I love when I can combine art and food because I've always been so passionate about each of them. These cookies are the perfect combination of both. And when food is prettier doesn't it just taste better =)? I've seen different versions of these cookies roaming around Pinterest and I'm so excited I finally got around to trying them. I noticed some recipes called for vegetable oil and others called for butter. I'm all about the butter version because butter makes everything better doesn't it?
I made a few slight alterations to the original recipe, from Cafe Chocolada, such as adding a few extra tablespoons of sugar in the cookie dough mixture. I used half brown sugar (rather than all granulated) and added vanilla extract to add another slight layer of flavor. I think salt is almost always a must for cookie dough so I added a tad and used salted butter. Then I opted to paint the cookie rather than dip it in colored milk. I dipped the first one and it was too soggy even after a quick dip in the milk (plus painting the cookies requires less milk, and the more milk you use the more diluted the color will be or the more food coloring you will have to add to get a vibrant color. So this method required less of each).
These cookies were so fun to make and decorate. I was in my zone where two of my favorite hobbies collide =). Although you don't need to be an artist to make these, they are actually really simple. The other great thing about these cookies is that not only do they look like peaches but they have that delicious, sweet peach flavor thanks to the peach jam sandwiched between them. You could even use Nutella and make a small "pit" (simply combine some Nutella with the crumbs you removed for the pit). I think next time around I may even add a few drops of raspberry extract to the milk mixture because I love the peach raspberry combo. Enjoy!
Yields about 17 sandwiched cookies (34 singles)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
10 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 Tbsp sour cream
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Filling and Coating:
peach jam or preserves
6 Tbsp milk, divided
red and yellow food coloring
1/2 cup granulated sugar
fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)
you'll also need a clean paintbrush
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and light-brown sugar on medium-low speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add sour cream and mix until blended. With mixer on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Scoop dough out 1 even tablespoon at a time and with buttered hands roll dough into a ball. Place balls on cookie sheet (you can fit 15 per sheet but then you are left with 4 in the end so unless you were making a double batch it wouldn't matter to try and fit that many). Bake in preheated oven 14-15 minutes until bottoms are lightly golden brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Allow cookies to cool completely then spread about 1 teaspoon of peach jam evenly across the bottom of one cookie then gently press another cookie over the jam layer to sandwich them together. Repeat this process with remaining cookies.
To decorate cookies, pour 3 tbsp of milk into two small bowls. Tint one bowl of milk with red food coloring until it reaches a vibrant pink, then tint the other bowl of milk with yellow food coloring until its reaches a vibrant yellow. Take a paint brush and dip into the yellow tinted milk then paint randomly across both cookies leaving some areas unpainted. Then dip paintbrush into red tinted milk and paint randomly across unpainted areas and blend slightly (tip: I found the less milk I was able to paint across the cookie the better because then your cookies won't become soggy. You really don't need very much at all). Immediately after painting cookie, dip and coat entire cookie with sugar. Insert one or two fresh mint leaves into the side of each cookie if desired. Store in an airtight container.
Recipes Source: adapted slightly from Cafe Chocolada
