Cookies and Cookie Cutters
When you’re a small child, dressing up for Halloween is so exciting. You get to hide in plain sight. Before putting on the costume, you’re just you, but after putting it on you’re Cinderella or Spiderman, or a pirate or a bumblebee. Come to think of it, cutout cookies are like that in a way. They regularly take on a new identify the minute you dip them in glaze or pipe on a coat of royal icing. The more embellishments you add, the better the “cover up.” Hooray for the cookie in disguise!
“Sticky fingers, tired feet; one last house, trick or treat!” Rusty Fischer
When I need to make a lot of cookies for a bake sale, one of my favorite ways to do it in a short amount of time is to make them into sandwich cookies. This is a great way to produce holiday cutout cookies that don’t require a lot of decorating or drying time to look beautiful and taste delicious. I made these Halloween sandwich cookies for our church’s Prison Ministry Bake Sale and they fit right in with the other baked goodies.
Cookie specifics
Ultimate Chocolate Cutout Cookies. The cookie “base” for these chocolate sandwich cookies is my favorite “Ultimate Chocolate Cutout Cookies” recipe. It’s a chocolate-lover’s dream. I usually make the top of the sandwich cookie thinner than the bottom half and add "peek-a-boo” cutouts so that the filling will show.
Shapes
Since these were for Halloween, I used pumpkins, coffins, cats, ghosts, and leaves. For the cutouts I used a small heart on the cats and ghosts, a bone on the coffins, and triangles and circles on the pumpkins. A tiny leaf was the cutout on the leaves.
Sizes
Sizes range from mini (1-2 inches) to 3 inches. 2½ to 3 inches is my favorite size for decorating and eating!
Cookie Recipe from This Talented Cookie Artist
Ultimate Chocolate Cutout Cookies. Original recipe from Lila Loa.
Cookies
Chocolate Cookies: flour, cocoa, butter, sugar, vegetable shortening, egg, baking powder, pure vanilla extract, salt
Fillings
Ganache: rich bittersweet chocolate; water
Plate, Box or Bag?
Bags. These were going to be sold as individual cookies so I wrapped each one in a clear, food-safe bag, secured with a twist tie. This also made it easy to put the cookies into a basket for people to select the shape they wanted. I added a tag to each cookie listing the ingredients.
What I’ve learned...
These cookies were made with the best ingredients I could find and baked in a small batch of two dozen. 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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