Hot Indiana summers spent at Camp Na Wa Kwa seeded my campfire obsession. The idea for this one has been in my head for a while, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it while recently making star sugar cookies.
These whimsical stacks of yummy iced sugar cookies that look like a campfire is a fun idea for birthdays or special weekday treats for the kids.
Ingredients:
Cookies
- Sugar cookie mix, eggs and vegetable oil (or make homemade sugar cookie dough)
- Flour
Icing
- 1 box (1 lb.) confectioners sugar
- 1/3 cup softened butter (leave out for a smoother yet less tasty icing)
- Up to 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Gel food coloring in various colors
(so fun)
Supplies:
- Rolling pin
- Plastic wrap
- Toothpicks
- Cutting board
for rolling
- Parchment paper or silicon baking mat
- Small bowls
, one for each of your icing colors
- Small white square platter
and Large white square platter
- Wire cooling rack
Make sugar cookies according to package directions. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for a bit. Once it’s chilled, roll out the cookie dough 1/4 inch thin using a healthy bit of flour on your board. Using your knife, freehand cut three sizes of flames and two logs. Continue to roll and cut, flouring when you need to and returning the dough to the refrigerator if it gets too mushy.
Put on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Bake according to cookie package directions. Be careful on your timing …if they brown too much they’ll be hard as bricks. Best to slip baked cookies off the sheets and onto wire cooling racks or paper towels to avoid overbaking.
Make your icing. Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add the water/milk a little bit at a time, stirring completely, until you reach the consistency you want. If you add too much liquid then add more sugar. Separate into several small bowls, one for each icing color, and add a little bit of gel icing using a clean toothpick. Ice and sprinkle away on paper towels for easy cleanup. I used red, yellow, orange and brown.
Ice your cookies. Let them ‘dry’ a bit first, then stack. Garnish with wooden matchsticks.
COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!
August 15th, 2010 at 10:39 am
:) I guess I should say that I found you from today’s creative blog, first…
I love campfires, as well… and grew up with bonfires on the beach. I have a bbq next week and I’m going to bring the bonfire to the city :)
yay- so simple and yet- only you’ve thought of it :)
September 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Hi Chicago Cal, I’m so excited that you made the campfire cookies! As far as the gel food coloring, when it’s seemed more “white” in areas I just added more gel food coloring and re-mixed and it seemed to work fine. I use fresh toothpicks each time that I add more gel and then mix it up with a spoon.
I did a little research and found these Ateco gels that say they’re “professional” …well, anyway, they have squeeze bottles which appear like they’d dry out less quickly than the little jars:
http://www.amazon.com/Ateco-12-Color-Food-Coloring-Kit/dp/B00004S1C6
Again, I’m really excited that you made these. Please keep the comments coming, and let me know if you’ve made something that I can feature here …giving you the credit, of course.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Hi there! I made a simplified version of your campfire cookies last weekend (too impatient to make the logs :) using the icing recipe and gel food coloring. The cookies were a huge hit. I had a bit of trouble with the icing, though…the color didn’t seem as “pure” as I thought it should be (seemed to have little bits of white in it, even though I continued to mix well). Any tips? Thanks~
August 11th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hi Jenni, I would be thrilled to be included in the list of your favorite sites on your family blog. Sign me up! And I would love to see the photos of your cookies when you’ve made them. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
August 8th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Hi Kathy
Thanks for the camera tips. I am working on my DIY paper craft site but I also keep up a family blog to keep friends and family up to date on the kids. I am setting up a “links to my favorite sites” on that blog. Any objection to my linking your site on that site. I know some of my readers would adore seeing your creativity and talent. Did not want to do it without checking with you first.
ps Love the campfire cookies. I miss camping (we live in SW Fkorida and way to many bugs, spiders and snakes to tent camp here) I just bought a bag of sugar cookie mix and now I know what to do with it!
Cheers! Jenni