I'm not a blogger who has Christmas recipes made and posts scheduled in October. Usually, if you see it on the blog, I was stuffing it in my face the day before. ;)
These little reindeer, though, I made back in August. AUGUST! A magazine (!!!) that I really like asked if they could interview me about cookie parties and also if would I create a Christmas cookie for their holiday issue.
I was on Cloud 9. (I'm not sure if Cloud 9 is capitalized, but it seems like a proper noun to me.) Anyhoo...I was on Cloud 9 because not only do I love this magazine, but I love pretty much ALL THE MAGAZINES!!!
One of my favorite things about being a flight attendant was that sometimes people would finish a magazine and LEAVE IT IN THE SEAT POCKET!!! Those were the best days ever. (I always make sure to do this now.) When I get a pedicure, I look forward to flipping the pages of People almost as much as getting pretty toes. In other words, I love glossy pages, quizzes, perfume samples, and tables of content that you can't find until you get past the ads on page 30.
So, December 1st rolled around, and I hightailed it to Barnes and Noble to find my magazine. I spied the magazine...and looked for that table of contents. Hmm...no cookies mentioned. Let me look in the recipes section. No. Hmm...let me look in the editor's picks section. Nope. OK, now I need to sit on the bench to flip through ALL of the pages.
No cookies.
I stop by Godiva to eat my feelings, then head home. I did some emailing, and it turns out, they didn't have enough space to include them. I get it, but MAN, soul crusher for a few minutes there.
You know what, though? That means I get to share the cookie tutorial here, so...
THERE'S NO CRYING OVER COOKIES ON THE EDITING ROOM FLOOR.
(Unless they are ACTUALLY on the floor, then you can cry...or dust them off and eat them.)
To make these reindeer face cookies, you'll need:
- Cut-out cookies, reindeer face shape (I got this one at my grocery store)
- Royal icing
- Gel paste food coloring: brown, white, red, green, and black
- Disposable icing bags
- Icing couplers and tips: #2, #3, 4, #1
- Squeeze bottles
- Toothpicks
Divide the royal icing and tint: dark brown, light brown, white, red, green, and black. Divide the white icing into two bowls. Cover each bowl by pressing a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the icing to prevent crusting.
Spoon the dark brown icing into a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip. Outline the face of the reindeer and pipe the antlers.
Thin the light brown and one bowl of white icing with water, a little at a time, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. You’ll look for a ribbon of icing dropped back into the bowl to disappear in a count of one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two.
Cover the thinned icings with a damp dish towel and let sit for a few minutes. Stir gently with a silicone spatula and pour into squeeze bottles.
Working 6-8 cookies at a time, fill in the outline with the light brown icing. Use a toothpick to guide the icing to edges and to pop and large air bubbles that have risen to the surface.
Starting with the first cookie filled, drop dots of the thinned white icing onto the top of the reindeer face (on top of the wet brown icing.) Let the cookies sit for at least one hour.
Spoon the remaining white icing into a piping bag fitted with a #3 tip. Pipe eyes onto the reindeer.
Spoon the black icing into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Pipe pupils onto the eyes. For the girl reindeer, add eyelashes.
Switch the tip on the back icing to a #4 and pipe a nose on the girl reindeer.
Repeat for the noses on the boy reindeer using the red icing.
Thin the green icing as above, but stopping when the ribbon of icing disappears in a count of 20, rather than one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two. Pour this icing into an icing bag fitted with a #2 tip. Add a bow to the girl reindeer, using this icing.
Let the cookies dry uncovered, 6-8 hours or overnight.
Christmas is next week and I have about a million more cookies I want to make. And, I kinda want to make these little guys again. Could we have another week, please???
