Sand Castle Cookies in Icing

Votes: 2

Time: 2 hours plus setting time
Complexity: easily
Quantity: 12 cookies

Sugar cookies are given as gifts during the holidays, and in North America, sugar cookie dough is baked for Halloween. This type of cookie is not only one of the most popular, but also one of the oldest. It is believed that the birthplace of sugar cookies was Persia, where these pieces of baked dough were initially just a test batch to ensure the oven was ready for baking bread. But with the advent of sugar in the 7th century, they became a full-fledged dessert. Today, sugar cookies decorated with icing are traditionally given as souvenirs. So why not let your imagination run wild and transform a circle of sugar dough into a beach lapped by sea waves? Let's get creative!

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

2 packages of 470 g. sugar cookie dough
450 g (about 3.5 cups) powdered sugar
2 tbsp. dry egg white
1 drop royal blue gel food coloring
2 cups crushed graham crackers
48 mini marshmallows
A 7.5 cm piece of Extreme taffy
15g of green Toffee chewy candies, such as watermelon flavor
6 green dome-shaped gummies, halved
30g red Taffy chewy candies, for example cherry flavored
36 white chocolate chips
Special equipment: 10cm round cookie cutter; 2 pastry bags fitted with a #3 round tip (approximately 3mm opening); 2 small pastry bags

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

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Recipes with similar ingredients: shortbread cookies, chocolate chips (granules), iris, marmalade, marshmallow

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Preheat oven to 175°C.

Roll out the dough and cut out 12 4-inch (10-cm) circles, rerolling any scraps as needed. Place on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 11-14 minutes, until the edges are light golden. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar and dry egg whites. Add 5 tablespoons of water and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes until the glaze forms stiff, glossy peaks. Add an additional 1 tablespoon if necessary.

Transfer 1/4 cup of icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 round tip. Transfer another 1/4 cup of icing to a small bowl and thin with 0.5 teaspoon of water for a thinner filling consistency. Dip a knife or fork into the icing and lift it over the bowl; if the icing runs back within 10 seconds, you've reached the desired consistency. Add water 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Transfer to a small pastry bag (no tip needed).
Add blue food coloring to the remaining frosting and stir until smooth. Transfer 1/4 cup of frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 round tip. Thin the remaining blue frosting with 1/4 teaspoon of water for a thinner filling consistency. Dip a knife or fork into the frosting and lift it over the bowl. If the frosting runs back within 10 seconds, you've reached the desired consistency. Transfer to a small pastry bag (no tip needed).
Using thick blue icing, paint an ocean border and a few waves on the bottom of the cookie and let dry for about 20 minutes. Fill the "ocean" with thin blue icing, stretching it with a toothpick to fill all the corners. Let dry completely for 30 minutes.
Line the top of the cookie with thick white icing. Let it dry completely for about 20 minutes. Fill the empty space in the top half of the cookie with thin white icing, stretching it with a toothpick to fill all the edges. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of crumbled candy on top of the wet icing. crackersLet the icing dry completely for about 30 minutes, then lightly tap the cookies to remove any excess crumbs. Using a zig-zag motion, brush the white icing along the joint between the sand and water, creating a seafoam-like shape. Let it dry completely for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the sand castles: dip 4 marshmallows in water, then roll them in crushed graham crackers until the crumbs completely cover the surface of the marshmallows. Using thick white icing, adhere 3 marshmallows together to form the base of the castle. Pipe a small drop of icing onto the bottom of the fourth marshmallow and glue it on top of the base. Repeat these steps with the remaining cookie crumbs and icing to make 12 castles.
FlagsUsing a sharp knife, cut 12 small flags out of taffy. Cut 6 toothpicks in half for flagpoles. Stick a toothpick half into each flag and stick the resulting flags into the top of the sand castle.
Buckets of sandCut 12 strips of green gummy candy, each 1/2" long and 0.75" wide. Roll one 1" strip into a 1" string for the bucket handle. Using thick white icing, glue the handle to the green gummy candy half. Sprinkle some crushed graham crackers on top of the bucket. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have 12 sand buckets.

OwlsCut 12 strips of green gummy candy for the scoop handles, each 1.2 cm long and 2 mm wide. Then, cut 12 6 mm squares from the candy and shape the bottoms of the green scoops. Press one square onto each "handle" to make a total of 12 scoops.
CrabsUsing the back of a #3 round tip, cut 12 semicircles from the red gummy bear. Cut 72 strips for the legs, each 4 mm wide and 6 mm long. Press 3 legs onto each side of the semicircle, for a total of 12 crabs.

ShellsUsing a sharp knife, cut 2 small pieces from the bottom of each chocolate drop to create a shell shape. Using a serrated knife, shape the surface of the chocolate into a shell-like texture.
Assembling cookiesUsing thick white icing, glue 1 sand castle, 1 bucket, 1 scoop, 3 shells, and 1 crab onto each cookie. Let dry completely for about 20 minutes.