Fireworks Cookies, Made by Kids

In my summer job as cruise director for the hooligans, I spend a lot of time making them think the things I need done are really fun craft projects.  Case in point…I needed these cookies decorated for this post, and they were already claiming to be bored a week into summer break, so I turned it into a family effort. Effort is an exaggeration…including making the icing, this took less than thirty minutes to complete. With the cookies already baked earlier in the week, that is.

Fireworks-ChaosServedDaily

How gorgeous are those?  I first saw these in a Martha Stewart magazine a few years ago, and I’ve found numerous occasions that they’re perfect for (that Army life we lead, you know!).

The first step is to bake your cookies.  These are some sugar cookies that Princess Thundercloud and I made for her kindergarten celebration at the end of the school year. We used our favorite recipe, which you can find here.  Then I made some royal icing, following the directions on the can of meringue powder.  You can find the powder anywhere you buy cake decorating stuff, even Walmart. The icing needs to be fairly fluid, but not so much that it runs off the sides of the cookies.

Anyway, next tint your icing however you’d like. We left the majority white, then added red and blue to small amounts.  Put the small amounts in ziploc bags and snip a small corner off each bag. Here’s the supplies we used (we did this outside because it was a gorgeous day and I really didn’t want my kitchen messy).

Cookies-Supplies-ChaosServe

You’ll need a bowl and wooden spoon that stretches across it, to easily dip the cookies in the main color, then skim off the excess on the handle of the spoon. See how here…it’s super simple.

In addition to the bags of colored icing, you’ll need toothpicks, wire racks with parchment or wax paper underneath to catch drips, and your cookies, of course.

Put the base coat on a few cookies (not too many or they’ll be too dry to decorate easily). Then make circles or dots on the white icing using the colored icing. Cookies-Bullseye-ChaosServe

Next, using a toothpick, slowly drag the toothpick from the center to the edge, then move a little way along the edge and drag the toothpick back to the center. Repeat until you’re all the way around. See…it’s simple!

Cookies-Drawing-ChaosServedCookies-Finished-ChaosServe

The kids LOVE decorating cookies this way, and I love that their efforts almost always look fabulous. They occasionally get a little over-zealous and mix the colors too much so they look a bit muddy, but even those are still pretty. Cookies-Above-ChaosServedDaCookies-Trio-ChaosServedDai

My mom, my favorite GI Joe, and I made about 150 of these for his change of command ceremony in Wisconsin. And it was still SO much faster than any other decorating method. Ours looked a bit better than the kids (and more consistent), but, like I said, the kids are so impressed with their decorating abilities with these! Here’s a peek at the ones we made in Wisconsin:

Cookies-WI-ChaosServedDaily

Gorgeous, right?  So go make some cookies and decorate them with your kids!

Signature

About Megan

My various hats: mom to three crazy teens and one quirky dog, wife of 27 years to my retired GI Joe, and high school math teacher. After my husband's retirement from the Army, we've settled in the Pacific Northwest. Crafting, cooking, photography, and reading keep me sane (that's a relative term!) and I hope you'll enjoy following along as I navigate the chaos of life!
This entry was posted in recipes and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

I love reading your comments, and I'll very likely reply!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.