Autumn Leaf Cookie Recipe

Autumn Leaf Cookie Recipe

In the Fall, we tend to bake a lot.  My daughter loves making cupcakes, BUT I love to make cookies.  Fall is my favorite in colors so when I saw this recipe it caught my eye with all the vibrant colors.  I made a batch for the kid’s school, to celebrate BACK TO SCHOOL.  The teachers and staff loved them so I thought I would share with my readers too. 

Ingredients:

• 5 C flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C soft unsalted butter
• 2 C granulated sugar
• 4 eggs

Cookie Directions: 

• Cream the soft butter with the sugar until the combination is smooth not grainy to the touch in a mixing bowl.
• Add all 4 eggs at one time…Continue to mix. -Add the vanilla.. Continue mixing.
• Sift the four, baking powder, and salt together.
• Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.
• Continue mixing to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly blended.
• Make the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap completely covering the entire dough ball.
• Put in the refrigerator for about 6 hours or overnight. Check to see if the dough is firm.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Pull the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and sit it out to soften up a bit.
• Put flour out on the wood cutting board, rub flour on the rolling pin, and work some flour into the batter.
• Roll the dough out on the cutting board and using your Leaf cookie cutter begin to make your cookies.
• Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Using a metal spatula move the cut cookie  to the parchment lined cookie sheet.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 8 minutes.  Check to see if the cookie are thoroughly baked.
• Take the cookies off of the cookie sheet and put on a wire rack to cool completely.  (About 10 minutes).

Royal Icing:

Icing Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 C powder sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• Orange, brown, red and gold yellow gel food coloring
• (For these cookies you may have to make two bowls of icing).

Icing Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl mixing on medium speed for 4 minutes. (except your food coloring)
• If icing is  not stiff enough add 1/4 C powder sugar.
• Pull out 4 bowl and divide the icing equally into each bowl.
• Bowl #1 , add several drops of brown gel food coloring stirring well until all of the color is blended. Bowl #2, add several drops of orange gel food coloring stirring well until all of the color is blended. Bowl #3, add several drops of red gel food coloring stirring well until all of the color is blended.  Bowl#4, add several drops of yellow gold gel food coloring stirring well until all of the color is blended.
• Spoon each of the icings into individual  frosting bags with a #5 tips…. twist the open end of the bag to push the icing to the tip.

Autumn Leaves:

• First step for each of the leaf cookies outline it in brown.
• Allow the icing outline  at least  30 seconds to dry before filling the  body of the cookie in with the other brown icing*. ( After outlining all of these leaf cookies you can push some the remaining icing into a bowl and add the 1 tsp of water and mix well to get the right consistency.) Leave some of the brown icing in the frosting bag for additional accent work on each of the leaves. Using a butter knife to spread it from the outlined part inwards to the center.
• Outline another set of leaves with the orange icing, allowing 30 seconds to dry, filling the leaf in with the thinner icing. (Leaving some of the orange icing in the frosting bag for additional accent work.
• Outline the next set of  leaves with the red icing, fill them in with the thinner icing. (Leave some of the red icing in the frosting bag for additional use.)
• Outline the next set of  leaves with the yellow icing, fill them in with the thinner icing. (Leave some of the yellow icing in the frosting bag for additional use.)
• Using the frosting bags with each of the  icing colors and a small tip to make (matching the icing in the frosting bags to the color of the leaf ).   Using the matching icing make a center line in each of the leaves then add the remaining other accent lines on each of them.
• Set these aside and allow to completely dry about 4 hours.

Let me know if you make these and show us them!