Sunflower Cookies

I planted sunflowers in a half whisky barrel in the front of my house.  They got really tall, but the blooms were small and a bit disappointing.  It's not that they didn't have enough water, my dad did a great job watering this summer.  I think they needed more food, and I didn't feed my plants well this summer.

Fairbanks is a great place to grow sunflowers, especially if we have a warm summer.  The long days help them grow really big.  People are posting pictures of their giant, big sunflowers all over Facebook right now, and I'm feeling a little jealous since mine were so small and sad.  So I decided to make some of my own sunflowers in cookies.

I baked 3.5 inch round cookies and let them cool completely.
Then I used a smaller cookie cutter and etched a circle for a
frosting guide.

I added a smaller circle for a frosting guide.

Brush away the crumbs left by the etching tool, those crumbs get
stuck in the frosting and make a mess.

I made the first ring of petals using a 103 tip.

Then the second ring of petals.  Then let the
cookies dry for a couple hours.

I added the center frosting, filling as full as possible and making
a little mound.

Covered the center with chocolate jimmies, turned upside-down
to get rid of the extra, and pushed them into the circle and
off the petals so they wouldn't stick.

A plate full of sunshine!

I used this cookie recipe and a very stiff royal icing recipe from SemiSweet Designs, except I added 3/4 cup water and not the full cup (because I wanted a really thick royal icing).  Next time I will a little less water as this was still softer than I wanted.

I found the idea from SweetAmbs.  

6 cookies drying

1 year ago:    Keto Cornbread and Fall

3 years ago:  Pine Nut and Apricot Cake and the Pine Cone Discovery

5 years ago:  Baked Oatmeal

September 2, 2013  Sunrise 6:33 am  Sunset 9:05 pm  Temp. H 71/L 50°F