How to Make Sugar Cookies that Look Like Real Leaves

It’s fall y’all! I know I say that a lot and I’m not going to stop! The Smoky Mountains are stunning right now with all the gorgeous colors. I’m looking out the window as I’m working and my eyes are full of the beautiful autumn display. So what do you do when you love fall this much? If you’re me, you make sugar cookies that look like real leaves. What? Did I make cookies that look like real leaves? Oh, yes I did and you can too!

Are you ready to get started?

Grab any leaf-shaped cookie cutter you have, make some sugar cookie dough, cut out the cookie shapes, bake them, let them cool, make some royal icing, and get started. I’m having so much fun and I’m excited that you’re about to join me! 

Supply List:
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Recipes:

• Sugar Cookie Recipe
• Royal Icing Recipe

Cookie Cutters:

• Oak Leaf Cookie Cutter
• Maple Leaf Cookie Cutter
• Ann Clark Leaf, Maple, and Acorn Cookie Cutter Set just in case you want to get a set.

Royal Icing Colors:
I’ve included the recipe of royal icing to food-gel color per each color listed. If you don’t want your colors to look like mine ignore me. 

• Orange from AmeriColor– One drop of orange food gel color per one ounce of royal icing. (Four ounces of royal icing will need four drops of orange food-gel color.)
• Yellow- Sunshine Yellow by The Cookie Countess– One drop of yellow per one ounce of icing. 
• Red- I’m not sure what color I used to make the red leaves, but I think it was Tulip Red by AmeriColor with a drop of The Cookie Countess Totally Brown to tone it down.
• Brown- Totally Brown by The Cookie Countess– I wanted a darker brown so it would look like the stem of a real leaf. To achieve this I used two ounces of royal icing and eight drops of Totally Brown. 

All the icing is SOOTM Consistency– That means the icing is Straight Out Of The Mixer and thick. You shouldn’t have to add water to make it thinner. If you prefer to use a thinner icing such as an outline or flood consistency then go for it. Just be careful when you add the parchment paper to the wet icing you don’t accidentally push the parchment paper down hard or it might cause the royal icing to fall over the edge of the cookie. 

Tools:

• Tipless Piping Bags
• Turkey Lacer
• Parchment Paper
• Paintbrush for food only
• Vodka- Add a little vodka to a bowl and then add a little food-gel color. The vodka will help thin your food gel colors for the painting process. You are going to add some of this mixture to the leaves after the icing dries completely. 
• Paper towel- Paper towels are a great way to dab a little of the vodka and food-gel color off the paintbrush before you touch it to the icing.

Baking tip:
If you’re looking for something that will help you bake your cookies have you checked out a Silpat or The Cookie Countess Mesh Non-Stick Baking Mat? I’ve used Silpats for years and love them. Now The Cookie Countess has given us The Mesh Non-Stick Baking Mats for less than half the price of a Silpat. I’ve been using them since she added them to her online store and I have more in my cart right now. Your cookies don’t move while they bake. I love them and can’t wait to get about three or four more! Just thought I’d share that info with you 

How to Make Sugar Cookies that Look Like Real Leaves

Enjoy the video!

It’s time to decorate!

• Cover the cookies with the SOOTM Consistency (thick Straight Out Of The Mixer)of royal icing.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper a little bigger than the cookie.
• Crinkle it up and place it on the cookie while the royal icing is wet.
• You can press it into place, but be careful and don’t smash it over the sides of the cookie.
• Let it dry completely.
• After the icing is dry, remove the parchment from the icing. If you watch the video you’ll see where the parchment stuck in my icing because I pressed too hard. If this happens to you use something such as your turkey lacer or 2- in-1 Decorating Tool to remove it. 

Time for a little vodka and food-gel colors:

• Mix a little vodka with food-gel color to paint your cookies. I used Totally Brown from The Cookie Countess and Orange from Americolor. I mixed a few others but found these colors worked great. You do whatever you want when it comes to painting. I know you’ll make it look fabulous!
• Mix your food-gel color with a little vodka and paint it on the dry royal icing. You might want to dab the paintbrush on the paper towel before you add it to the cookie so it won’t eat away at the icing. I tried to add a little vodka to the icing to see what happened before I added the food-gel color vodka mixture and I didn’t see any huge results. Maybe I needed to use more vodka. I’m not sure, but I will figure it out. 
• Add the vodka food-gel color mixture to the cookies and let them dry. Guess what? You’re done!

Don’t you love fall? I know I do and hope you get out and enjoy the colors. Happy fall y’all and stay tuned I’ll be back with more fall things soon!

Bear hugs,