Well, like everyone else (or so it seems), I am determined to eat healthier in 2013…at least for January:) Of course that means adding more veggies to my diet! You too? Well, I’m here to help you out. Broccoli anyone? I hope you like it as much as I do. This crop of broccoli didn’t come from the garden, but straight from the kitchen~from scratch, no less! 
My sister bought me this Olympic rings cookie cutter for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but sadly I never got around to making any cookies with it. Skip forward to today and I put this cutter to good use as broccoli cookies! I merely cut out the middle, bottom ring section and placed a broccoli stalk in its place (cut out from the cookie dough freehand, with a small, sharp knife).
Initially, I just decorated the broccoli head with swirls, but I thought it looked too much like a bouquet of flowers, albeit not a very colorful bouquet. To remedy that, I looked at the broccoli in my fridge (see, I really do eat my veggies:)) and decided that adding some dots of royal icing would make the cookie look more broccoli-like…with a touch of whimsy:)
So, if you want to eat more veggies this year, just whip up a batch of yummy broccoli cookies for dessert, after you eat the real stuff:)
Broccoli Cookies
Ingredients/Supplies
A batch of my favorite sugar cookies and royal icing
Wilton Leaf Green Concentrated paste Icing Color
Wilton Moss Green Concentrated paste Icing Color
Wilton decorating bags
Wilton #3 and #5 decorating tips
Directions
Roll out sugar cookie dough to desired thickness ( I roll out 3/8-inch)
Use an Olympic rings or cloud cookie cutter to make the head of the broccoli.
Cut broccoli stalks from the cookie dough and place them flush to the bottoms of the broccoli heads.
Bake cookies at 350 degrees from 15-18 minutes or until they start to brown slightly on the edges.
Let cool completely.
Make royal icing of thicker consistency for the outline. Add leaf green to a portion of the royal icing and mix well. With a #3 tip, outline the stalks. Let dry for about 15 minutes and fill the stalks with a thinner, “fill” consistency of royal icing with the #3 tip. Let dry for about 15 minutes and then add the details with the #3 tip and the thicker consistency.
Take a portion of the leaf green royal icing and add to it some moss green coloring with a toothpick,
till it is a shade of your liking. With a thicker consistency, outline the broccoli heads with the darker icing and a #3 tip. Let the heads dry for about 15 minutes and then with a thinner, “fill” consistency of the darker green royal icing, and a #5 tip, fill the heads. Let them dry for about 15 minutes. With a thicker consistency, add the swirls with a #3 tip, and then add the royal icing dots to the heads with a #3 tip.
Let dry completely.
ENJOY!
Linked to:
What’s Cookin’ Wednesday?
Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday
I’m Lovin’ it Party
Sugar & Slice Sunday
