Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How to Make Soccer Ball Cookies


My kids and I found a random bake shop as we were driving through a random town. I never pass up random bake shops. Ever. So we went in. They had scrumptious and beautiful desserts, but when I saw they had soccer ball cookies that were $4. 50 each, I wished we'd never entered the place. I knew those cookies were exactly what my kids were going to want. I was right, surprise :).

Since cute cookies are dear to my heart, I bought ONE for them to split.  I looked at the cookie and realized I could probably make the whole soccer team a cookie for the same price I'd payed for one. Sure enough!! (Well, pretty close). Here's how: 

Ingredients and Items Needed:
Sugar Cookies (see below)
1 bag powdered sugar
Milk
Light corn syrup
clear extract
black gel food coloring
food paint brush
food writer marker or exactoknife
piping bags
tips: sizes 4 or 5 and 2

1. First make the cookies several days ahead. Either use your favorite sugar cookie recipe, or use this one from Our Best Bites.  It's so yummy and keeps it's shape well.  Cut balls out with a 6 inch circle cookie cutter.
 
2. Freeze the cookies overnight, or leave them in an airtight container for a few days. Seriously, this seems to make these cookies taste even better. Weird, but true. This also makes it so they don't fall apart with the 2 layers of frosting that will come.

3. Next, make Glace Icing.(adapted from recipegirl)
 (Recipe girl has an amazing soccer cookie tutorial for a more patient and meticulous mom. These are a bit simpler. I love this icing from her blog.)
1 bag (or 2 pounds powdered sugar)
1/2 Cup + 4 Tablespoons milk
1/2 Cup + 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
4 teaspoons clear extract (such as Wilton brand)

Mix sugar and milk together. Add corn syrup and stir until just combined. Add extract. Mix.

  Keep in a tight airtight container until ready for use. If not, it will turn to a cement like substance.


4. Frost the cookies:

Use a size 3 or 4 tip and outline the cookie. Remember it's OK if it's not a perfect circle. Kids will think it's cool even if your hand is not totally steady (as seen above :)).  Outline all the cookies. This gives time for the icing circle to harden just a bit and act as a dam to the icing in the middle.

5. Using the same or bigger tip, start filling in the cookie. Only "scribble" with the icing, as pictured above. Then use a food paintbrush or small spoon to fill in the gaps.


6.  Let the icing dry for 10-12 hours.

7. Save the rest of the icing in an airtight , and again, I mean very tight container.

8. Find a pentagon shape. I googled "pentagon" then traced it right off of my computer monitor, and copied it on to card stock. (It wasn't until I made these cookies that I realized that the shape on soccer balls is a pentagon, not a hexagon!)

9. With a food writer marker, or an exacto knife, trace your pentagon shape on to each cookie.  Remember pentagon shapes are not equal on every side, so don't freak out if it seems to look funny at first. Either trace the pentagon in the middle or a little off center- whichever you prefer.



10.  Then  get out the icing which has been in an air tight container and pour about 1/2 of a bottle of black gel food coloring into the white icing. Stir very well.
Put the icing in a bag with a #2 tip.

11. Trace the pentagon with the black icing.  Then draw lines from the points of the pentagon to the edge of the cookie. Then add triangles to the edge of the line... or make part of a hexagon shape.Like so...

seriously, just free hand it-no big deal  if a line's a centimeter off.

12. Add a little bit of black frosting to the outlined triangles and hexagons.  Then use a paint brush or tiny spoon to spread the frosting in the shapes.

13. Outline the whole cookie.

14. Let the frosting dry for at least 8 hours, but 10 is better.

15. Pack them pretty  because these cookies are a process!! Extra packaging shows people that Oh, are they ever lucky.



I made these for my daughter's soccer team, and even got huge hugs and smiles all around. Totally worth the time.

These cookies not only look cute, but they seriously taste good too. My kids even said they tasted waaay better than the ONE we bought at that random bake shop. YES!! 

 XO,

Nancy

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13 comments:

  1. Such super cute soccer ball cookies!!! I'd love for you to link up a few yummy recipes at my weekend link party@The Weekend re-Treat!
    on The Best Blog Recipes if you haven't already!

    Hope to see you there!

    Shauna
    http://thebestblogrecipes.blogspot.com/
    http://ready2loseweight.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Shauna!! I appreciate that... I linked up. Thanks again for hosting those parties on your blog!!

      Delete
  2. These are adorable! I am so glad I found your blog!

    Cathy
    http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those look fantastic! So fun...and I'm really impressed because I think soccer balls are crazy-hard to draw! Would you consider sharing these at my party, which is open now? http://www.oneartsymama.com/2013/04/shine-on-fridays-74-and-grab-bag.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Amy! I joined your party. I think drawing soccer balls are hard, but frosting these were easy because of a few little tricks :)...

      Delete
  4. Thank you for making this process so simple. I've seen others and was so uncomfortable by the complicated steps. I know I can follow your great idea! We will be selling our soccer cookies at our fund raiser at our soccer league for Relay for Life. Thank You! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for letting me know this!!! I wish you much luck at your Relay for Life!!! What an awesome idea to use it for a fundraiser! That makes my heart happy <3.

      Delete
  5. These are SO cute! Question from a super novice cookie maker :) When you say "let the icing dry for 10-12 hours" I'm assuming you let the cookies dry on a rack? Then when they're dry put them into an air tight container???

    ReplyDelete
  6. Does anyone have a recipe for sturdy chocolate icing that could be used to decorate the soccer ball instead of "black" icing? I don't have a lot of experience with fancy cookies, but I thought the little ones that my daughter coaches, 3 to 5-years-old, would like a bit of chocolate in the cookie. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think you've got tons to brag concerning! and that i would not worry about being "overly boastful" as a result of you are tooting your own horn! i prefer to listen to the great stuff that folks do. It's far better than hearing the long list of crap and ailments they're experiencing over ... and over ... and once again. Hearing dangerous stuff all the time is simply not smart.
    cricket-ball

    ReplyDelete
  8. Actually, it's a Pentagon, surrounded by hexagon, then the next layer is alternate Pentagon s and hexagons. All the Pentagon's get colored black

    ReplyDelete

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