Polar Bear Cookies-George is my inspiration!

I love bears! Not just cute little baby bears, I mean, I love all bears. Baby bears, black bears, polar bears, bear hugs, and even bear claws. I love them so much that I had to make polar bear cookies. Fluffy polar bear cookies!

My husband is the director of a camp, so that means I get to live at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. We have black bears for neighbors. You may not see them every day, but they are here. People come from all over to catch a glimpse of these beautiful creatures. I look for them all the time and never know when I might get to see one, but I always have a great chance when I bake sugar cookies. They smell them and come to look into my windows and doors, but most of the time, they look and walk around in the yard.

This year, I heard the bears’ food supply was short. There wasn’t enough natural food, like blackberries and acorns, for them to eat. They were hungry, so they decided to visit trash cans and dumpsters. Why not? There is a lot of food in there. They just wanted a snack before their long winter nap.

Let me introduce you to George:

He is a cute little guy who sometimes comes to my house to find food. The first time he came, I watched him for a few minutes until he got too close to the house, and I had to chase him off by banging a metal spoon and a pot. It makes a lot of noise, and he didn’t like it one bit.  One day, when he was passing through, I was ready with the camera. I was in the house, hanging out the window, trying to get a good picture of him. I got one good shot before I had to grab the pot and spoon to chase him away. Isn’t he cute?

I know he can rip my arm off in less than a second, but I can’t help it. He is adorable and the inspiration for my cookies today.

Supplies for Polar Bear Cookies:

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• Pineapple cutter
• Triangle cutter
• Music note cutter
• White Stiff icing ( a little stiffer than outline icing)
• Red 20 second  icing
• Black outline icing
• Dark Brown outline icing
• Light Brown flood icing
• Black Edible Pearls Wilton Pearlized Sprinkles
• Grass tip #233
• Star tip #16

• I used the pineapple cutter for the body, the music note for the arm and feet, and the triangle for the scarf.

• If you cut the music notes straight across the top they will not match the curves of the body when you try to put him together. So to make  sure it will fit correctly, I used the pineapple cutter and placed the arm and feet where I wanted them to appear on the body and then cut.
• Next, trim the top peaks of the pineapple for a nice round head.

• Now it is time to put all the pieces in place. Now you can see why I used the pineapple cutter to cut the arm and feet. He fits perfectly! This last cut is optional. I wanted my bear to skate so I cut a straight line across the bottom of the feet.

• Now it is time to decorate! With your red 20-second icing outline the hat, scarf, and skates. Let it dry for about 30 minutes
• While that is drying, you can work on the chocolate chip star cookies.

• With the dark brown icing, outline the star.
• Next, with your light brown icing, flood the inside of the star.
• As soon as you flood the cookie with the light brown, use your dark brown outline icing to make about 6 dots for the chocolate chips.

• Next, I squeezed a small amount of brown and white outline icing onto a piece of parchment paper. Then, while the icing was wet, I made a few smaller chocolate chips by dipping my Boo Boo Stick into the brown and gently touched the cookie.

• Repeat with the white.

• Now back to George. With the stiff white icing and the grass tip, give George some fur!
• Hold your piping bag straight up and down. Squeeze as you pull up slowly. Then, almost stop squeezing and pull up quickly. This will make the peaks like you see in the picture above.  You might want to practice on a piece of parchment paper before you start on your cookie.
• Cover him completely so no cookie is showing.

• While his arm is wet, add the star cookie. It is ok if your star is still wet,  just try not to stick your finger in the icing, but if you do, don’t worry, most of it is going to be covered by his furry paw.

• Next with the grass tip and the white icing, cover his face like you did his body.
• While the icing is wet, add the nose. I placed 2 white Wilton Pearlized Sprinkles for the eyes, then dotted them with black icing. You can use these eyes.  I didn’t want to take a chance on the black icing bleeding on the white fur.
• Let all this dry for several hours or overnight.

• With the red icing, flood the skates and scarf. While the scarf is wet, add some Pearl Sprinkles and wait about 30 minutes for it to dry before flooding the hat. If you don’t wait, the hat will not look like it is lying over the scarf.

• Next, clean out the hat area. I used the flat end of a Boo Boo stick to remove the little strays of white fur, so the red won’t bleed, and your icing will be smooth. (I have not added the pearls to the scarf in the picture yet.)

• Next, flood the hat.
• Then, with the black icing, add the details to the skates.

• With the white icing and the grass tip, add fur for the arm. You need to be brave and cover some of the cookie so it looks like he is holding it.
• With the star tip and the white icing, add the little ball on the end of the hat.

You are all done! I hope you enjoy making George as much as I did.

Bear hugs,
Lisa