I am working on few LARGER diy projects but this baking one is all for my son, Charlie. Charlie is 5 and is in his last year of preschool (cue the mom tears and cheers). He always has been an introvert until he trusts you then you get the full range of his personality. This year, he started at a new school and I was nervous about him making friends. Turns out, the kid's charisma won a lot of them over and now there is a daily game of superheroes vs. villians. Charlie's favorite superhero is Spiderman because he enjoys making the sound of webs shooting out of his hands. Ohh the joys of being a boy mom! His preschool decided to have TWO Valentine's Days parties so to go along with the Bachelor Valentines, Charlie requested a Spiderman one. We bought the traditional paper cards to go along with some homemade Spiderman heart cookies. I think I'd get caught up in someone's web if they made these for me! I started with my usual round of searching the internet to find these ADORABLE Spiderman heart cookies.
Now these are super cute BUT I have never decorated sugar cookies. I know, I know-a skilled and long-time baker like me. I can hear your gasps of shock now but wait, for my kid-I am willing to try and taste test. These are actually perfect for Charlie because cookies are his favorite treat. So let's get on our aprons and see how this goes!!
1. Make the cookie dough! I had a very handsome helper for this part. We followed the directions religiously as usual and they passed the taste test.
2. Roll out the dough and cut out your shapes! We used 2 sizes of heart cookie cutters to achieve this:
3. Bake as directed-start at the 7 minute mark and then add time as you go. Let cool and sit out overnight to set. This will help the butter settle so the cookie is not oily. 4. Make your frostings! I found the recipe for the royal icing on the same webste as the dough so I figured it would be great. This was a big FAIL. I followed the directions exactly and it was crumbly and just gross tasting. Then I added a heap of red gel coloring and it was pink. Spiderman is NOT pink. So...onto step 5.
5. After some frustration grunts becausue I can't swear in front of my kids-Remake your frosting! I used a simple recipe that I use for cinnamon roll icing and added coloring. 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract-stir to combine. Then add milk in tablespoon by tablespoon to get the desired consistency. For the red and black piping, you want it thicker. For the red and white "flood" icing, you want it thinner. Just add milk/powdered sugar as needed. I use wilton gel coloring but there are several food dyes on the market. Find your favorite! 5. I used a bottle for the red piping and freezer bags for the other frostings. First I outlined all of the hearts with a thicker version of the frosting by adding in 2 extra tablespoons of powdered sugar. Then once they are outlined and the frosting dries (about 10-15 minutes) then I used a food marker to stencil out the eyes. I then piped on the black outline for the eyes. Let dry aka Unload the dishwasher. Next is the "flooding process." This is where you FLOOD the cookie inside with the rest of the red icing. Let dry-aka LAUNDRY TIME! Then I filled in the eyes with the white royal icing and let dry 1 hour.
6. Now comes turning these into Spiderman. Using the same food safe marker, I then divided the cookie into half, then fourths, then eights with lines. Next, I connected the lines in a web-like pattern and they tuned out AMAZING. (get it-amazing spiderman!)
Now that the cookies are done and dried, I wrapped up a big cookie and a little cookie in an adorable carton with some paper filler. We hole-punched Charlie's paper Valentines and tied them up the package in a celophane bag. The end result-super adorable!
Thank you so much for reading! I had fun with this one. I don't know how often I will be making cookies like this but it was a special treat and they were given 2 thumbs up by all three official taste-testers!
One little note about Valentine's Day. I try to celebrate all the love in my life. Friendship love, kid love, family love and husband love. Eric and I are closing in on a decade and each year is work. He is my Valentine this year for pulling through all those little rough patches and big rough patches. He continues to teach me and help me grow. He encourages and supports me on the things I love and helps me be a better me-even if that means helping me overcome my flaws. Thanks babe for being mine-this year and every year. I am so lucky to have you to love me-even if I'm loud and stubborn. I love you, think you're hilarious and am proud to be your partner. TO YOU AND YOURS-HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!