How to Make Unicorn Cookies

Makes: at least 60 cookies       Difficulty: Medium

EQUIPMENT:

Unicorn Cookie Cutter (mine was 10cm x 12cm, or about 4 x 4 inches)

Large Baking Trays

Large Rolling Pin

Electric Beaters or Stand Mixer

Large Mixing Bowl

3 Wilton Piping Tips #16 (Open Star)

3 piping bags

Non-stick fondant rolling pin

Pastry Brush

Skewer

Small quality paintbrush

BAKING TIMELINE: 

Here’s a breakdown of the timings to help you prepare

Preparing the dough: 20 minutes

Dough Resting Time: 60 minutes in the fridge

Rollin Dough and cutting shapes: 20 minutes at least

Cooking baking: 15 minutes per batch of cookies

Cooling Time: 30 minutes at least

Full Decoration: allow at least 5 hours including setting time

INGREDIENTS:

Sugar Cookies

600g Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature

600g Caster Sugar

3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

3 Eggs, lightly beaten

1.2kg Plain Flour

Sugar Syrup

200g Apricot Jam

100ml Boiling Water

Royal Icing

570g Icing Sugar

3 Egg Whites

2 teaspoons Almond Extract (or Lemon Juice)

Decorations

1.5kg Ready To Roll white fondant

Rose Pink Liquid Food Colouring

Blue Liquid Food Colouring

Red Liquid Food Colouring

Black Confectioner’s Edible Ink Pen

Metallic Gold Edible Paint (I used Glamorous Gold by Sweet Sticks)

60 Royal Icing Flowers

METHOD:

Bake the Sugar Cookies

Add the softened butter, caster sugar, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add the flour in a few batches. Use your stand mixer and paddle attachment to beat in the flour, or use a wooden spoon to hand mix the flour in to make a dough. Your hand-held beaters won’t cope with the thickness of the batter.

Empty the dough onto a clean bench. Bring the dough together into a ball. Don’t worry if it’s sticky at this stage. Split the dough into several smaller balls, wrap each in plastic film, flatten them into discs, and let them chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan-forced; 350F). Line large baking trays with baking paper. Remove one or two discs of dough from the fridge and knead each disc back into a ball. Lightly flour the bench and rolling pin. Roll the dough about 5mm thick. Use the cookie cutter to cut shapes from the dough and place the shapes on the tray. Leave about 1cm between each cookie,

Knead the scraps of dough back together and keep rolling and cutting the dough until there’s no room on the baking tray(s). Place the baking trays on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Total baking time depends on size and shape of your cookies. They’re done when they become golden brown on the edges and underneath.

Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes on the trays before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. They’re soft and fragile while warm but will crisp up as they cool.

Continue to bake batches of cookies until you have the desired number you need. Allow them to cool completely before decorating.

Make the sugar syrup

While the cookies are cooling you can make the sugar syrup “glue” to stick the fondant to the cookies: mix the apricot jam with boiling water. Stir until there’re no lumps. Set aside to cool.

Fondant Decoration

Work in a small batch of cookies at a time, or the fondant will dry out.

Sprinkle some cornflour on a clean dry bench and onto your rolling pin. Knead a small amount of fondant until it’s pliable, then roll it out to about 3mm thick.

Cut shapes out of the fondant with the cookie cutter. Use a pastry brush to apply sugar syrup to the top of a few of the cooled cookies. Line up the fondant piece with the cookie and press it on. Use the rolling pin to gently roll the fondant flat onto the cookie and to smooth the surface. While the fondant is still soft use the point of the skewer to make two nostrils, and press the skewer diagonally across the horn to make the swirl effect.

Repeat until all the cookies are covered in fondant. Allow the fondant to air dry.

Eyes, Gold Horn and Nose Decorations

When the fondant has air-dried draw a closed eye with five eyelashes onto each cookie with a food grade confectioner’s pen.

Paint gold food grade edible paint onto the unicorn horn and its nose.

Royal Icing Unicorn Hair

When the gold paint is almost dry, prepare the royal icing. Add the sifted icing sugar, egg whites and almond extract (or lemon juice) to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat together until the icing is smooth and thick.

Split the icing between three bowls. Use the food colouring to tint the icing the colours of your choice (I used pastel pink, light blue, and pastel purple).

Fit each piping bag with a tip and scrape one icing colour into each bag. Squeeze the icing to the bottom of each bag, twist the bag tightly, and secure with an elastic bag.

Pipe strands of unicorn hair down the sides of the cookie and across its forehead. Press a royal icing flower into the mane to finish.

Allow the iced cookies to completely air dry before packaging them.

BAKING TIPS:

• You can make the cookies ahead of time. Undecorated cookies can keep for up to 1 month in an airtight container if you wrap them in plastic film.
• Keep your RTR fondant in an airtight container when not in use. It can dry up quickly.
• If your fondant is sticky, use cornflour to stop it sticking to the bench and rolling pin.
• Store any royal icing in an airtight container to stop it drying out.
• Things always take longer than you think, so allow yourself plenty of time to bake and decorate.

Unicorn Cookies

Fun decorated Unicorn Cookies perfect for kid's themed parties and Unicorn lovers.

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Servings	Prep Time	Cook Time	Passive Time
60Cookies	6hrs	15mins	1.5hrs

Servings	Prep Time
60Cookies	6hrs

Cook Time	Passive Time
15mins	1.5hrs

Ingredients

• Sugar Cookies
• 600 g Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
• 600 g Caster Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 3 Eggs lightly beaten
• 1.2 kg Plain Flour
• Sugar Syrup
• 200 g Apricot Jam
• 100 ml Boiling Water
• Royal Icing
• 570 g Icing Sugar
• 3 Egg Whites
• 2 teaspoons Almond Extract (or lemon juice)
• Decorations
• 1.5 kg Ready-to-roll White Fondant
• Rose Pink liquid food colouring
• Blue liquid food colouring
• Red liquid food colouring
• Black confectioner's edible ink pen
• Metallic Gold Edible Paint
• 60 Royal icing flowers

Servings: Cookies

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients Sugar Cookies 600 g Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature 600 g Caster Sugar 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract 3 Eggs lightly beaten 1.2 kg Plain Flour Sugar Syrup 200 g Apricot Jam 100 ml Boiling Water Royal Icing 570 g Icing Sugar 3 Egg Whites 2 teaspoons Almond Extract (or lemon juice) Decorations 1.5 kg Ready-to-roll White Fondant Rose Pink liquid food colouring Blue liquid food colouring Red liquid food colouring Black confectioner's edible ink pen Metallic Gold Edible Paint 60 Royal icing flowers Servings: Cookies Units:MetricUS Imperial

Instructions

Bake the sugar cookies

1. Add the softened butter, caster sugar, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally
2. Add the flour in a few batches. Use your stand mixer and paddle attachment to beat in the flour, or use a wooden spoon to hand mix the flour in to make a dough. Your hand-held beaters won’t cope with the thickness of the batter.
3. Empty the dough onto a clean bench. Bring the dough together into a ball. Don’t worry if it’s sticky at this stage. Split the dough into several smaller balls, wrap each in plastic film, flatten them into discs, and let them chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan-forced; 350F). Line large baking trays with baking paper. Remove one or two discs of dough from the fridge and knead each disc back into a ball. Lightly flour the bench and rolling pin. Roll the dough about 5mm thick. Use the cookie cutter to cut shapes from the dough and place the shapes on the tray. Leave about 1cm between each cookie.
5. Knead the scraps of dough back together and keep rolling and cutting the dough until there’s no room on the baking tray(s). Place the baking trays on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Total baking time depends on size and shape of your cookies. They’re done when they become golden brown on the edges and underneath.
6. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes on the trays before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. They’re soft and fragile while warm but will crisp up as they cool.
7. Continue to bake batches of cookies until you have the desired number you need. Allow them to cool completely before decorating

Make the sugar syrup

1. While the cookies are cooling you can make the sugar syrup “glue” to stick the fondant to the cookies: mix the apricot jam with boiling water. Stir until there’re no lumps. Set aside to cool.

Fondant Covering

1. Work in a small batch of cookies at a time, or the fondant will dry out.
2. Sprinkle some cornflour on a clean dry bench and onto your rolling pin. Knead a small amount of fondant until it’s pliable, then roll it out to about 3mm thick.
3. Cut shapes out of the fondant with the cookie cutter. Use a pastry brush to apply sugar syrup to the top of a few of the cooled cookies. Line up the fondant piece with the cookie and press it on. Use the rolling pin to gently roll the fondant flat onto the cookie and to smooth the surface.
4. While the fondant is still soft use the point of the skewer to make two nostrils, and press the skewer diagonally across the horn to make the swirl effect.
5. Repeat until all the cookies are covered in fondant. Allow the fondant to air dry.

Eyes and Horn

1. When the fondant has air-dried draw a closed eye with five eyelashes onto each cookie with a food grade confectioner’s pen.
2. Paint gold food grade edible paint onto the unicorn horn and its nose.

Unicorn Hair

1. When the gold paint is almost dry, prepare the royal icing. Add the sifted icing sugar, egg whites and almond extract (or lemon juice) to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat together until the icing is smooth and thick.
2. Split the icing between three bowls. Use the food colouring to tint the icing the colours of your choice (I used pastel pink, light blue, and pastel purple).
3. Fit each piping bag with a tip and scrape one icing colour into each bag. Squeeze the icing to the bottom of each bag, twist the bag tightly, and secure with an elastic bag.
4. Pipe strands of unicorn hair down the sides of the cookie and across its forehead. Press a royal icing flower into the mane to finish.
5. Allow the iced cookies to completely air dry before packaging them.

Recipe Notes

• You can make the cookies ahead of time. Undecorated cookies can keep for up to 1 month in an airtight container if you wrap them in plastic film.
• Keep your RTR fondant in an airtight container when not in use. It can dry up quickly.
• If your fondant is sticky, use cornflour to stop it sticking to the bench and rolling pin.
• Store any royal icing in an airtight container to stop it drying out.
• These take longer than you think, so allow yourself plenty of time to bake and decorate.

Nutrition Facts

Unicorn Cookies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 327 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 8g 12%

Saturated Fat 5g 25%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g

Cholesterol 32mg 11%

Sodium 12mg 1%

Potassium 32mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates 60g 20%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 43g

Protein 3g 6%

Vitamin A 6%

Vitamin C 1%

Calcium 1%

Iron 6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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