Watercolor Rose Sugar Cookies
I am so not a girly-girl. I don’t care about fashion, my day-to-day hairstyle is a very chic French look called a “bun” (maybe you’ve heard of it?), and I’m pretty sure most of the products in my makeup drawer date back to my college days. I don’t normally care for overly frilly or feminine decorations, in my home or on my food. That’s why I was a little surprised when these delicate watercolor cookies emerged from my kitchen last week, and was even more surprised by how much I loved them.
It doesn’t get much more girly than rose-flavored sugar cookies, containing bits of real rose petals, decorated with a pink and purple watercolor pattern and accented with sparkles of gold leaf, but I don’t care! I’m totally smitten with these gorgeous Valentine’s Day cookies. Who am I? What have you done with the real Elizabeth? Why am I suddenly curling my eyelashes and putting on fake nails? Where are my 4-inch stilettos? What’s going on?!
These cookies start with a basic sugar cookie dough, with two major additions: a big splash of rose water, and a big handful of finely chopped rose petals. (From an unsprayed or organically gardened rose, please!) The rose petals don’t actually contribute much flavor, so you can omit them if you can’t find the right type of rose to use…but if you have one, I think the streaks of pink or red petals in the dough make these cookies extra-beautiful.
The real star of the show, of course, is the fondant layer on top. I’ve talked about my love for fondant-topped cookies before. (Check out these ombre Valentine’s Day heart cookies from two years ago!) While I don’t think fondant on cake is the tastiest thing there is, I actually like a very thin layer of fondant on top of sugar cookies—it gives the cookies a nice texture and sweetness, and does a great job of extending their soft texture by protecting the tops from air. Plus, it’s just so much fun to decorate!
I used my marshmallow fondant recipe for these cookies. It’s easy to make and cheaper than buying a tub of fondant, plus it tastes like sweet vanilla marshmallows—what’s not to love? You can, of course, use any regular fondant you have on hand.
The watercolor painting part was surprisingly easy. I wasn’t sure how well it would work out, or if I would end up with a sodden, splotchy mess on my fondant. Fortunately, since it’s such an abstract pattern, having splotches and random drips of color actually adds to the look! I basically watered down two colors of food coloring (Americolor Deep Pink and Regal Purple) and splashed and brushed these two colors, in varying strengths, on top of the fondant hearts before they were added to the cookies. Sometimes I dipped a brush in water and just painted the water across the top, and other times I dipped it in pure food coloring and added strong patches of pigment to the fondant. Add a few extra splatters, or remove some coloring by pressing a paper towel to the top—the more varied and random, the better!
After gluing the hearts onto the cookies with corn syrup, I let the tops dry overnight, then added some flecks of real gold leaf to a few of the cookies. (Here are some instructions for working with gold leaf, if you’re new to the process.) I didn’t want to go crazy and gild everything, but I’m a sucker for a little pop of gold here and there. It’s just one of the many things Donald Trump and I have in common. (Donny, pal, call me and I’ll give you some pointers on rocking a bun. It’s not so hard to do.)
There you have it. The so-girly-it-hurts cookie that won over even the staunchest anti-pink person. If you give this technique a try, I’d love to see your results! Shoot me an email, post it on my facebook page, or tag me on Instagram. xoxo, lovelies!
⇒ Click Here for the Recipe - Watercolor Rose Sugar Cookies
The post Watercolor Rose Sugar Cookies appeared first on SugarHero.
