My Niece's Birthday Party Part 2- Super Cute Fish Cookies

Sorry for the delay in this post. My precious baby (meaning my laptop) spent several days away from me while it got some much needed updates and downloads. But now she's back and we can get crackin' on these colorful, easy-but-time-consuming fish cookies.

 In a fantasy world where I didn't have to work 12 hours the day before the party, I had planned on making amazing little fish cookies with buttercream decorations- a school of little cuties covered in stripes, polka dots, big friendly eyes and a delicious buttery taste. Then reality hit me and I realized I was going to have to get up at 6 A.M. in order to get the cookies and cupcakes done in time for the 5 P.M. party. The result were cream cheese sugar cookies with Wilton's poured cookie icing (oh boy, just wait for that fun little tale).

What you need for the cookies:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese (I like to use Neufchatel cheese for baking. This is just cream cheese   with 1/3 less fat and can be found in most brands)
2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

For a large batch of icing:
5 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
Plenty of vanilla, butter flavoring, salt or anything else you end up desperately using to make this taste edible

To begin, beat the cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gradually mix in the flour.

Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Wake up next morning and pour a strong cup of coffee. Get the dough out of the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. This dough starts out VERY sticky, but the more you work with it, the easier it becomes to use. You'll fall in love with it by the end.

Cut into desired shape. As a piece of advice, a good investment in baking is a silicone pastry mat. It allows you to make a workspace anywhere and cleanup is super easy. Just roll up the mat, dump your flour, and clean the mat in the sink. I got mine from Pampered Chef and I LOVE it.

Place your cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. I use parchment paper to make things easy. If you're making cookies with sugar or sprinkles instead of icing, now is the time to use them. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees, until edges are lightly brown. Cool on wire racks.

These cookies are simply fabulous. They have a very light taste, which make them perfect for frosting because they are not too sweet.

I hate to admit it, but the pictures of me making the frosting got lost in the abyss of "Oh my cupcake, I'm going to be late to the party!" It's not hard to make, but the taste is a bit, well, awful.

Directions

1. Place sugar and milk in a bowl. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Add corn syrup and mix well.

2. At this point, attempt to flavor this to your tasted. I used vanilla, imitation butter flavoring and even a bit of salt. It improved the icing, but I never could get the icing to lose it's overwhelming sweetness.

3. It's time to frost the cookies! This is supposed to "pour" but it's so thick that it becomes impossible. Dye the icing according to your color scheme. Using a spoon, I poured a little bit on each cookie and spread the frosting to the edges with the back of my spoon. Sprinkle the cookie before the icing has time to dry.

 

In the end, everything turned out okay. The icing dried to a nice, smooth finish. Heck, it didn't even taste that bad when eaten with the cookie. I barely made it to the party and my fingers were stained in a rainbow of colors, but everything looked great and the kids loved all of the treats.

Colors used:

Wilton's Lemon Yellow Icing Gel

Wilton's Rose Icing Gel

Wilton's Teal Icing Gel

Recipe Sources:

Cookies: My friend Meghan and wherever she found the recipe

Icing: Wilton

I hope you enjoy these! Good luck!

Rosie