Skull and Crossbones Cookie Tutorial

Here's the tutorial for the skull and crossbone cookies as promised. I've been experimenting with a glaze (which has added corn syrup for more shine and a softer texture) instead of royal icing which can be a little dry and grainy for me. There are two icing consistencies that are used when decorating cookies, flood and piping. 

Flood icing aka 20 second icing is used to ice large areas of cookie and results in a smooth, even finish. Piping consistency is used for borders to keep flood icing in place and for details that need to keep their shape. 

When mixing colors I usually start with a medium consistency of icing, color it, then reserve a third of it to thicken for piping and thinning out the rest for flood. 

Piping icing should be the consistency of toothpaste and should be firm enough to hold it's shape, but not so firm that it breaks while piping. To get this consistency, I add powder sugar until the desired thickness is reached. 

Flood icing should have a honey-like consistency, thin enough so it easily smooths for an even finish but not so thin that it runs over. I add very small amounts of water (a few drops at a time) and mix until this consistency is reached. Another way to test for this is to draw a line in the icing with a spatula and count how many seconds it takes for it to smooth out again (as the names suggests, it should take about 20 seconds). 

Here are the step by step instructions for decorating the skull and crossbones sugar cookies as well as some other shots of the cookie decorating process. 

For the glaze icing 

2lbs powdered sugar 

1/4 c corn syrup 

1/4 c water 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (clear if you need bright white icing) 

1/2 teaspoon butter extract 

The icing will need to be thickened for fine details and thinned slightly for flooding

For the skull and crossbone cookies you will need: 

White piping and flood icing 

Black piping icing 

Red flood icing (or any color of your choice for the bandana) 

4 disposable piping bags 

4 icing couplers 

Two #3 and two #12 piping tips 

P.S. Read my post from earlier this week on the best icing tip ever. 

Here is a royal icing recipe which I thought was a little easier to start out decorating with.

1. Trace out eyes, nose, and bandana on each skull cookie using food safe markers

2. With piping icing, outline the skull, eyes, and nose onto the cookies. If you don't want to fill in the eyes with black icing, make sure to pipe on the insides of the lines otherwise the marker will show (hindsight is 20/20).

3. With the flood icing, pipe along the edge of the piping icing so that the two consistencies overlap slightly. Keep to the inner edges so that the flood icing doesn't run over the sides the skull. Allow to dry for at least a half hour. 

4. After the first layer has dried to the touch, use piping icing to make teeth. Starting with the top row, alternate teeth and allow to dry for a half hour. Repeat with the lower row of teeth and allow to dry for another half hour. While the teeth are drying you can skip to steps 6-8 to save time in between the drying of the teeth. 

5. Fill in the missing teeth by piping more ovals between the teeth that have already dried. 

6. Pipe bandana ouline onto top of skull cookie with the piping icing. If any marker is showing you can also fill in the eyes and nostrils with the piping icing. 

7. Flood bandana with your color of choice flood icing. Pipe outlines on the cross bones and let dry for 15 minutes.

8. Flood crossbones using the same method in step 1. Add any additional details you like to the bandanna using piping icing. 

9. Allow cookies to dry overnight. I actually find glaze to be more prone to damage in transfer as compared to royal icing, so be careful when transporting them. 

Here are some more images from my cookie decorating night including the ghosts and spider web cookies

Piped ghost pumpkin spice sugar cookies 

Finished ghosts

The cookie station 

Piped outline on spider cookies

Finished web cookies

Finished spider and web cookie set

Midway through skulls and ghosts

Complete Halloween set

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Halloween Cookie Set

I decide to make some pumpkin spice sugar cookies and decorate them for Halloween this year. I picked up two awesome copper cookie cutters at the end of last season from William Sonoma for $1.99 a piece (a steal, I know). One is a skull and crossbones, the other is a large ghost.

To make the project a little more interesting I added a spider and it's web, tombstones, and two types of pumpkins with cutters I purchased from The Cookie Cutter Company. The Cookie Cutter Company has a great assortment of cookie cutters, most in the $1-$2 range and I beefed up my Wilton 100 piece set with tons of extras, without breaking the bank.

 The whole Halloween set

Spiders and their webs

Spooky ghosts

A step by step guide for the skull and crossbone cookies can be found here.

Enjoy.

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Homemade Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I had some more pumpkin purée to use before it went bad so I decided to make some pumpkin spice pancakes for breakfast this morning. Served with butter and hickory syrup, they were fluffy and delicious, the perfect fall morning treat. 

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin purée

1 egg

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat two large fry pans on medium heat. Measure all wet ingredients in a mixing cup and mix well. 

2.  Measure all dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

3. Add one tablespoon of butter to each fry pan and melt. Using a measuring cup, ladle approximately 1/4 cup pancake mix onto pan. Cook 4-5 pancakes per pan, waiting to flip until a few bubbles rise to the top of the pancake (these pankcakes fill not form as many bubbles as normal pancakes would, be careful not to burn them).

These pancakes are just about ready to flip

Keep cooked pancakes warm either on a tray in the oven set to warm, or on a plate in the closed microwave. 

6. Serve warm with butter and syrup or any other fall toppings you may like. 

Enjoy!!

Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more baking, brunch, and food posts

P.S. These also freeze great. Just seperate pancakes by a small piece of wax paper and stick into a sealable plastics bag. When ready to eat just remove however many pancakes you'd like and reheat. 

Pumpkin Spice Challah Bread

I wasn't joking when I said that I was obsessed with pumpkin spice everything in the fall. In the last week and a half I've used 3 cans of pumpkin purée. And it's only October.

On the drive home I had a craving for challah bread. Knowing I had some leftover pumpkin purée, I wondered if I could make pumpkin spice challah bread. I got home and immediately looked up a recipe, and set out to experiment with my first batch ever. 

Pumpkin Spice Challah Bread

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 F if you have a thermometer handy)

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs, one for dough, one for egg wash

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup pumpkin purée

1 tablespoon cinnamon 

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoons ground ginger

6 cups all purpose white flour 

Yields 2 loaves of challah bread

1. Place warm water in bowl of stand mixer. Sprinkle active dry yeast over top and set to the side.  In a small measuring cup, measure out honey and add pumpkin, oil, one egg, salt, and spices. Combine well. 

2. Add contents of mixing cup to water/yeast mixture and attach to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn speed to stir and slowly begin adding the flour. Add a single cup at a time waiting until most of the flour has been incorporated before adding the next cup. 

3. Once all the flour has been added, mix for an additional 8 minutes or until the dough clumps around the hook. The dough should no longer be sticky to the touch and should spring back after it's touching it. (If the dough is too sticky, gradually add small amount of flour until the right consistency is reached, 1/4 cup at a time). 

4. Remove dough from mixer bowl, shape into a ball, and place in a glass bowl to rise. Cover bowl with a damp cloth and find a warm spot in your kitchen to let the dough rise for 1.5 hours or until doubled in size. 

Here the dough has almost risen enough, only a little bit more to go

5. After the dough has doubled in size, divide in half and knead for 5 minutes on a floured surface. Divide the dough half into thirds and using a rolling/stretching motion, roll out into logs approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Firmly pinch ends of logs together. Braid the three strands of dough, firmly pinching the end of the braid to secure. Repeat for the second half of dough.

6. Place each half on a greased baking tray and cover with the damp cloth. Allow the braided dough to rest for another hour.

While the dough was resting I munched on, you guessed it, pumpkin seed brittle! I bought it at Trader Joes and it's a nice blend of pumpkin pie spices and pumpkin seeds.

 7. During the last 10 minutes of the dough resting, preheat oven to 375 F. Beat 1 egg with one tablespoon of water to make egg wash. Liberally brush each loaf with wash. Bake loaves for 40 minutes until golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before slicing. 

Super tasty with spread with a little of Trader Joe's pumpkin butter. Awesome and well worth the wait!

Hope you enjoyed!

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