I’ve said a few times now that I care more about the way food tastes than how it looks – and it’s for this reason that I have shied away from the fondant decorated sugar cookie up to this point. When I’ve made shower or party favors in the past I made biscotti or some other tasty, less pretty cookie. Well about a month ago my wonderful cousin Lindsay asked me to make cute cookie favors for her son Lukas’s first birthday party. It was time for me to face my demons and figure this thing out…
My main reason for avoiding these cookies (besides my fear of failure) is that while I find them nice to look at, I’ve never quite enjoyed the taste. Fondant is pretty gross. Would making it homemade provide enough of a flavor boost that it could make the process worthwhile? Turns out that homemade marshmallow fondant is pretty easy to make (especially if you have a standing mixer) and WAYYYY tastier than the store-bought. Tastier as in I happily gobbled down the loser mess-up cookies and thoroughly enjoyed every little bite.
The cookie dough is also quite easy to make, and my stand-by for shaped cookies. The reason it’s so fab for this sort of thing is that the little bit of cream cheese it contains makes it delicious but also easy to roll and cut. The dough barely spreads when it bakes and the result is that your cut shapes are as precise as you’d like and the fondant covers the cookie completely. Here is the recipe.
So you might assume I’m doing this post to tell you that since making the fancy cookies, I found it’s super easy and fun! This is not the case. I’m glad I did this because I now know how to do it, and if I did it again I would use these recipes without a second thought (because I found the end result to be scrumptious). That being said, I was in my kitchen for four straight hours JUST DOING THE DECORATING. The cookies and frosting were the easy part. Also, my hands are bruised from rolling out that stupid fondant till it was paper thin. Mad props to all you patient and hard-working cookie makers out there. Will I make these again for baby girl’s birthday parties or Christmas? Probably. Will I be grumbly for the majority of the time I’m doing it? Most likely.
As for the fondant:
16 oz. Mini Marshmallows
2 tbsp. water
32 oz. powdered sugar
shortening, as needed
1. Microwave marshmallows and water in a large glass mixing bowl for 2 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.
2. Rub the bowl of standing mixer with shortening as well as the dough hook attachment. Also coat a rubber spatula with shortening. Use rubber spatula to scrape marshmallow mixture into the bowl of the standing mixer.
3. Add several cups of powdered sugar and beat on low (with dough hook attachment). Once combined, add more sugar. Continue until all 32 oz. have been added.
4. Continue to knead fondant on low for several minutes or until smooth. Transfer to shortening-greased counter and knead with shortening-greased hands. If adding color, add here. Knead into dough until evenly colored.
5. Once smooth and tacky (it should feel like that blue stuff your teacher hung posters with in elementary school), coat with a thin layer of shortening and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to two weeks.
6. Once cookies are cooled, roll small chunks of fondant with plastic fondant roller or rolling pin as thin as possible. Cut using the same cookie cutter you used for the cookies. Dab cookie with light corn syrup and gently lay fondant onto cookie.
Decorate with more fondant in different colors or royal icing (1 tbsp. powdered egg whites, 2 tbsp. water, 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar). Let cool at least 8 hours before placing in plastic bags.
