The Freshman Cook: 3 Simple Ways to Decorate an Acorn Sugar Cookie

I mentioned in my post from last week, Apple Pie Bites For The Dessert Bar, that I was putting together a Dessert Bar for my Thanksgiving dinner guests. I thought it would be fun to add some simple sugar cookies to the Dessert Bar, and these Acorn Sugar Cookies couldn’t get much easier. Even if you have never made decorated sugar cookies, these will be no problem for you! The only thing to remember when making these cookies is to allow enough time. It takes time for the dough to chill, time to decorate them and time for the icing to dry after they are decorated. So, if you are serving these cookies on Thursday, you might want to make them the weekend before. 

Acorn Sugar Cookies 

(Makes 5 dozen cookies)

(printable recipe at end of post)

Cookie Dough

5 cups Flour 

3 teaspoon Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

2 cups Butter

2 cups Sugar

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons Almond Extract

Icing 

6 ounces of Warm Water 

5 tablespoons Meringue Powder

1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

2.25 pounds of Confectioner’s Sugar

Brown Decorating Color

1 cup Chopped Cashews

1 cup Chocolate Sprinkles

1 cup Chocolate Heath Pieces 

Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar…..

until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and almond extract. 

Mix dry ingredients a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is incorporated and the dough comes together.

The dough needs to be chilled. On the Kitchen Gifts web site they recommend this great idea to help you start cutting out your cookies sooner than later. Take a spatula full of dough, and put it in the middle of a piece of parchment paper. Cover the dough with the same size parchment paper. Roll out the dough to 1/4″ thickness.

Place the dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic, and let it chill in the refrigerator. Repeat the process until all the dough is used, and all the sheets of parchment are in the fridge. By the time you are done, the first sheet you put in should be done. If not, wait about 1/2 hour. They should be done by then. Take out the first batch, cut out, and start baking at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. The best thing is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies. If covered properly with plastic, these can stay in the fridge overnight. Many times I have made the recipe before I go to bed. and then I cut them out and bake them in the morning.

Frosting:

I have been using this recipe for a little over a year,and I really like it. It makes up quick, and I have had lots of comments of how good it tastes. I found this recipe on the Cake Central website. I love this site. I can truly spend hours browsing the cookies that bakers have

posted. It’s a great site!

In the mixing bowl from the mixer, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk until it is frothy and has thickened a bit, about 30 seconds.

Add the cream of tartar and whisk for another 30 seconds.

Pour all of the confectioners sugar in the bowl, and place the bowl on the mixer.

Use your paddle attachment on low speed, and mix for 10 minutes. I usually stop the mixer at least one time during the 10 minutes to push down the icing that gathers on the wall of the bowl. Your icing will get smooth, thick and creamy.

Place in a sealed container until you are ready to use.

Mix some of the icing with brown color until it is your desired color. Add water to the icing, a little bit at a time, until it is the consistency that will allow you to outline the cookie and fill in the acorn. A good way to gauge this is to pull a spoon through the icing and count to ten. During the ten seconds the icing should go back together where it was pulled apart.

Place the icing in a decorating bag using a Wilton #2 tip. Outline the acorn. Fill in the bottom half of the acorn. Fill in the top part of the acorn.

 

Decorate the tops of the acorn with brown sprinkles, chopped cashews, and chocolate Heath pieces. Let dry and enjoy!

I think these cookies are the perfect addition to my Thanksgiving Dessert Bar! I hope you agree! 

Author: The Freshman Cookprint recipe

Cookie Batter

  • 5 cups Flour
  • 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups Butter
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 teaspoons Almond Extract

Icing

  • 6 ounces Warm Water
  • 5 tablespoon Meringue Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
  • 2.25 pounds Confectioner’s Sugar
  • Brown Decorating Color
  • 1 cup chopped Cashews
  • 1 cup Chocolate Sprinkles
  • 1 cup Chocolate Heath Sprinkles

Cookies

  1. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and almond extract.
  2. Mix dry ingredients a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is incorporated and the dough comes together.
  3. The dough needs to be chilled. On the Kitchen Gifts web site they recommend this great idea to help you start cutting out your cookies sooner than later. Take a spatula full of dough, and put it in the middle of a piece of parchment paper. Cover the dough with the same size parchment paper. Roll out the dough to 1/4″ thickness.
  4. Place the dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic, and let it chill in the refrigerator. Repeat the process until all the dough is used, and all the sheets of parchment are in the fridge. By the time you are done, the first sheet you put in should be done. If not, wait about 1/2 hour. They should be done by then. Take out the first batch, cut out, and start baking at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. The best thing is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies. If covered properly with plastic, these can stay in the fridge overnight. Many times I have made the recipe before I go to bed. and then I cut them out and bake them in the morning.

Icing

  1. In the mixing bowl from the mixer, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk until it is frothy and has thickened a bit, about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the cream of tartar and whisk for another 30 seconds.
  3. Pour all of the confectioners sugar in the bowl, and place the bowl on the mixer.
  4. Use your paddle attachment on low speed, and mix for 10 minutes. I usually stop the mixer at least one time during the 10 minutes to push down the icing that gathers on the wall of the bowl. Your icing will get smooth, thick and creamy.
  5. Place in a sealed container until you are ready to use.
  6. Mix some of the icing with brown color until it is your desired color. Add water to the icing, a little bit at a time, until it is the consistency that will allow you to outline the cookie and fill in the acorn. A good way to gauge this is to pull a spoon through the icing and count to ten. During the ten seconds the icing should go back together where it was pulled apart.
  7. Place the icing in a decorating bag using a Wilton #2 tip. Outline the acorn. Fill in the bottom half of the acorn. Fill in the top part of the acorn.
  8. Decorate the tops of the acorn with brown sprinkles, chopped cashews, and chocolate Heath pieces. Let dry and enjoy!

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