Marizpan Cookies ~ Frogs & Peas!

I've been making marzipan cookies since I was a little girl.  My mother would work with us for hours making all sorts of little fruits and vegetables with this cookie dough.  She would pack an assortment of our artistic cookie creations in a fancy box and send it to our teachers each year for Christmas.  Problem was that the cookies were so darling, no one could bring themselves to eat them!  But trust me, these are a delicious shortbread-like cookie with a wonderful bakery taste.

A few years back I sat scratching my head for a last minute New Years gift idea.  I had just finished a daily Play-Doh session with the kids and my mother's marzipan cookies popped into my head.  The kids loved the little frogs I made for them out of Play-Doh, so I thought, "Why not cookie dough."  Well, these were the result~





We passed these Happy New Year frogs out around the neighborhood and they were an instant hit.  I've been making them every year since.   Here's how:

Shape your dough into a lopsided ball.


Form frogs mouth on the rim of a glass.


roll two balls for feet.


Press feet on thicker side of frogs body.


Set your frog on a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill for 30 min.
Bake for 30 min at 300 degress and let cool completely.


Add pre-made royal icing eyes from Fancy Flours by attaching them with a dab of icing.
http://www.fancyflours.com/sugar-eyes-small.html
Or, make your own eyes by piping white icing dots with a black icing dot in the middle.





Time for the pink tongue.  I generally use a # 65 Ateco tip with pink icing to make the tongue, but tonight I thought I'd give it a try with a zip-lock back with the corner snipped off.  This method works well if you don't have cake decorating supplies.




When I finished, I let the icing dry and then boxed these little guys up in mini Chinese take-out containers that I bought at Hobby Lobby.





Just to show you the sky is the limit with what you can create with this dough, I also made some green peas.  Grin.


To make the peas, start with your pod.


Lay the pod on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roll three tiny peas.


Add your peas to the pod.






Fold up the sides of your pod and pinch the ends into points.


Place your finished peas into the frig for 30 minutes and then Bake for 30 min at 300 degrees.
Let cool completely.  I packed these in cute mini pink Chinese take-out boxes. 


Marzipan Cookies

1 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. Almond Extract
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in extracts.  Gradually mix in flour. 
Make dough desired color with food coloring.  Keep in mind that you can separate dough and make a couple different colors.

Shape dough into desired shapes.  (If you can work with Play-Doh, you can work with cookie dough)
Chill shapes on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.  Bake at 300 degrees at 30 min.
Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
Makes around 4 dozen cookies.

Happy New Year!
~ The Lemonista