Sculpture Cookie Dough

delicious, excellent modeling dough

MATERIALS

5½ cups (1 L + 375 ml) flour

3 t. (15 ml) baking soda

¼ t. (1 ml) salt

¼ cup (60 ml) honey

1 t. (5 ml) vanilla

3 t. (15 ml )grated lemon

or orange peels (optional)

1 cup (250 ml) butter or margarine

½ cup (125 ml) boiling water

13/4 cups (425 ml) sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

large bowl, small bowl

plastic wrap

spoon or mixer

cookie sheet, greased

cooling rack

PROCESS

1. in large bowl, combine flour and baking soda
2. in another bowl, combine sugar, salt, honey, vanilla, and lemon peel
3. add butter and water to sugar mixture and beat until sugar is dissolved
4. gradually stir in flour mixture until stiff, using hands
5. use immediately
   hint: cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 2 days (or freeze for 3-6 months), but bring dough to room temperature before shaping
6. use cutters on rolled dough that is 1/8″-¼″ thick (3mm-6mm) or make free form sculptures by pinching, rolling, or cutting dough
7. place 1” (3 cm) apart on cookie sheet
8. brush with beaten egg if desired
9. bake at 300°F (150°C) for 20-30 minutes, or golden at edges
10. cool 10 minutes on sheets, then move to cooling racks to finish cooling (to store, wrap sculptures airtight and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or freeze)

Cookie cutter composites -

• roll out and cut dough
• arrange cutouts on greased sheets
• combine shapes and overlap edges to build decorative images
• bake and cool

Appliques on Cutouts -

• roll out directly on a greased baking sheet if large, or on a floured board for smaller
• cut out shapes with cutters, or make paper patterns to trace and cut
• for appliques shape small pieces of dough into dabs, dots, tiny ropes, or any free form
• press appliques onto the cookie base (do not build thicker than 3/4″ (2 cm)
• bake and cool