These children’s book cookies are made from an easy sugar cookie recipe and royal icing but are painted with food dye to make them look extra special! They’re the perfect cookies for baby showers, Mothers’ Day and children’s birthday parties, providing a fun alternative to cakes or cupcakes.
I made these cookies for my mum for Mothers’ Day because she is an extremely talented painter. Each cookie is also a favorite book she read my siblings and I when we were young. This post is dedicated to her – hooray for moms!! (Look Mum, you’re Internet famous!!!!!!)
Admittedly, I struggled over which children’s books to make into cookies. Ultimately, I chose those books that I have the most fond memories of reading with my mother. I made a Where’s Spot cookie, Where the Wild Things Are cookie, Love You Forever cookie, The Tale of Peter Rabbit cookie, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom cookie, The Very Hungry Caterpillar cookie, Goodnight Moon cookie, The Runaway Bunny cookie, Are You My Mother? cookie, The Giving Tree cookie, The Cat in the Hat cookie, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie cookie. Honestly, I could have made triple the number and still not cover all my favorite kids’ books.
Anyways. Now down to the cookie making business. The first step in this process is to bake your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Choose a recipe that makes a nice stiff cookie. (I’ve always loathed chewy cookies anyway.)
Sifting some flour to ensure lump-free cookies!
( Pour some sugar on meeeeeeee.)
It is a fact that cookie dough is irresistible to mortals.
As I mentioned when I was making my Wizard of Oz Cookies, I have a tragic deficit of cookie cutters so I cut these cookies out with a ruler and knife. The children’s book cookies wound up being slightly different sizes in the end (apparently my ruler skills are less than awesome) but then, children’s books are different sizes so it’s all good! Coat your sugar cookies in a thick coat of royal icing and add some sprinkle embellishments if you are a cookie bedazzler like me.
Painting these cookies, however, is what adds the real fun. For this, we use the same technique we used in the Cinco de Mayo Margarita Cupcakes. Simply use gel food dye and a clear alcohol to paint the cookies as you would a canvas. Think of the food coloring as your paint and the alcohol as your water. And don’t worry – the alcohol will evaporate off!
Here are step-by-step pictures of the painting of the The Giving Tree cookie:
You want to be careful not to use too much liquid at once as it can crack the royal icing and make it mushy. Similarly, it is important that the royal icing on the sugar cookie be thick and evenly coated so that the cookie can be painted evenly.
Sheesh! That Very Hungry Caterpillar Cookie is making me very hungry! Let’s check out the rest:
Love You Forever cookie and The Tale of Peter Rabbit cookie.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom cookie and The Very Hungry Caterpillar cookie.
Goodnight Moon cookie and The Runaway Bunny cookie.
Are You My Mother? cookie and The Giving Tree cookie.
The Cat in the Hat cookie and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie cookie.
And lastly, in honor of the late Maurice Sendak, a Where the Wild Things Are cookie.
And there you have it! Painted children’s book cookies for your loved ones! Of course, the sky’s the limit for this cookie painting technique so be sure to share your ideas and creations below!
Finally, a thank you to my mum for all the love, support, and inspiration you have provided me with over the years. I love you. Happy Mothers’ Day to you, Mum, and to all you moms out there!
See Spot Run….just a little too slow to avoid my mouth!
