"Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue Cookies"

My company store sells some VERY tasty and expensive chocolates at a great discount (they are the "seconds" so there are minor flaws). I usually keep a bag on hand in the freezer for those chocolate emergencies that may come up. I just happened to have white chocolate raspberry filled stars just waiting for such an emergency. I also had a tube of sugar cookie dough that was about to expire and a 4th of July BBQ to go to. As we all know you can't show up to a party empty handed. So the creative juices started to flow. This was how the "Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue" cookies were born.

This is where the journey ended up...now let us rewind and see how I got there...

I started with a tube of sugar cookie dough, white chocolate stars, blue sugar, and sparkling red decorator gel. (next blog I will be sure to crop and edit the pictures before posting. I kind of did this on the spur of the moment)

I divided the dough in to 24 equalish pieces and rolled them into balls with my hands (and yes I did wash my hands before starting). Then I dipped one side of each ball into the blue sugar. The next step is VERY important!

I placed the formed dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while the oven preheated. As you may or may not know sugar cookies are mostly made of butter. If the dough is not chilled the cookies will spread too much during the baking process. I learned this the hard way when I tried to make "Witches Fingers" for Halloween. An epic "Pintrest" fail...but that is another story.

I baked the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. They puffed up nicely and were just a little golden when I took them out.

While the cookies were still hot I placed one star on each (just like making kiss cookies). Now here is the thing. I just moved into my new apartment. This was the first time I cooked/baked since moving in. I was ready to take the cookies off of the cookie sheet and place them on the cooling rack when I realized I had no idea where either of my "cookie lifters" were. You see I have only unpacked as I have needed things (it is the procrastinator in me) and the only things I have needed in the kitchen so far are plates, cups, and flatware. So what does one do when there are no cookie lifters to be found?

Yup that is a DD box you see. It was time to get creative and improvise.

Worked like a charm! "Look Ma I can lift three at a time!"

Once they were cool I zig-zagged some sparkling red gel on each cookie.

Here is the tray that I brought to the BBQ. You can see I also made chocolate chip cookies in my mini muffin tins. Some were decorated with blue sugar and red gel to be festive (the rest were left plain as requested by my Tony).

All together they were a big hit. In fact I only got one.

Recipe

• one tube of sugar cookie dough (divided into 24 equal parts)
• blue sugar
• 24 raspberry filled white chocolate stars
• sparkling red decorating gel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After dividing dough into 24 equal parts roll each into a ball. Dip one side of each ball in sugar and place on a plate. Cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet 8 at a time leaving room for them to spread. Bake each batch for 10 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges. Remove from oven and immediately gently press one star on each cookie. Wait 5 minutes and move the cookies to cooling racks. Once completely cooled place cookies on waxed paper and drizzle sparkling red decorator gel on each.