Baking baby shower cookies and decorating ideas

 
Crunchy Surprise from the Soon-to-be-Mommies!

            Baking cookies is not as easy as mixing all the ingredients on a bowl and wait for the oven’s “TING!” sound. Being a mommy or soon-to-be-mommies, this one would be a challenge especially that you are the ones to make them everytime your children crave for them. So why not start your own cookie baking ideas, be more than what you read from the back of cookie packages and have your apron for this wonderful adventure of momhood – in the kitchen! And what is the best time to do this one? During your Baby Shower parties! Here are some ideas that would surely put that special crunch in your party.

The Cookie Designs

            Before having the preparation of the cookies, you must always have this in mind – the CONCEPT! Here are some of the wonderful cookie designs that would certainly show them how fun it is to welcome motherhood, and would kick a big hit in the center-table!
            “The baby is a…” cookies. Surprise everybody or make them guess in the party with this fun announcement ideas on your cookies. This design would surely surprise them as you announce through these crunchy bites what is your angel – a bouncing baby boy or a lovely bay girl. Have those cookies shaped in baby’s foot or patterned after a baby pacifiers. Using colors such as sky blue (for boys) or pink (for girls), this design is also a great way to ask everybody (survey them) what do you think would be the gender of your baby! This would surely gather everybody and would have fun guessing and congratulating!
            Name it cookies. Still a survey theme, this would surely let everybody get those squeeze bottles or tubes to pipe in your baby’s name in this exciting “name the baby cookies”. Have those cookies designed in name-tag shape and let icings name your baby, after getting wonderful ideas from them, give back the credit by letting them eat what they named! You could even have naming contest if you want!
            Prepared for the baby cookies. There’s nothing more showing than these “I am prepared” cookies. Show them how you are prepared to be a mommy by making various cookie shapes that represent babyhood. May they be pacifiers, feeding bottles, baby rattles, train toys, even up to bib designs and ABC block designs! These lovely designs are worth more munching with all those visitors’ baby tooth waiting!

This is where the design goes first….
 

          For all those first-time mommies out there who always content themselves from buying commercial cookies, today is the time to get dirty and eat what you make! For a start, here is a sample cookie recipe that would hit every people’s mouth of all ages… the best of chocolate cutout cookies.
What you Need
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 egg
Cookie cutters (of your desired shape)
What to Do
          The Dough. Put together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and sift until the powders were strained well in a bowl. Set the powder mixture aside, get a medium bowl and put together butter and sugar to smooth. After smoothing, beat the egg in the butter mixture, and gradually mix through the sifted powder mixture, forming dough. Separate the dough into half, flattening each, and putting them in a plastic wrap. Chill the flattened dough for two hours.
            The Crunchy Choco-Cookie Shapes. Set the oven to 375°F (190°C) while preparing the chilled dough. On a lightly floured surface (TIP: You may use cocoa powder to still have that chocolate cookie look), roll the dough to reach 1/8 inches thickness (or as you desire).  Use cookie cutters to rolled dough to achieve desired or purposed shapes (or as the theme goes, baby stuffs shapes). Be sure to regularly put flour (or cocoa powder) as needed to avoid sticking onto the surface. If you want, you may use two separate baking wax papers for this process. This way you save more flour and have less mess! Be sure to observe 1 ½ inches gap while placing the shaped cookies in the cookie sheets. Next, bake the cookies in the oven for eight to 10 minutes.  Give time to cool the cookies in the sheets (about five minutes) before finally cooling them completely into the wire racks.

The Glazing Coat
           

           You would not keep those shaped cookies in their dark chocolate face, would you? Here is the solution to put that rustic design into life by coating them in shiny or matted form, as how you desire! Design the cookies with this sweet coating recipe.
What you Need
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
10 drops food coloring
Vanilla, Light cream (optional)
What to Do
          Simply stir the above ingredients together in a bowl (TIP: Sift sugar  for a couple of times to avoid splotches). If you want, you could do this step into different bowls if you want to have that variety of colors for your coating. You could use milk instead of corn syrup to achieve a different taste and a matte finish or remain with corn syrup and add vanilla to attain shiny, tasty coating. You could also substitute light cream for water. This cookie coating is easy to regulate in terms of consistency:   make it thinner by adding more water and make it thicker by adding more sugar! Make sure to stir the mixture everytime you use to maintain that solid color. You could use frosting tube to pipe desired design or use squeeze bottles for the thicker ones. Even paintbrushes would do (perfect for children’s participation!).
           
            As always, you could try modifications and experiment with all those procedures and ingredients above. Whatever design you choose, these ideas are of great impression when you serve them with milk instead of teas. Yeah right, cookies and milkies! This would be their fun way of saying, “Oh Mommy, your baby’s lucky for your cookies!” There is no more fun celebrating motherhood by being babies once more by having these wonderful preparation ideas.