Spiderman Lofthouse Cookies

My son just turned 2. He is a huge Spiderman fan so I thought of baking some themed cookies for him and his friends. Having seen many professional bakers make the art of cookie decorating seem so effortless I decided to venture into this endevor with some trepidation but a lot of hopeful excitement. I know my cookies are not impeccable but I am glad I made the attempt as it was surely a fun learning experience. 

My daughter suggested that we go with her favorite kind of sugar cookies, the Lofthouse . These are soft cake-like baked goodies that taste much better than their ordinary stiff sugar cousins. You can even decorate them to your heart's desire to fit any theme. How about baking some for Valentines day that's just around the corner?

Well it was his brithday and a birthday always needs a cake but I decided to take an unusual path this time. In fact it was not even a traditional cake but it turned out to be such a hit with the George family that it did not last for more than 30 mins, which meant I did not get a chance to click any pictures :( . But do not fret because I am going to make it again due and next time around I will be sure to share it with all you lovely people!

Cookie recipe adapted from here

Frosting recipe adapted from here

Yields : 4 dozen

INGREDIENTS FOR COOKIE DOUGH

1/2 Cup - Sour cream

1 Cup - Sugar

1/2 Cup - Butter, softened

2 - Eggs

1/2 Teaspoon - Vanilla extract

3 Cup - All purpose flour

1 1/2 Teaspoon - Baking powder

1/2 Teaspoon - Baking soda

1/2 Teaspoon - Salt

DIRECTIONS FOR COOKIE

• Preheat the oven to 350F
• Bring the egg and butter to room temperature.
• Combine sour cream, sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until they are incorporated well. 
• In another bowl sift and combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Add the flour mixture and to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. 
• Take the cookie dough and wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes - 1 hour.
• For Circular cookies: With a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and then roll into a ball in your hand and place on a cookie sheet and slightly flatten with your palm so you get a nice circular shape. If the cookie dough tends to stick to your hands refrigerate for some more time.
• For Spiderman cookies: Roll the dough (1/2 inch thickness) and used a cookie cutter to cut the dough. I did not have a perfect cookie cutter for this so I used my circular cookie cutter and remolded it into the shape of Spiderman's face.
• Bake cookies until light golden brown, around 8-10 minutes (no more than 10 minutes). They may seem under done but they aren't!!
• Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

INGREDIENTS FOR FROSTING

2 Cup - Powdered sugar, sifted

2 Tablespoon - Corn Syrup

2 Tablespoon - Whole milk

1/8 Teaspoon - Fresh lemon juice

Food coloring (I used Wilton - black, royal blue, red)

Candy sprinkles or colored sugar to decorate 

Method 1 : Squeeze bottles – 1 for the border icing and 1 for each color for flood icing/filling

OR

Method 2 : Piping bags and Wilton #1 tip (#2 should be fine too)

Wilton food writer (optional)

DIRECTIONS FOR FROSTING

• Sift the powdered sugar.
• In a bowl add powdered sugar, corn syrup, milk, lemon juice. Mix until everything is incorporated well. Add the desired color. I divided the frosting into 4 bowls and added red, blue and black color. The last bowl was meant to be white. If the frosting is too thick add a few more drops of milk. The frosting should be thicker for the outline. After the outlines are done you can add a few more teaspoons of milk (flooding consistency) and use it for the filling.
• Fill the frosting in the piping bag or squeeze bottle and draw the outlines. 
• Add few more drops of milk to the frosting and use it for filling the cookie. 

Some useful link for cookie decoration

How to decorate cookies with squeeze bottles

Reusing / cleaning piping bags

Video for making the frosting