry bag and pipe about 1 teaspoon onto the top of each of the cookies. Top the frosted cookies with sprinkles, if desired.

Adding the frosting. I found it easiest to pipe a dollop of frosting onto each cookie and then use a small table knife to spread it around.

All done!