I couldn’t resist making these Cotton Tail Cookies for Easter. They are so simple and whimsical. Easter lends itself well to pastel colors, so that’s exactly what I used for the icing. Seeing them all in a row makes me smile. I just know that these cuties are about to embark on a great adventure.
“The start of something new brings the hope of something great.” Anonymous
Last year’s Easter celebration was very low-key for most of us as we celebrated it with only our immediate family. But when you are a cookie baker, you can share every holiday with all your special people no matter what mandates may be in place. How? Send them cookies. These little critters became my sweet ambassadors to friends and family across the country. As bunnies are wont to do, they propagated quickly and then went forth to carry my sugary greetings to one and all.
Cookie specifics
Lofthouse-Style Sugar Cookies. The bunnies are made with a delicious Lofthouse-style sugar cookie recipe. It produces a soft and chewy cookie that’s perfect for cutting out any shape, even the most delicate ones. I also decorated them with a thick vanilla-bean glaze in several pastel colors. The glaze dries hard enough to stack but keeps its shine and glass-like appearance.
Shapes
Three bunny cookie cutters. A veritable bunny family: baby, mama, papa!
Sizes
Sizes include small (2 inches), medium (2¾ inches), and large (3¾ inches). I made most of cookies 2¾, with a few small ones just for fun.
My Family Recipes
Lofthouse-Style Sugar Cookie. Recipe based on several sugar cookie recipes from family and friends. My goal was to make a cookie full of flavor that would hold its shape for delicate cutouts but not end up hard as a rock. This is it!
Icing & Frostings
Glaze for Piping: This glaze/icing dries hard enough that you can stack or package the cookies without damaging the embellishments. I often use it exclusively or in combination with Royal Icing. I like it for these bunnies because it doesn’t dry completely flat, but has a sheen to it.
Glaze for Piping Recipe
Royal Icing: I used a mound of royal icing for the tail. It dries very hard and gives a lovely crunch to the cookie. While the icing is still wet, dip it into a bowl of big sugar crystals to add a sparkly “fluff” to the tail. Be careful not to flatten the mound! Over the years I’ve tried many recipes for royal icing and find that each time I make it the ratio of sugar to water changes, depending on what I’m using it for...outlining, flooding, embelishing, etc. My recipe uses meringue powder instead of raw egg whites because I'm just not that brave! But if you haven’t tried royal icing yet, be bold and find one that works for you.
Cookies
Lofthouse Style Sugar Cookies: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, confectioners’ sugar, butter, eggs, pure vanilla extract, salt
Icing & Decorative Embellishments
Royal Icing: confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, corn syrup, pure vanilla extract or almond extract, cream of tartar, food coloring
Glaze for Piping: sugar, water, corn syrup, food coloring (optional), vanilla extract for flavoring
Sprinkles: big-crystal white sugar for the “fluff” on the tail
Bags. All the Cotton-tail Bunnies were destined to be sent out into the world to bring sweet joy to my favorite people. So I wrapped them individually in clear, food-safe bags, secured with a twist tie. This protects the tail and the glaze “coat” from being damaged in transit.
Mailing. I packaged the bags of cookies into sturdy boxes and mailed them to my family and friends via Priority Mail through the U.S. Post Office. They all arrived undamaged and just in time for Easter. I know the packages were appreciated because of the texts I received with all those smiling faces.
What I’ve learned...
Making and mailing decorated cookies to my friends and family is one of my passions. It’s a way for me to think of them while I'm baking and decorating and a way for them to know it when they receive the packages. I’ve never been very consistent at letter-writing (is anyone these days?), so sending “sugar” messages is my way of seeing in touch. I would bake every day if I had an outlet for all the things I could make. I enjoy experimenting and tweaking recipes until I have something that is perfect ... or at least perfect for my own taste buds. These Cotton Tail Bunny Cookies are no exception. They were made with the best ingredients I could find. I’ve experimented with less expensive ingredients, but have come to the conclusion that flavor is best when I use the best. Why spend all this time baking and decorating if taste and texture are just so-so? Decorating the cookies takes time, but it’s an enjoyable process for me and I know that those who receive them appreciate that. Life is just better when you can share something you love with someone you love. Don’t you agree?
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