This time, the inspiration color was a sunny yellow for summer.
I really had "sunshine cookies" on the brain, but then it hit me...pineapples!!! Not just one, or two, but THREE version of pineapple cookies. Yes, I've gone pineapple crazy.
(And, maybe it has a little something to do with getting to work with Kelly again.) ;)
The funny thing about making these happy, sunny little cookies this week is that they really matched the mood around here. You know, sunshine and roses and all that good stuff. My boys introduced me to Monty Python. Well, actually, just the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." I've been singing (and whistling) it all week long.
I realize the song is a parody, but it still does make me happy. Even today, when I was getting nervous for America's future when the girl at the yogurt shop couldn't make change...my total was $9.07; I gave her $10.10...I started whistling the song in my head. I'M SERIOUS! This may change my entire outlook on life.
Alright. Back to our sunny, yellow, little pineapples. Let me walk you through them...
For all of the cookies, you'll start with a basic cut-out cookie dough. I tinted the dough yellow. Either add some yellow food coloring (I like this one) in with the egg and extracts, or knead it in once it's made.
For the spiky royal icing pineapples, you'll need royal icing! (Bet you guessed that.) Make up 1/2 of this recipe. Divide it and tint with AmeriColor Leaf Green and Egg Yellow.
Use a leaf tip to pipe leaves onto the pineapples in green. Use another leaf tip to pipe the little "spikes" across the cookies, starting on the bottom.
For the rings, you'll also need royal icing, just in yellow.
Bake the circle cookies, cutting out a center circle. Once cooled, outline the cookie with the tinted royal icing, using a #2 tip.
To thin icing, stir in water a little at a time, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. When you drop a ribbon of icing back into the bowl, it should disappear back into the icing in a count of one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two. One-thousand-three is ok, four is too thick.
Cover the icing with a damp dishtowel for a few minutes to let large air bubbles rise to the surface. Stir gently, then transfer to a squeeze bottle. Fill in the outline with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and pop any large air bubbles that may form.
Let the cookies dry for 6-8 hours, or overnight. Once dry, pipe a circle inside the edge of the circle. Dip a flat (food only) paintbrush in water and blot well on a paper towel. Drag the icing with the paintbrush towards the center of the cookie. Repeat all the way around, wiping and re-dipping the paintbrush as necessary.
For the stacked pineapples, first make the leaves. Use green royal icing and a leaf tip to pipe leaves onto a sheet of waxed paper. Let dry completely (several hours or a few days before). Peel the leaves gently off of the paper.
Bake circle-shaped cookies in 3 sizes: 2 small, 2 medium, and 1 large. Cut out a center circle on each. (For small cookies, the end of an icing tip works well here.)
Stack the cookies: small, medium, large, medium, small. Add the leaves in the center. If you'd like, add a bit of royal icing in between the layers. I skipped this part to make them easier to share.
Now, go see what these other lovely ladies are doing with the color yellow!
Yay, yellow!!! Click the pictures below!
