Happy Mama, Happy Baby

I recently made these baby shower sugar cookies for my dear friend, Ericka, who has been a driving force in our lives for the last few years! I kept it light, fluffy, and modern with these show-stopping cookies. When she recently told us she was pregnant, we were so overjoyed and, of course, wanted to host a small baby shower for her and her little “taco.” Don’t worry, I will get to the “taco” story in the last post, but let’s dive right into the fun pattern play and soft-coloring for this modern casual baby shower.

Ericka has been our running trainer for nearly three years.  Her aura about life and balance translates into her ability to teach running as a lifestyle and not just a sport.  While planning her party, we sort of bucked the classic party shindig and opted to host a small runners brunch at our home.  It was low key yet so lovely and personal.

Start with these simple steps:

1. Simple Sugar Cookies – Prep your favorite sugar cookie recipe or use one of my favorite easy perfect sugar cookierecipes.   Roll out the dough to about 1/4″ thick and cut out some fun shapes.  Freeze the dough cut-outs until you’re ready to bake them. You can pop them directly into the oven which is a pure genius time-saver.
2. Use this royal icing recipe and pipe the white icing (tip: add pink dots if you want to add a little polka-dot love). And, if you’re new to using royal icing, check out my post on the royal icing technique.

I stayed with the color scheme of pink, grey, and white and used droplets from the AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color set.  We created a simple sheep theme and focused on light and fluffy textures!  The fun pattern play and scalloped cut-outs elevated these simple sugar cookies to a baby shower feast.

Just a quick reminder to utilize the 10-second rule to get your royal icing nice and ready.

10 SECOND RULE

The secret here is balancing droplets of water and the thickness of your icing.  Check by dragging the tip of a spoon or knife through the icing (1″ deep) and count to 10.  If the surface smoothes out when you get to 10, you are golden.  If it takes too long, add a tad bit more water and re-test. If it goes too quick, add a bit more sifted icing sugar to thicken it.  If you passed the test, then…CONGRATS!

Enjoy the decorating process!  Have fun with it and remember that each cookie can have its own personality, perfectly

imperfect.

All in all, these cookies will taste delicious and your baby mama will be happy as they come!

If you want to pursue some elaborate decorating, use edible markers to accent shapes or characters. For the sheep, I made the base white, and then I used some grey royal icing (wet-on-wet) to make a scribbly backdrop.  I let that dry completely, and then I drew in a sheep’s face topped with royal icing eyes (white).  Too cute, right?

I bought this simple sheep ball as an adornment for the table from the sweetest little Etsy shop called, Little Beau Sheep.  Then, I mixed it up by using a black and white striped table cloth.  Don’t ‘ewe’ think this is adorable?

Photos by: Maria Hedrick Photography

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Baby Shower Sugar Cookies

By TheSweetNerd  Cookies

April 18, 2017

Ingredients

Cookies

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

Royal Icing

2 pounds confectioners sugar

5 tablespoons meringue powder

2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 to 3/4 cups warm water

Directions

Cookies

1Dries: Whisk flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

2Base: In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Next, add eggs and vanilla.

3Gradually, add dries to base just until incorporated. Chill in refrigerator up to one hour. Roll on lightly floured surface. Cut shapes.

4Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.

5Note: When you cut into a shape, chill in freezer to set. Then, transfer directly to hot oven.

Royal Icing

1Add vanilla flavoring into 1/2 cup water and set aside until step 3.

2In the mixer (paddle attachment), gently mix confectioners sugar and meringue powder on low.

3Add 1/2 cup flavored water and mix on low until it is thick and lumpy.

4Drizzle the remaining water as needed until it becomes a thick-like honey consistency.

5At this point, turn mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or so until icing is thick and fluffy. Stop when it forms a soft peak.

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