Hi! Hope you had a great weekend!
I’m not sure I’ve ever been this excited to share cookies with you on a Monday… I mean, I love decorating cookies already, but I don’t know what it was about these little guys – they were just so simple and sweet – my favorite cookies to make thus far, I think!
The inspiration for them came from seeing these pretty cumulus clouds (thank you for helping me name the type of clouds, on Instagram, btw!). I’ve always loved fluffy ones and was eager to try out this adorable nesting set of cloud cookie cutters from Cheap Cookie Cutters I’d ordered a while back.
Not only that, I’m also excited to share a new cookie recipe with you – Cinnamon Molasses Cookies – they’re oh so good, and are perfect for decorated cookies as they hold their shape really well. With a few key tips, one can help prevent cookies from spreading (here’s my post if you like), but some recipes are just better than others in that department. (i.e. ratio of flour to sugar etc.).
Anyways, they were easy to decorate, and if you’d like to make them too, I’ve got a tutorial and recipe below!
Cookie Dough
Besides the cinnamon molasses cookie recipe (below), here are some other cookie recipes which work well for cookie decorating.
Royal Icing
You can find my favorite royal icing recipe here. The consistency of icing is key for easy decorating. Click here to see a YouTube video on finding the right icing thickness.
How to Decorate Cloud Cookies
Whether you make them as cookie pops or just cookies, here are some videos on each process:
How to Flood Cookies with Royal Icing
What You’ll Need:
Click on the item below to find it on line:
What you’ll need
- Cinnamon Molasses Cookie Recipe (below)
- Cloud Cookie Cutters
- Royal Icing Recipe
Add 1 Tbs real lemon, lime or orange juice - Piping Bags (3)
- Couplers (3)
- Piping Tips (#3, #1.5)
- Cookie Pop Sticks
- Food Gel Coloring (white, pink, black)
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Decorating Steps:
Step One: Make your dough.
Step Two: Once you have cut out your cookies, make sure you chill them for at least a few hours before you bake them.
Step Three: Make and adjust the icing consistency. For a video on how to find consistency, click here. Tint your icing using gel paste colouring.
Step Four: Flood cookies – The basics on how to outline and flood with royal icing can be found here. Using piping tip #3, outline the cloud perimeter with white icing.
Step Five: Fill or flood the cloud using the same icing and piping tip. Let those dry for a few hours at least, especially if you’re decorating in a humid environment. See here for a video on drying royal icing.
Step Six: Once the white has dried for at least a few hours, pipe the cloud’s eyes, mouth and cheeks, using a #1.5 piping tip.
Serve as is, or package in cellophane bags and tie with a pretty ribbon.
I made these for my family and friends, but think they’d be adorable as baby shower cookies!
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Notes:
- Playing around with the cloud face design on paper and on a plastic lid, first, helped me decide which way to pipe, without “wasting” any cookies.
- I love my cookie pop stand for its usefulness and even more so because my father made it for me. He’s not a man of many words, but it’s the things he does which speak volumes. I love the story of how and why he made it, so I’ll be sharing it in a blog post of it’s own.
- For flooding cookies, I generally outline and then flood immediately. Because I wanted the cloud cookies to be a little more puffy, I outlined, let that set for about 2-5 minutes, and then filled in the middle of the cookie. That way, I knew the dam, or outline of the cookie, would be a bit stronger (drier), so it would hold a bit more icing.
- I collect almost as much ribbon as I do cookie cutters, so was happy to use my cloud ribbon, by American Crafts, which I found at Home Sense a few months ago.
- A note about sliding your cookie pop sticks into the dough – Pay more attention than I did about sliding it into the center of the dough, rather than sliding it on the surface of the cookie sheet. The cookies held up fine, but the one on the left (below), for example, is sturdier than the one on the right.
- The baby blue, striped straws are from The TomKat Studio’s shop.
- For the cinnamon molasses cookies (recipe below), you can add more or less cinnamon, depending on your taste.
Cinnamon Molasses Cookie Recipe
Cinnamon Molasses Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g unsalted butter, room temperature or 1 1/8 cups
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup molasses
- 800 g all-purpose flour or 6 1/3 cups
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy.
- Mix in spices first, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low.
- Sift together flour and salt and add to bowl; mix until just combined.
- Wrap dough in a disc shape in saran wrap. Let it rest by refrigerating until cold, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface or between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4-inch thick.
- Cut shapes out with cookie cutters and place them approximately 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Refrigerate until firm; at least 15 minutes to 1 hour.
- Bake cookies until lightly golden; 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before decorating.
Notes
Have fun baking and decorating!
xo,
Marian
p.s. Okay maybe by now you’ve noticed that I’ve photographed this little cloud cookie quite a few times? Ahem. I’m still learning lots about photography and lighting, so spent a while on Sunday trying out different backgrounds and lighting options.
p.s.s. I couldn’t help it. Mmm.
Miriam, soy una asidua de tu blog y gracias a tus tutoriales he aprendido mucho, mira pongo el enlace de las ultimas galletitas que he hecho.
Un saludo desde Barcelona (España)
Miriam, soy una Asidua de tu blog y gracias a tus tutoriales que aprendido Mucho, mira PONGO EL ENLACE de Las Ultimas galletitas Que he Hecho. http://sugarlove55.blogspot.com.es/2013/09/galletas-glaseadas-infantiles.html
Un saludo desde Barcelona (España)
Muy buena Web . Continua este buen trabajo.Presenta un contenido realmente excelente sobre el tema y tus mensajes son realmente acertados.
Solo mencionar que estoy feliz por haber encontrado esta Página web !.
Tienes el mejor sitio online sobre el tema.
Muchas gracias 😉
Hello! Will the Cinnamon Molasses cookie recipe work well if I cut it in half? I tried to cut the sugar cookie recipe in half and I don’t think I did it right. The cookies spread like crazy even after I chilled for 12 hrs. Thanks.
Hi Samantha,
It should halve just fine. Let me know how it goes!
Hey there! I was wondering if it would be possible to substitute the molasses for honey?
Hi Kellie,
I haven’t tried it, although they are about the same consistency, so it should work. Please let me know how it goes if you try it.
Hey there! I was wondering if the dough is initially supposed to be crumbly?
Hi Lisa,
Until you mix it all together, but no, it shouldn’t end up crumbly.
These are the cutest things I have ever seen! I can’t remember the last time I was so excited to try a new cookie!!
Thank you 🙂
Hihi, thanks Rachel! Have fun!
Hi Marian
Can I leave the dough in the disc shape in the fridge for longer than an hour? Like overnight?
Thanks!
Hi Ellie,
Absolutely!
I was wondering if we bake the cookies with the popstick. What kind of sticks do you use ? What are they made of ?
I plan on making these for a baby shower. I was wondering about how many cookies does the recipe make and how far in advance can I make them?
hi i just made the dough, put it in the fridge and just after a couple of hours its rock hard. what do i do. should i let it warm up at room temp to see if it gets softer and how soft should i let it get. and how long should i let it sit without it going bad? please help?!
Hi Lorie,
It will soften in 5-10 minutes, depending on how warm your environment is. xo
Hi. I used this recipe for some cookie on a stick and came out great. im looking for a spice cookie recipe like speculoos or also know as biscoff cookies that I could work with the same way. Any thoughts or advice?