Baseball Cookies to Celebrate the End of the Season

Last year around this time I was reading Recipegirl's blog and she had made these adorable baseball cookies. So, I made a mental note to remember them for this year, and since my mental notes often get "lost" I also bookmarked the web page. Well, that was not necessary because she mentioned on Twitter that she had made them again this year! With my memory being "jogged", I knew what I wanted to bring to My Youngest's end of season party.

Decorating cookies is another cooking challenge for me. I love cool, decorated cookies. I am often in awe over the creativity people have who make them. Thankfully, for my first real attempt at this type of cookie, I had the very thorough instructions provided by Recipegirl!

In order to ensure I would have plenty of time to bake them and ice them without being rushed I started the process on Sunday. I used her No Fail Sugar Cookie recipe. It was a cinch to put together and while she did have a great tip for rolling them out prior to chiling the dough, I had the time so I allowed it to chill first. Rather than add more flour to the cookies, which never turns out well, I used her tip to roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper. That worked beautifully! No extra flour needed.

For the icing, I referred to the same one Recipegirl used - Martha Stewart's Royal Icing. This allowed me to get some more practice using some of the Wilton piping tips that I've picked up here and there. I must say the basic process of creating the outline and flooding the cookie with the icing was very simple. After piping on the stitches, I have a whole new appreciation for people who make dozens and dozens of these type of cookies. I only made 18 and it took me close to 2 hours with various interruptions.

From Family, Friends and Food

They aren't perfect, but I must say I am very proud of myself! They turned out so much better than I could have hoped. The kids were happy with them, My Youngest saw them and told me the were "so special". I'll be keeping that compliment in my mind for a long time to come. I do feel a bit more confident that I may be able to attempt another design next time now that I've tried it. Thanks, to Recipegirl for her awesome instructions!!!

Be sure to check back in on Friday, I've got a fun giveaway I'll be announcing... my only hint right now is to get those recipes using salsa ready to share!