This set of Back To School Sugar Cookies is whimsical and fun! Bookworms, red delicious apples, and chalkboard cookies are all made from the most tender, delicious vanilla scented sugar cookies and topped with vibrant, tinted royal icing.
Obviously, going back to school is on my mind, this Back to School Sugar Cookies. Part of me is excited to get ourselves back on a real routine, but mostly I’m a little sad that summer is over.
Yes, I’ll miss the weather, but I’m really going to miss the kids. We spend our summers together – playing outside, reading books, going swimming, baking, crafting. And while most of our activities are not structured (it’s more like organized chaos), we’re together. We chat. We laugh. We argue. We make up. When I say we spend time together, we are together. Like really together.
While transitions can be a challenge for us (me included) we wanted to start off the school year with a set of whimsical Back to School Sugar Cookies. The bookworms are from the amazing Sugar Belle. Aren’t they just awesome? Click here for a full ️tutorial from Sugar Belle.
My kids were a little confused about the worms holding books. Apparently they’d never heard of a bookworm. Even after explaining it to them, my 3 year-old just couldn’t let go. She kept saying in that exasperated toddler way, “But worms have nothing to do with books! That doesn’t make sense!”
I’m not quite sure how the term got it’s meaning, but from what I can tell, it’s because there were insect-like worms that would eat through the binding of books. And there’s now way in heck I’d ever tell my 3 year-old that. She’d never open a book again!
The chalkboard cookies were more acceptable to the kids. Chalkboards and school – makes sense.
I think the chalkboard cookies turned out even better than I could have hoped. They’re so simple to make. Just flood a cookie with black royal icing. When it’s completely dry, using a food-only paint brush, brush some corn starch on the cookie to make it look like chalk dust. Then I used an extremely fine paintbrush (#000) to paint on the text with white gel food color.
With all of my baking and decorating, my 7 year-old is officially following in her mom’s footsteps. While I made these Back to School Sugar Cookies, she made her won set of min-autumn cookies. And just like mom, she packaged them up and distributed them to teachers and friends 🙂
This set of Back To School Sugar Cookies may be one of my all-time favorites. (But I’m pretty sure that I say that after every set of cookies I make.) I hope you and yours are having a smooth transition back to school 🙂
- For the Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup, unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tbs good quality vanilla extract
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- For the Royal Icing
- 5 tbs meringue powder
- ¾ cups water
- 1 tbs good quality vanilla extract
- Red Gel Food Color (I used AmeriColor Tulp Red mixed with Red Red)
- Green Gel Food Color (I used AmeriColor Leaf Green mixed with a few drops of Royal Blue and Electric Green)
- Black Gel Food Color (I used AmeriColor Black)
- Brown Gel Food Color (I used AmeriColor Chocolate Brown mixed with Warm Brown)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, sift the all-purpose flour and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar.
- Once fluffy, add the egg and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Place the dough in a bowl, and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes. Do NOT refrigerate this dough. The cookies must be rolled out and baked right after the dough is made.
- Line sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and bake for about 7 to 8 minutes. If you’d like soft cookies, make sure that the cookies do not brown.
- Once the cookies are baked, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a mixer place the meringue powder and water. Whisk by hand for a few minutes until the powder is dissolved and the mixture bubbles.
- Add the vanilla and hand whisk for an additional minute.
- Place the bowl in the mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Add all the confectioners’ sugar at once.
- Mix on medium speed for about 5 to 7 minutes. You know the mixture is ready when it’s white, fluffy, and stiff enough to hold peaks.
- For directions on how to make the bookworms, find the instructions at [url href=”http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2012/08/nerdy-bookworm-cookies/” target=”_blank” title=”Sugar Belle Book Worm Cookie”]Sweet Sugar Belle[/url].
- For directions on the chalkboard cookies, check out the post above!
This post is linked to these awesome parties.
Wow! Loved these sugar Cookies. They are indeed fun and full of deliciousness. Love how vibrant and droolicious these are! 🙂
Oh my goodness! These cookies are absolutely adorable, Aida! So fun that your kiddos helped you make them! I can totally see how you would miss the kids now that it’s back to school. I feel the same way but hopefully these cookies helped a little bit 🙂 I love how detailed they are and so so cute about 3 year-old and the bookworms 🙂 They look perfect!!! Pinning! 🙂
These are adorable! Pinning! Stopping by from Kathe’s party.
Thanks so much Raquel! These were so fun to make. The eyeglasses get me every time 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!