How are you doing, bakers? What’s been going on in the last month where you are? I don’t know where April went, but it took the first half of May with it, too. It’s been hard to find motivation while the quarantine drags on and on and we all get overwhelmed with cabin fever, right? Like a lot of you, I’d like to pretend that the last couple months didn’t happen the way that they did. But we can’t go back, so let’s look forward to summer! And nothing says summer like the beach, in my opinion. Just thinking about being out in the sunshine, sitting in the warm sand, and listening to the surf lifts my spirits. But if you can’t get there or your shore isn’t open yet, you’ll just have to bring the beach to your kitchen! All the fun and none of the sunburn! Let’s get the sun shining.
I know I say it all the time, but these are much easier to make than you might think. You’ll only need a few colors, some simple supplies, and a few hours of time. I made my beaches with a heart shape for this example because we could all use a little extra love right now- but you can make any shape you like! I know you can do it!
Materials Needed for Summer Beach Sugar Cookies
- Sugar cookies, baked and cooled. Find my favorite recipe at the bottom of this post or explained in detail here!
- Royal icing in several colors. My recipe is at the bottom of this post, or visit here if you’re a newbie! I like using Americolor food gels, found here at Amazon.
- Blue- medium consistency. I achieved this color with two drops of ‘sky blue’ and two drops of ‘teal’.
- Light brown- medium consistency.
- White- piping consistency.
- Pink and purple- medium consistency. These colors are for the optional flip flips. You can choose your own colors!
- Cookie etching needle, found in this simple toolkit on Amazon.
- Gold sanding sugar, found at craft stores, or here on Amazon.
- Small stiff paintbrush (a flat brush works best)
- Assorted #1 and #2 piping tips
- Counter top fan to speed drying times (optional but recommended)
Got everything you need? Let’s get going!
Start by baking up your cookies and letting them cool completely on a wire rack. When you’re ready to start decorating, grab your blue icing and a #2 tip. Starting high on the left side of the heart, pipe a wavy line down and to the right. A few rolling curves should do it- this will be your shoreline, so don’t go too crazy. Head up and around to where you started to close the shape and then fill it. Place your cookies under the fan for about an hour to harden up.
Next comes the sand, which is a two-step process. Prepare by pouring your gold sanding sugar into a small bowl, and also find a large bowl to catch the sugar that spills over the sides of the cookie. Using your light brown icing and #2 tip, fill the rest of the heart shape, then gently pick up the cookie and set it flat on your fingers over the large bowl. Pour the sanding sugar over the wet icing, letting the excess fall into the large bowl. Gently shake the cookie once and place back on the counter to dry for another hour.
By now, your ocean shape should be nice and hard. Pick up your white piping icing and top it with a #1 tip. Pipe a white line on top of the shoreline where the two colors meet. Then use your small paintbrush to pull the white icing away from the sand and towards the ocean. Keep your strokes short and go all the way down the shoreline. Once you’ve finished, you can pipe another wave or two farther away from the beach and repeat the same technique. Now put your cookies back under the fan.
After a final hour of drying time, you can decorate the sandy beach! I like to make flip flops on most of my beach cookies- it’s really simple. Pipe a sandal shape by making an oval in your chosen shoe color, then use your etching needle to widen the top of the oval on one side to help it look more like a shoe. Repeat for the other flip flop, widening the opposite side to make a pair of shoes. After a few minutes, use your white piping icing to pipe a thin ‘v’ shape at the top of each sandal, with a little toe loop pointing upwards. If you don’t want to make flip flops, you can use the light brown colored icing and a #1 tip to make some ‘writing’ in the sand instead.
And that’s it, you’re done! How did your beach cookies come out? I hope the sun is shining in your kitchen right now, and you’re transported away from Quarantine 2020 and to a much warmer and happier place. It won’t be long until we’re all back together and having fun again, I promise. Make sure to let me know how everything worked out for you in the comments section below, or on my Facebook page! Until next time, stay happy, stay safe, and stay baking!
Foolproof Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In bowl, mix together 3 cups of the flour and baking power. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the extracts and the egg and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Dough will be crumbly.
- Press dough together with hands, and roll out on a well-floured surface. Cut shapes and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Refrigerate baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, remove when cookie edges are just barely golden. Allow several minutes to cool on sheet before moving cookies to a rack.
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder
- 4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar sifted
- 1/2 tsp Karo syrup (optional)
- 1/8 tsp clear flavored extract (optional)
Instructions
- Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and beat with mixer until frothy.
- Sift powdered sugar into the same bowl and mix to combine
- Add syrup and extract if desired
- Beat the icing for 4-5 minutes until it is glossy and holds a peak if the beater is turned upside down
Medium Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 5 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
Flooding Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 3 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
