Pretty Painted Cookies Recipe

Because you asked... (well, someone did, I don't know if it was you), here is the recipe for the pretty painted cookies.

Once you ice them or cover them with marzipan these cookies are sweet (although I do have a low sweet tolerance) so you’ll see the addition here of orange zest and orange essence to balance this a bit. You can easily leave it out if it doesn’t work for you. I made a few batches of these cookies before I tried adding the orange and they were fine.

As far as decorating them, there are a few ways to go. You can make traditional black and white cookies and experiment with swirling, you can cover them with royal icing (more on that in a minute), or you can cover them with a thin layer of marzipan.  The royal icing and marzipan cookies can be painted on and it just depends on your preference.  For painting, I prefer the marzipan but that’s just because I prefer marzipan (more on that in an upcoming post) and it’s not quite as sweet as royal icing. However, the royal icing is traditional for these kind of painted cookies and gives a beautiful white background.

With that in mind, here’s what you’ll need for the cookies (makes 9-12):

2 cups flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temp)

5 tablespoons vegetable shortening

2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon EnerG Egg Replacer + 4 tablespoons water (this is the equivalent of 2 eggs, if you’re using eggs)

Zest of 1 orange (optional)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract (or 2 teaspoons if you don’t want to use the orange essence)

½ teaspoon orange essence (optional)

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet (or sheets) with parchment paper

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside

Cream the butter, shortening, sugar, and orange zest in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy (3 minutes or so)

Add “eggs” slowly, beating until well incorporated

Add vanilla and orange essence

Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the cream and beat until just mixed. Don’t overmix because the cookies will be dry

Use a ¼ scoop to measure out each cookie (a standard ice cream scoop is what I use)

Place on the sheet about 2 inches apart (they spread a bit but not too much)

Bake until the edges are golden and the bottoms just starting to brown (but the tops are still pale). Time varies depending on your oven (also, turn the sheet once halfway through to ensure even baking) – but about 15-17 minutes is what has been working for me. (Could be even less if your cookies are smaller or if you have a better oven than I do.)

Let cool.

Now, for the icings. If you’re going for black and white cookies, you’ll need:

Scant 2/3 cup heavy cream

2 cups + 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Whisk the cream (slowly) into the sugar until you have your desired consistency. That’s your white icing. Set aside a bit more than half of that.

For the black icing, combine 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water until the cocoa is dissolved (it will be a paste-like consistency). Whisk the cocoa mixture into the remaining white icing and there you are; ready to decorate.

If you’re going to use royal icing, sigh… Finding a decent no-egg royal icing recipe has been an exercise in frustration for me, but here’s the closest I’ve come.

1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

The method is to whisk the milk into the sugar first, then the corn syrup until it’s all glossy and lovely. But I’ve had to tinker with the amounts – what you don’t want is for it to get too thin so slowly adding the milk and corn syrup is the best plan there.

Pipe the royal icing on the cookies with a piping bag and small round tip or go the time-honored way of just cutting a small hole in a sandwich bag or disposable piping bag. Smooth it and let it dry until hard.

For the marzipan, roll and cut out thin rounds (1/8 inch) to match the size of your cookies and press on gently. You can also use a little jam or icing to affix it to the cookie.

Ready to paint!

There are many brushes for this kind of thing. Wilton makes some nice ones and so does Duff Goldman (both can be found at Michael’s, I think). Here are some of the brushes I use:

For your paint, you’ll want gel food coloring and to thin it with a bit of vodka (which dries fast). I’ve tried many food colors, but these are the ones I like best. 

Someday I’ll have unlimited funds and be able to buy all natural food colors. Or not. I do use culinary matcha (green tea powder) for some items and it works beautifully. I’ve also used beets for frosting, which makes the most gorgeous pink I’ve even seen.

If you want even finer lines, there are food color markers widely available now (even my grocery store carries them).

Have fun.