Easter Cookies

I love those cookies you see in magazines...specifically Martha's.  I first saw this type of cookie decoration using the flooding technique years ago...probably close to like 10 years ago.  I always said one day I would try this.  Then probably a year ago, I came across Bridget's blog...and her cookies further inspired me.  (In fact, I think her's are better than Martha's...I'm just sayin'.)

But you know, with a little munchkin running around, I never found the time.

With my Mom here this weekend, and all her elaborate activities planned, we finally got the chance.  My Mom had planned on doing the standard butter cream frosting and I suggested doing the flooding.  She said, sure, we could try that.  And try we did. 

While we are no professionals and we have a long way to go to get to the "Bridget" standard (find her instructions here for icing recipes and techniques), I think the cookies turned out pretty good for our first try.  I mean, you have to walk before you can run, right?

A few things we learned during our first attempt...

• when doing your edges...starting and stopping is BAD.  Try to make one continuous line.
• Bridget suggests adding a little corn syrup to the icing for a more glossy look...we didn't do this, and the icing dried really flat.  (These pictures were taken before they dried.)  I would strongly suggest using the corn syrup.
• The icing takes a long time to harden up...I don't know why this is, but it took over 24 hours. So be patient. 

We plan to make Elmo cookies for the Peanut for her birthday at the end of this summer...we'll have to get in lots of practice before then.  But how cute do Elmo cookies sound?  :)