Kids’ Treats

Up, up, and away! Everyone remembers the excitement that went along with getting a balloon when they were a little kid! Those helium-filled favorites, in all the colors of the rainbow, are a circus mainstay and your kids probably look forward to getting them as much as you once did! Bring your kids back to the circus with these Balloon Sugar Cookies that are so much fun and super simple to make! All you need is my favorite Sugar Cookie recipe, a small balloon cookie cutter, and a batch of glaze icing. If you don’t have a balloon cookie cutter a circle cutter will work just as great!

YIELDS 3 DOZEN COOKIES

1 batch Sugar Cookies (see recipe in Chapter 1) cut using a balloon or circle cookie cutter

2–3 drops each of the following AmeriColor gels: Avocado (green balloons), Gold (yellow balloons), and a mixture of Sky Blue and Navy Blue (blue balloons)

1. Separate your icing into four bowls, adding only a small amount to one of the bowls. Color three of the bowls with your desired colors, making sure to leave the bowl with the least amount of icing white to create the highlight in your balloon.

3. To decorate your cookie, choose an icing color and use it to outline two cookies at a time with icing.

4. Go back and fill in the first cookie with the same color icing and then repeat with the second cookie. I like to only do two cookies at a time so the gel dries nicely and doesn’t leave a ridge.

5. Repeat until all of your cookies have been iced with blue, green, or yellow icing.

6. Allow the icing to dry for about 4–5 hours and then add a small white highlight in the shape of a thick line on the top right-hand side of each balloon.

7. Let the Balloon Sugar Cookies air-dry on your counter until the icing has completely hardened, about 10 hours, then enjoy!