Star Wars Sugar Cookies & Royal Icing Recipe. May the Shwartz Be With You.

It's only fair to share...

It was only inevitable that at some point I create a baked good with a Star Wars theme. Let’s face it. Star Wars is to the internet as the Kardashians are to celebrity gossip magazines. Or the Yankees are to baseball. Tim Tebow is to ESPN coverage.  Politicians are to adulterous affairs. Frantic women to DVR’ing the Royal Wedding. You get the idea.

Popular.Overwhelming.Oversaturation. It’s everywhere and if you try to escape it you cannot.

Not that it is necessarily always bad thing (possibly bad if we are referring to Tebow, but that’s just another  opinion and another story).

Although I would not call myself a fan, I enjoy Star Wars. I grew up watching it with my brother. It’s one of the things out there that deserve its popularity and attention.

I took a few minutes to research the names given to Star Wars fanatics.

Aside from “nerd” I read, “lonely” and “virgin.” Some better references were, “Star Warshipers” and my favorite, “Star Whores.”

On one message board exploring possible names, someone posted an interesting comment. He/she said that perhaps we should attempt to name the non-fans, as they are the minority group.

Maybe you are a full-blown Star Wars geek, with a Luke Skywalker costume in your closet for the next convention (I would NOT dress up, but I would SO go to one. The people-watching must be of epic proportions). I love the site of a full-grown man squealing at the first few notes for the opening crawl.

Maybe you are less obsessed and more enthusiastic as the majority of my friends are. I know a handful of jocks who love it, but in a more private manner. Either way you it’s difficult not to at least appreciate it.

When my friend Meghan asked me to go to some sort of Star Wars concert I couldn’t say no. Basically, an orchestra plays music from the saga while the audience views clips of film footage organized into different themes.

I didn’t even know this existed. Somewhere, a Star Wars fanatic is reading this and squeezing  the eyeballs out of their Ewok stuffed animal.

I even found an inappropriately small Star Wars shirt to wear. Old Navy, of all places. No women’s size. Only boys. The fanatic is now throwing his/her Ewok stuffed animal onto the floor in disgust for my not knowing the dozens of stores that offer full selection of Star Wars t-shirts.

Honestly though, you can’t get that mad at me for my ignorance.

I gaffed these photos of the concert night from Meghan.

Apparently you pose with people dressed in costume.

I wasn’t kidding about the t-shirt. Midriff city.

I couldn’t tell if these guys were hired to dress up and walk around, or if they were actually attending the show like that.

This was a gentleman who came with my group. I blocked out his face because I’m too lazy to ask his permission to show it. He purchased a light saber for the concert.

He pretended to kill this other guy here with his lovely light saber toy. I don’t know who the other gentleman is dressed up as, but he was not happy when my friend attempted to “kill” him. He wanted to fight. My friend did not understand. It’s pretend, right? This light saber doesn’t really hurt. It’s plastic, right? I suppose they take reenactments pretty seriously.

Just trying to keep the peace. As the concert commenced Meghan ditched me in the drink line and ran to her seat. Literally would not miss a minute.

Let the games begin…

Aside from a baby monkey, I want these Ewoks more than anything. Please give me an Ewok for my birthday.

Even though there are more than enough Star Wars desserts online, I was convinced after countless requests and took the opportunity to create this post after a last-minute cookie order. With little time to do anything too complex, I decided to show you how to make a couple of simple Star Wars cookies.

Here is what you need for Star Wars decorated cookies:

For the cookie dough,

-you can purchase sugar cookie dough to use*

OR

–2 1/2 eggs (crack one into a bowl, and pour out only half of it)

–  1   1/2 cups of butter (same as 3 sticks, softened to a firm room temperature)

–  3/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar (also known as powdered sugar)

– 1   1/4 cups of regular granulated sugar (the kind you put into coffee)

– 2 teaspoons of vanilla

–  4- 4  3/4 cups of flour (you will decide as you go how firm you want your dough to be. more about that later)

– 2 teaspoons of baking powder

–  1/2 teaspoon of salt

*be warned, that if you buy cookie dough, they do not hold their shape well and may need some flour added in to stiffen the shape for cut-out cookies

For the royal icing,

-you can purchase an icing mix at your local arts or baking supply store, especially if you do not want to be using egg whites

OR

– egg whites ( This of course depends on how many cookies you will make. If you are making about 12 cookies, I say use 4-6 egg whites. This could produce far more than you need, but better to have too much than to have to make another batch due to error)

– for each egg white, 3/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar (aka powdered sugar)

– for each egg white, 1/16 teaspoon of cream of tartar (found along with other spices in grocery store. simply use a 1/8 teaspoon and fill it halfway)

Tools needed,

-condiment bottles

-piping bag

-coupler for the piping bag

-tips for the piping bag

-food coloring (I use Americolor, there are other brands available in art or baking supply stores, or even Sur La Table)

-toothpicks (helpful but not required)

-mixer

-baking sheets

-parchment or wax paper

-rolling pin

Begin by making cookie dough…

You need a mixer. Stand-alone or even a hand mixer.

Cream your butter and sugar on medium-low speed.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Doesn’t look pretty right now, but it will soon.

Add your dry ingredients, a little at a time. I always star with 4 cups, and then add a tiny bit more at a time until it is just barely firm dough. It is tricky balancing between buttery, soft sugar cookies, and cookies that stay firm in the oven and hold their shape. If shape is more important use a lot of flour. If you care more for taste, then a little less.

Place a piece of wax or parchment paper the size of your baking sheet onto a counter.

Rub a little flour onto a rolling pin and roll out your dough on the parchment paper.

Refrigerate until totally firm.

Use a knife to cut out thin rectangles. The thin rectangles are for light sabers. I suggest making these, especially if you want to keep it simple.

If you are more experienced at cookie decorating or like a good challenge, you can cut out tall and large trapezoids.

You can’t see them in the photo below, but I cut out circles as well. I then cut each circle in half to make R2-D2 cookies.

Tip: I tend to cut out thin plastic covers from take-out containers, cardboard, or even paper to create a template for my cookies. Trace the shape, cut out, then place on top of cookie dough. Trace around with a knife, very carefully.

Place baking sheet onto a top drawer like in the photo above. Gently pull the cookies from the counter onto the baking sheet.

Place back in fridge until firm again. I wait until they are very hard. Sometimes, I even pop them into the freezer for a few minutes right before baking them.

Turn on your oven to 375 degrees. Once the oven has preheated, I leave it on for about 20-30 minutes. Once I place the cookies into the oven, I lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 10-14 minutes. You don’t have to do this.

These are just helpful ways to ensure accurate and regulated oven temperature, as well as helping to maintain cookie shape. If you aren’t nitpicky, don’t fret. If you are moderately OCD like me (my color tops are in one pile in my closet, black and white tops in another pile. must. not. mix), then you will do it.

NOW FOR THE ROYAL ICING

Separate egg whites from yolks. Keep the whites.

Place egg whites in your mixing bowl. For every egg white you use, add 1/16 of a teaspoon of cream of tartar (along with the spices in your grocery store). Just fill up the 1/8 teaspoon halfway.

Turn your mixer on medium-low to incorporate the tartar.

Keep mixing. Scrap the sids down if necessary.

Stop when frothy.

Now time to add the confectioner’s sugar. It has to be sifted, or else your icing will be a clumpy hot mess.

You can use a sifter, but I prefer a sieve, also referred to as a strainer.

I find sifters a chore to use and clean.

Pouring some (not all at once unless it is a LARGE sieve) of the sugar in, shake it side to side.

I actually just use my fingers to push the sugar through. I am able to prevent mess, and it sifts much more quickly.

Keep pushing it through.

Turn mixer on low and mix the sugar in. Scrape down sides. Turn mixer on medium-high and “whip” for 5-8 minutes. It will look almost like a whipped frosting.

Split your icing into bowls, and mix in appropriate colors.

Add only a few drops at a time, until you have reached the right hue.

– For the light sabers, you need red and black frosting.

– For the Star Wars opening crawl, you need a small amount of yellow and a substantial amount of black.

-For R2D2, you need a substantial amount of white a small amount of blue, and a very small amount of red and black.

I actually use my mixer to mix in colors, then clean it out for the next portion of icing. It sounds like a bit, but hand mixing becomes quite a chore. I’d much rather wash a mixing bowl for 1 minute than hand mix icing with a spatula for 20 minutes.

Tip: When not using a bowl of icing, cover it with a wet dish towel and store in fridge. It begins to harden fairly quickly when exposed to dry air.

NOW TO FILL PIPING BAGS WITH ICING

Place a few spoonfulls of icing onto a large piece of plastic wrap.

Fold one corner of the plastic wrap over to meet the opposite corner.

Roll it up like a burrito. Or something that needs to be rolled up. I don’t know.

Hold each end and twirl it until it winds up tightly. Like a towel. But don’t whip anyone’s tush with this. Black splotch on tush not good.

You need a piping bag, coupler (comes with a ring), and piping tip. A round tip of average size works. Just large enough to outline.

You can find these in arts and craft stores, or baking supply stores. I haven even seen it at iParty (party supply store).

Place a coupler in. Pull your plastic wrap through.

Cut the twisted end of the plastic wrap protruding from the piping bag. Place the piping tip on, and screw the ring to secure.

Use a rubber band to secure the other end. Nice trick, no? Keeps the bags clean and easy to transfer in new colors. My mom taught me this.

The piping bag is used to outline cookies and any shapes you create on the cookie. You will need to thin out some more of the icing to fill in the outlines. Just add a few drops of water to the icing. It should be much less thick so that it flows well, but not too watered down.

Fill the thinned our frosting into a bottle.

Tip: If you plan on using a piping bag again later with its current icing, place it upright in a cup with a smidgen of water, so that the tip is just barely emersed in water. This prevents the tip from drying.

If you feel like attempting the Star Wars crawl cookie (tricky, but comes out nicely), outline the trapezoid with black. Fill in with the bottle of thinner icing. Once it totally dries (several hours), you can print out a photo of the Star Wars logo. I just looked at it and tried to free-hand.

Try it as a challenge, but if not, stick to the other cookies. Those are best for beginners to practice with.

For the light sabers, you want to create a bottom that looks like a sword handle. I made it pointed on the bottom, then angled the top to one side at the top. Outline with the piping bag, then fill.

Please, practice a little on a piece of parchment paper. With all of the custom-made cookies I create, I am constantly practicing piping out my visions onto parchment paper first to see if it works. No sense in ruining a bunch of cookies.

For the R2-D2, pipe out a square on top (I did not fill these, and as you notice they are not very even). Pipe out two rectangles on the left, a mini rectangle to the right, a square, and then a thin rectangle on the far right.

Once it completely dries, pipe out a white outline and fill in. use a toothpick to push the icing in between the little crevices.

Tip: After icing a cookie, use a toothpick to poke any air bubbles that you see.

Then pipe a red dot on the bottom..R2-D2 also has a black dot on the top square, and a black lens in the space on the bottom. I always print out images to look at while I create it.

You can try to go for more detailed. I usually do, but wanted to keep it simple for everyone.

For the light sabers, once the handle dries, pipe a triangle onto the top point, then two lines across the handle. I also piped out and filled red, long oval shapes above the handle to create lasers. Or whatever you call that part.

Allow to completely dry.

Cute, right?

It actually says, “…far, far away,” but who’s keeping score? Don’t answer that.

****If you are considering posting up photos or ideas from this or any other posts I am truly happy that you are excited and find my recipes interesting enough to share with others. Please see copyright standards in the footer (bottom) AND follow them!!!!

It's only fair to share...