This is a fairly simple cookie, that goes over well on earth day, or anytime you feel the need for ‘I heart the earth’ cookies. I suppose there is never a wrong time to show the earth some love! These cookies are simple enough to make, that one should walk away with same level of sanity they began with (sadly, I can not say that for every recipe or project I embark on). But these cute cookies are easy  and they tend to make an annual appearance for Earth Day around here.

Earth Cookie Ingredients:

 

1 Cup Room Temperature Butter

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

1 Egg

3 Cups All purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

Approximately 1/4 teaspoon Wilton Gel Colours in Royal Blue

Approximately 1/8 teaspoon of Wilton Gel Colours in Kelly Green

1/4 Cup Red Wilton Candy Melts (optional)

Step 1:

Cream together the room temperature butter and sugar in a stand mixer.

Step 2:

Add the vanilla and egg, mix well.

Step 3:

Add one cup of flour and 1 tsp baking powder, mix on low. Once combined add the second cup of flour and second teaspoon of baking powder. Finally once combined, add the third cup of flour and mix on low.

Step 4:

Remove half the dough and put aside.

Step 5:

Add blue food colouring to the remaining dough and mix until combined.

Step 6:

Dump out dough and gently knead until it all comes together and colour is dispersed evenly. Marvel at how much it resembles a creepy, blue brain.

Step 7:

Put remaining half of the dough back into the mixture and add green food colouring. Mix, then knead until combined.

Step 8:

Pull pieces of blue and green dough and roll together in your hand, resulting in a round, earth like appearance.

Simple video instructions: IMG_6070

Step 9:

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 1.5 inch apart and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. The cookies will not brown ontop, but they will lose their sheen when they are cooked.

Step 10:

Remove from oven and immediately use a smooth bottomed glass to flatten cookies. The cookies can be left in a more ‘realistic’ globe shape (say if you have a helpful 5 year old informing you “mom! the earth is not flat – it’s round!!”), but they get a little misshapen as they cool, and don’t taste as great in my opinion.

Step 11:

Allow the cookies to cool.

Step 12:

Fit a piping bag with a #3 Wilton Tip. Alternately, a small zip lock with the corner cut off would work as well (just make sure it is a very tiny hole, to have better control).

Step 13:

Melt a 1/4 Cup Wilton Red Candy melts for 30 seconds in the microwave, stir and continue in ten second increments, stirring after each time, until completely melted.

Step 14:

Pour melted chocolate into piping bag. This is much easier if the piping bag is stretched over a tall glass. Next carefully pipe hearts onto the cookies. This is an optional step of course. Especially if the same 5 year old is now screeching, “mom what are you doing?! The earth doesn’t have a heart, that’s ridiculous!”

So at the fear of coming across as ridiculous, only some of our earth cookies have hearts. No one wants to be ridiculous.

Enough earth cookies for all to enjoy!!!

UPDATE:

*If you can find heart shaped sprinkles or candies to add to the cookies – it is even simpler*

This sugar cookie recipe is my fave, adapted from inkatrinaskitchen.com