Valentine’s Cookies, Take I

I say “Take I” because this was my first practice with them; and of course, there will be a “Take II;” I just hope it’s before Valentine’s Day.  Anyway, I decided to use a chocolate chip recipe from Sugarbaker and it was so good that I ate one without even frosting it.  (And my husband licked the bowl and tried giving some to my 6-month-old, but he was only interested in waving the spatula around.)  Normally I use a vanilla or chocolate sugar cookie recipe, but I thought it’d change things up a bit.  (It was an adventurous day for me, as I also tried a new royal icing recipe and a trick on filling the bags, from Karen’s Cookies.  Check it out if you have time!)  It did seem a little odd to me to decorate a chocolate chip cookie because they are, in fact, so perfect on their own, but I saw it on a couple other blogs and I thought I’d give it a try.

Here’s how they turned out.  I’m not thoroughly convinced of them yet, especially the pink.  I added too much pink gel and instead of getting a soft pink, I got hot pink.  And I used a whole tube of black gel, (not black food coloring, as I read gels give you a more intense color), and the closest to black I got was a deep purple.  On the hunt for Americolor that everyone seems to rave about.

A close-up shot.

 Gotta love that girlie-hot-hot pink!  (Although in the photo, the pinks appear to be two different colors, but they look like the top right one.)

Trying to make each one a little different.

I tried making the two cookies on the right a bit “quilty,” like it could have been a patch-work quilt square.

My heart cookie was big enough that I could pipe a word and not have it look crammed.

You have to plan out your drawings before hand, otherwise, you end up with a cookie and a blank brain (at least that’s what happens to me!).

My “patch-work quilt” square.  I wasn’t really happy with this one, as I felt it was too busy.  Maybe if my cookie cutter were a bit bigger…

This has inspired me to make a better Valentine’s sugar cookie and I am going to use some scrapbooking paper for inspiration.  (I’m just loving the background I used in the earlier photos.)  Happy Valentine’s Day! (I know it’s a bit early, but that’s okay.  Love is in the air!)