Cookie Monster Cookies

A few weeks ago our friends welcomed the arrival of their second son, sweet baby Eli. Like I have done in the past, I wanted to make our friends a batch of cookies, something to say congratulations right after Eli's birth. Sugar cookies shaped as baby onesies are generally my go-to, but this time I decided to try something a little different. Since our friends also have a 2-year old son, I thought these Cookie Monster cookies would be perfect for him. I could not have been happier with how they turned out.

I will let you in on a little secret. Although they might look complicated, these Cookie Monster cookies really aren't that difficult to make. Simple sugar cookies are baked and then topped with vanilla buttercream which is tinted blue and piped onto the cookies using a "grass" piping tip. I found that the frosting got too stiff for piping after about 10-15 minutes. In this case, I suggest adding a little bit more heavy cream to the frosting (unless you can pipe frosting onto 18 cookies faster than I can, in which case you might be fine).  Despite having a sore hand after all was said and done, these Cookie Monster cookies were definitely worth the effort.  Aren't they cute? I am already thinking about how I can turn the rest of the Sesame Street characters into cookies! One final thing to note- It is hard to give a yield for sugar cookie recipes because it really depends on the size of your cookie cutter. I made about 18 cookies using the recipe as written below, but you might get more or less depending on how big you make the cookies. I used a 2 inch cookie cutter for reference. Enjoy!

Cookie Monster Cookies

Recipe from Katrina's Kitchen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large egg
4 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting:
1 cup shortening
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1/8 cup heavy cream (a little more might be needed to reach desired consistency)
Blue food coloring

Decoration:
Mini chocolate chip cookies, cut in half
White baking melts
Black or brown M&M's

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the baking powder and flour.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, as well as the vanilla extract and almond extract. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. The dough will be very stiff.

Roll the dough out on a well-floured surfaced. Cookies should be about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into circles using a small cookie cutter. Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until edges are set and slightly browned.  Allow cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting, add the shortening to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until light and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and beat until combined after each addition. Add the heavy cream and beat until frosting reaches your desired consistency. Finally add the blue coloring until frosting reaches your desired color. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small "grass" tip (I used Wilton #233). Pipe frosting onto the cookies.

Add the mini chocolate chip cookies, white baking melts and M&M's as eyes. In order to attach the M&M's to the baking melts, I suggest using frosting or melted chocolate chips.