Contributed by: Deborah Harroun  www.tasteandtellblog.com

 

 

 

 

I love baby showers. It’s fun getting together with friends and family to celebrate a new baby coming into the world. I even love hosting baby showers. But the one thing that gets me every time is what party favors to send home with the guests. 

 

These mini cookie “cakes” not only can be customized to the gender of the baby, but they are also cute and tasty! You can never go wrong when you send your guests home with food. These do take a bit of time, but it will all be worth it when you see the guests walk out with big smiles on their faces.

 

Here’s how you make them:

 

 

You’ll start off by making the cookies.

 

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

 

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and both sugars. Beat together until smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl between additions. Add in the flour mixture, and mix just until the dough comes together.

 

 

Dump the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap up tightly, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

 

Remove from the refrigerator, and roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness. I like to work with one quarter of the dough at a time, leaving the rest of the dough in the fridge until needed.

 

For each cookie cake, use cookie cutters to cut out three 3-inch circles, two 2-inch circles and two 1-inch circles. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet, and refrigerate another 30 minutes. Bake the cookies in a 350°F oven, and let cool completely.

 

 

Once the cookies are cool, it’s time to make the icing. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixer. Mix for 7 to 10 minutes until it is no longer glossy. It will be quite thick at this point. Add food coloring and mix completely. Start adding more warm water to the icing, about 1 teaspoon at a time, just until it is thin enough to pipe. 

 

 

Pipe a thin edge around the outside of each cookie, creating a “dam” for the icing.

 

Set aside 1/2 cup of the icing in an airtight container. With the remaining icing, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it is thin. (You want it thin enough so that if you dropped a spoonful back into the bowl, the icing would not hold its shape.) 

 

Allow the cookies to dry for at least 6 hours. Once the cookies are completely dry, assemble the cookie cakes. Using the reserved icing, pipe a dot onto the center of one of the large circles.

 

 

Place another large circle on top. Repeat with more icing and another cookie.

 

Continue to build the cakes, with 3 large cookies on the bottom, 2 medium cookies in the middle and 2 small cookies on the top.

 

 

To finish off the cookies, add another dot of icing, and top with a small tuft of cotton candy. 

 

 

The cookies can be wrapped in cellophane bags to be handed out as party favors.