Back To School Cookie Puzzle Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in egg whites and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the cereal, nuts, coconut and oats. , Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake until golden browned, 7-8 minutes. Remove to wire racks.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper. Beat to combine. Add eggs, and beat to combine, then beat in molasses. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture, and beat to combine. Divide dough in half, and shape into flattened disks, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpats. Generously flour a large piece of parchment, and roll one piece of dough out on the parchment into a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle, about 14 by 10 inches. Transfer to the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Repeat rolling and chilling process with the remaining piece of dough.
• Remove one piece of dough from freezer. Using a large owl cookie cutter or our template, cut out a cookie and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Using a 3/4-inch cookie cutter cut out eyes from scraps. Using the small end of a 1/2-inch round pastry tip, cut out center of each eye, creating rings. Place on cookie. Return cookie to freezer to chill, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. The scraps can be rerolled once.
• Bake until edges are golden, about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut cookies into desired puzzle shapes. Leaving intact, transfer baking sheets to wire racks until cool.
• Divide royal icing among four bowls, and tint one batch black, one yellow, and one blue; leave one white. Decorate cooled cookies with royal icing using the #1, #3, and #4 round Ateco tips. Separate the puzzle pieces once the cookies are decorated, but before the icing hardens.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine cookie dough and flour. On a parchment paper-lined surface, roll dough into a 14x11-in. rectangle. With cookie cutters, cut out puzzle shapes. Slide a baking sheet under the parchment paper and dough. Chill for 5-10 minutes. , Remove shapes; place on an ungreased baking sheet. Place an almond on its side into the center of each shape for a handle. Bake shapes at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until edges are golden brown. While still warm, recut shapes with the same cookie cutters to form neat edges. (If cookies cool too quickly, return to oven until softened.) Remove to wire racks; cool. , Bake large rectangular puzzle on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for 12-13 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately recut the shapes inside the puzzle to form neat edges. Cool completely on a wire rack. , In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Tint frosting with food coloring as desired. Frost puzzle and shapes; decorate with decorating gel and sprinkles as desired. Place puzzle shapes inside puzzle.

Steps:

• Beat white sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well mixed. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and stir into the creamed butter mixture alternately with the heavy cream until dough is evenly mixed. Chill dough in refrigerator, 2 to 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll cookie dough on a floured work surface. Cut dough into strips about 2 1/2 inches long and about as thick as a pencil, forming one end into a point. Arrange "pencils" on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 12 to 14minutes. Transfer parchment paper with cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix enough confectioners' sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl to form a thick icing. Divide icing among several small bowls and mix different colors of food coloring into each bowl.
• Decorate "pencil" cookies with colored icing so they look like colored pencils. Allow icing to dry completely.