Frog prince: Fondant, Favor Cookies {A Tutorial!}

Have you ever decorated sugar cookies?

Some cookiers {is that even a word?} prefer decorating their cookies with royal icing, ya know the stuff you use on gingerbread houses. It goes on wet and dries very hard. It's great for creating tiny details and intricate designs but in my opinion is not always user friendly. I like to use fondant to decorate my sugar cookies. I like the way it tastes (some brands are much better than others), and most of all I love the 3D effects you can achieve without a tremendous amount of effort.
A friend of mine who makes delicious, gluten free cookies asked me to do a fondant tutorial for her. So D, this is for you!! {check out her blog, it's very cool!!)

I made these cookies to be used as favors for a bridal shower and think they are something that anyone from a beginner to a professional can and will want to try.

Once you find a cookie recipe you like, bake your cookies and let them cool completely before you start decorating. Fondant is temperature sensitive and I can testify that it will melt if it isn't used AND kept at room temperature. (Sadly, the air conditioning in my car went out just in time for my sister, Carrie's 50th birthday party on a 90+ degree, August day. What she ended up with for a cake was...let's just say, messy but delicious!!)
Back to the cookies~

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
cookies to decorate
fondant
food coloring (2 different colors)
powdered sugar (for rolling out your fondant)
fondant rolling pin (if you don't have one a regular rolling pin should work too)
corn syrup
water
small and large paint brushes
patterned stamp (mine is from Michaels craft store)
letter stamps (also from Michaels~clay section)
royal icing (you can buy a mix or make your own)
edible glitter

I find it's easiest to use corn syrup in a squeeze bottle. You can squeeze out as much or as little as you'd like. The other option would be to paint it on with a small paint brush used only for this purpose.

I was asked to make cookies to match these pretty, bridal shower invitations. I started my search for the perfect stamp to use to mimic the filigree and was SO happy when I found the one below at a local craft store!

I added the food coloring little by little until I had a perfect match to the invitation. Using a little powdered sugar sprinkled on a piece of parchment, I rolled the fondant pretty thin. (around 1/16th of an inch) You want is as thin as possible because you're going to be using 2 layers of fondant for this design and fondant is very sweet!

Place your stamp down and roll over it with your rolling pin. (pressing firmly but not too hard or the fondant will stick to the stamp. Adding a little powdered sugar to the top of the fondant should keep it from sticking).

Cut out a circle with your large cutter and press it onto the corn syrup-covered cookie.

Follow the same steps for the smaller inside circle. I recommend stamping your monogram first, then cutting it out. Add a dab of water to the back of your small circle and press it down to stick it to the larger circle. Brush the entire cookie with edible glitter such as pearl dust, it makes the filagree POP!

*You could actually stop here, let your cookies sit out for a few hours until the fondant is firm then wrap them in cellophane bags and tie them with a coordinating ribbon.

OR...for the more experienced (or daring) decorators, use a pastry bag filled with royal icing and a #2 tip to pipe borders around both circles. If you do this, I'd recommend letting the cookies sit out overnight before placing them in bags.

I hope this was easy to follow. If not, I'd be happy to answer any questions....for a fee...just kidding!! .