I had originally intended to dip the entire cookie in chocolate, but upon many, many ruminations on how best to execute this cookie project, I realized that dipping each one in chocolate would be a very messy job and drying would be a problem. The cookies would have to lie flat and the back sides would not dry very smoothly or symmetrically due to residual wet chocolate trickle during the drying process. Hopefully you know what I mean, or I would just sound crazy. So I ended up just covering the front with chocolate, which hardened to solid consistency when dried. The original plan had to be compromised somewhat, much like many other things in life.
I think the best part of making these cookies was having my mom help me. When she saw me putting the sprinkles around the edges by pinching a few from the container and sprinkling around, she came up with an idea to put the sprinkles in a little baggie with a small sliver of a hole cut out of one corner so I could just rub my fingers together where the hole was and cause sprinkles to fall out as I moved her little invention around the cookie. She also helped me by frosting the cookies while I put on the bears and the sprinkles. You see, just when you think you’re all grown up and you can handle yourself, you find out you still need your mommy.
In the end, I made 39 boys (what I called the cookies with the blue bears in the middle) and 38 girls (the cookies with the pink bears in the middle). The mother-to-be does not know whether she’s having a boy or a girl, which is why I was asked to do both colors. I chose to make more boys than girls because I liked the look of the blue bear against the brown of the chocolate better, and…I don’t know, I just favored the boys. Maybe it’s a sign she’ll be having a boy, maybe not. We’ll just have to see.
I bake, but I don't decorate …. so I just have to ask: What is gum paste? Did you have to carve out each bear? They look cute as could be.
Oh man. I've totally been there.
I took my first wedding order back in May: 170 monogrammed cookie favors. I did a few samples for the bride-to-be and they turned out great. Easy, even. I, too, sat on the idea for a bit and didn't get started until the night before. Big mistake.
My sister stepped up to help and we ended up working the next day from 9am to 1am. It was all worth it in the end but wow…talk about a lesson in poor planning.
Your cookies look adorable and you can really can't go with chocolate-dipped anything. I'm sure the mom-to-be was stoked.
SweetsSuccess…gum paste is basically a “dough” made of sugar and other ingredients (not sure what, because I buy mine ready-made) that you can roll out and cut into shapes. It's what some sugar flowers are made of and other sugar shapes, such as the bears in my post, for example. And yes, I cut out each bear with a gum paste cutter shaped like a bear (looks like a cookie cutter but smaller). When you let your shapes sit for a while, they end up hardening and hold their form. Hope this helps!