Unicorn Sugar Cookies - Birthday Party Favors

Unicorn Sugar Cookies

This year is my 7th year throwing my daughter a birthday party. If there is one thing I've learned, its that favors are typically cheap and end up either left at the party or get thrown away shortly after. Knowing that, I try to get favors that are either useful or like this year, edible!

You can see all of her birthday party details on my blog here: Daphnie's Magical Unicorn Birthday Party

How cute are these Unicorn Sugar Cookies!

I got the cookie cutter from a shop on Etsy, you can find it here. 

Recipes

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

With a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla and salt, blend well. Slowly add flour. Once fully mixed, knead the dough into a ball. Cover dough and chill for approximately 2 hours. It is very important to chill the dough, otherwise it will not keep it's shape when baked. 

Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutter. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes.  Cool before decorating.

Royal Icing

Ingredients:

5 tbsp meringue powder

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

1 cup water

2lbs powdered sugar

Directions:

In a mixer, slowly combine meringue powder, light corn syrup, vanilla and water until combined and foamy. Add powdered sugar and slowly mix until there is no visible powder (just so none of the sugar flies out of the mixer), then mix on medium high for 5-7 minutes. The icing will thicken a lot and will have stiff peaks when ready. 

Split the icing into various bowls, for each color of icing that you need. Once the colors are mixed, split 1/3 of the icing out into piping bags, this will be used for the border of the icing. Take the rest of the color and add enough water so that the icing is smooth and flattens when you let it sit for 15 seconds. This will be used for the 'flooding'. 

Decorating the cookies:

Outline the cookies with the main color, for these cookies it was white. Once dry, or mostly dry, you can start flooding with the thinner icing. I used squeeze bottles for my flooding icing. I've seen piping bags used as well as paint brushes to get the same effect. 

After you flood the first/main color wait until it completely dries before adding on your next color. I did the white and pink nose at the same time on these since I didnt stack the nose on top of the main color like I did with the hair. 

I used a food-safe edible marker for the eyes/lashes, gold pearl dust for the horn,  and pink pearl dust for the cheeks. I found each of these items at Michaels. 

These cookies turned out to be the perfect favors for Daphnie's 7th Birthday Unicorn Pool Party!

I also made Unicorn cake pops that turned out so cute and weren't really that hard to make, you can see instructions and the recipe HERE!