Scarecrow Cookies

By Bridget Edwards

Prep Time:

15m - 25m

Bake/Cook Time:

12m

Yield:

1/2 dozen cookies

Plan for:

Let the cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight.

If you want to break in that gingerbread man cookie cutter, but aren’t quite ready for gingerbread men, use it to make Scarecrow Cookies! What makes these cookies especially fun is that in addition to royal icing, we’re using a few unconventional ingredients to decorate. Follow along as Bridget Edwards gives you a step-by-step photo tutorial in the Sweetalk blog.

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Products Used

Confectioners Powdered Sugar Poly Bag

Ingredients

Imperial Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
Imperial Sugar Royal Icing, double batch
Gel paste food coloring: navy, orange, red, yellow, ivory, green
Piping bags
Icing tips: #2, small star, leaf, and #1
Squeeze bottles
Toothpicks
Shredded Wheat cereal
Chocolate or vanilla sugar wafer cookies
Food coloring pens: black and orange

Directions

Follow the recipe directions to make the sugar cookies and royal icing.
Set aside about 1/4 of the royal Icing. Press plastic wrap onto icing, cover and refrigerate for day two of decorating.
Tint remaining icing navy, orange, red, and yellow. (You won’t need much red or yellow.)
Use a #2 tip to outline the pants in navy. Reserve some navy, orange, and ivory piping consistency icing.
Thin remaining navy, orange, red, yellow, and ivory icings with water. Add a teaspoon at a time, stirring until icing is the consistency of thick glue. A ribbon of icing dropped back into the bowl will disappear in a count of “one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two.” Three is ok; if icing is too thin, stir in sifted powdered sugar.
Cover icing with a damp dish towel for several minutes. Stir gently and pour into squeeze bottles.
Working six cookies at a time, fill in the jeans with navy icing using a toothpick to guide to edges and pop large air bubbles. Starting with the first cookie filled, add a rectangle of orange icing on one leg to make a patch.
Use a #2 tip and reserved orange piping icing to outline the shirt.
Working six cookies at a time, fill in the shirts with orange, using a toothpick as directed above. Starting with the first cookie filled, add lines of red and yellow icing in intersecting stripes to make a plaid pattern.
Use a #2 tip to outline the head; flood with thinned icing in the same manner.
Use navy icing to pipe suspenders over the shirt.
Let cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight. Place bags of navy and ivory piping icing in the refrigerator for later use.
The next day, crush the cereal. Pipe some ivory icing at ends of the shirt sleeves and pant legs.
Sprinkle shredded cereal on top and gently pat into place. Shake off excess.
Cut wafer cookies into a hat shape. The cookies are thick, so once cut, halve them down the center of the wafer.
Pipe some ivory icing onto the top of the head. Press a hat onto icing.
Use food coloring pens to draw faces and stitches around the patch.
Take reserved plain royal icing and whip until stiff peaks form again. (It will have loosened overnight.) Add more sifted powdered sugar if needed. Divide and tint red, green, and yellow.
Decorate the hat: Use a #2 tip to add a line across. Use a small star tip to pipe a rose in red. Use a leaf tip to add a leaf.
Use a #1 tip and the yellow icing to add buttons to the bottom of the suspenders, hair, and a thin line across the hat.
Let the cookies set up for about an hour before packaging or stacking.