TUTORIAL: How to Make French Fry Cookies

A few weeks ago Mr. Preppy Cookie and I were invited to a BBQ. Of course I did not want to go empty handed and thought through what to bring. It was a co-worker crowd but also kid-friendly so I decided to make a batch of "hamburger cupcakes." My mom and I brainstormed about a fun cookie compliment to the burgers and fries seemed like the obvious fit.

I am not the first one to make french fry cookies but thought it would be fun to share my version.  They are EASY and equally intriguing to the party guests as the cupcakes themselves.  Add a side of red buttercream frosting "ketchup" and you could skip the burgers entirely.  Enjoy!

What you will need:

-Batch of your favorite sugar cookie dough
-Coarse sugar sprinkles
-Small amount of water
-Baking sheet
-Pizza cutter
-French fry container to display cookies in

First roll out your dough.

Take the pizza cutter and trim the ends from the dough.

Then cut the section into smaller squares. (Precision is NOT the key here...french fries are not perfectly shaped nor should these cookies be.)

Add the imperfect squares to your cookie sheet (I always line mine with parchment paper.)  Take a mister or clean finger and brush the tops of each cookie with a small glaze of water.

Coat each cookie with coarse sugar sprinkles prior to baking.

Bake the cookies according to your recipe.  (Hint: I always put my cookie sheets directly into the freezer for about 10 minutes prior to baking them.  This helps cut-out cookies hold their shape.)

Once they are out of the oven, take your pizza cutter and cut each square into small strips while the cookies are still hot.  Keep trimming them down until you have the french fry shape you are going for.

To me, packaging means a lot.  I will drive a longer distance and even pay a little more money to purchase items in shops that I know will nicely package the gifts I am buying.  Don't let that mindset leave you when it comes to fun food presentations.

I went to McDonald's and asked to purchase 6 mini fries, hold the fries.  This caused quite the stir at my Mickey D's and resulted in a long flurry of embarrassing activity until they agreed to just give them to me.  (Side note:  I used to LOVE McDonald's....and am also a vegetarian.  I have ordered a #2 with no meat for many years and this request for 6 mini fry containers caused more commotion than ordering a hamburger with no meat.  Hopefully your McD's will be more understanding of the need to display cookies in a creative manner.)

That's it...enjoy!

My friend told me that the morning after the party, her son found a stray cookie fry on the floor of their car...and ate it!  Now that's a compliment. :)

Cupcakes, Bumblebees & Preppy Football

Eclectic title, right? I have come to the conclusion that if I ever want to blog about the months worth of cookies I still have to show you, I am going to have to combine different cookie collections into one post. Maybe weekly recaps would help me? Who knows. In the meantime, I will share a few of my favorites from last week.

Cupcakes and chevron for a friend's sister who could use a smile right now:

Bumble bee cookies done to match a party invitation for little Lucy (love that I did her first birthday cookies too!)

And finally UNC football/sorority cookies for a reunion weekend the uber-talented party planner "Southern Vogue" was enjoying with her college friends.

Thank you Anna and Melissa!

Burgers & Dogs

Being a vegetarian since the age of five, I cannot remember the last time I ate a hamburger or hot dog. That being said, I wouldn't mind eating them in a cookie copycat. :) I bought these cutters last summer but never had the opportunity to use them. Enter an invitation to a friend's BBQ over the weekend and I knew it was the perfect time to break them out.

I added in a few watermelon slices for good measure and my cookie BBQ was complete!

Thanks again for a fun afternoon Ana!

Wishing you all a great week.

All in the Family (of Cookies)

A few months ago (yes that is how behind I am on this blog) a friend of mine asked me to make cookies to bring to a family she was going to visit in Florida over Spring Break. We decided to do a few cookies for every member in the family and the eclectic mix that came together as a result still amuses me. :)

We included a few for the birthday being celebrated during the visit.



We did fun cocktails in honor of the reunion/vacation...



And of course we made a couple of special treats for the lady of the house.



It was a house full of New York sports fans...





The youngest member of the family has a love for UPS (even dressing up as a delivery person last Halloween!)



Needless to say there was something for everyone! I loved seeing it all come together.

Thank you Ana!

April Fool's Day "Food"

Over the past few days I have come across many April Fool's Day "fake food" ideas. From cupcakes looking like mashed potatoes to cookies looking like pizza, the creativity is endless. While I am not sure I have ever pulled an April Fool's joke on anyone, coming across these ideas did remind me of just how many food & drink cookies I personally have made. That inspired me to gather them together for you to enjoy this morning. From hamburger cupcakes to plates of spaghetti to ice cream cones and even a few cold beers, it seems I have a good start on a complete meal or two. :)














Wishing you all a wonderful weekend...and a happy April Fool's Day!

Pineapple Passion

My mom and I have always had a "thing" for pineapples. And I don't necessarily mean eating them, but rather decorating with them and viewing them as a sign of hospitality. Perhaps that is why our entire wedding had a pineapple undertone. Whenever I pass a pineapple in the grocery store, I think of my mom meticulously lining them up on the market floor in search of the ones that stood up "perfectly straight" to make candles out of for our engagement party and wedding...


We find ourselves scooping up any pineapple decorations we see and like I said, it's just our "thing."

Recently when my brother saw a pineapple cookie cutter during his vacation, he told my future sister-in-law that, "Amy would love this." So they kindly brought it home for me and it lasted in my cabinet about 24 hours before I made these cookies from it.


Good thing I wasn't as into making cookies during our wedding planning or there is no doubt I would have been making these by the hundred. :)

Hope you all are having a great week - halfway to the weekend!

Fruit Cocktail

This has been a big week on the cookie front. Since Monday night I have made 245 (or 20.4 dozen) custom cookies. And that is after working at my "real" job. ;) I am proud of everything I've made this week and cannot wait to share it all with you, but first I may have to have one of my family's fruit-packed cocktails to settle down after an extremely busy few days.


(My aunt's wine on the left and my dad's famous vodka concoction on the right...fruit cocktails must run in the family.)

These drinks tie in nicely to the cookies I have for you today. Recently my friend S contacted me about making cookies for her daughter's Strawberry Shortcake themed birthday party. In case you were wondering Strawberry Shortcake looks NOTHING like she did back in the eighties...she and her friends have all receieved a major makeover. Thankfully S was not after character cookies and instead worked fruit into her pary decor. (Love that!)

We played on the characters and stuck with strawberries, lemons, plums, oranges and raspberries. Instead of blueberries, we added in a monogram cookie but stuck with the missing color. I love how these turned out and the creativity S put into planning the party.


Thank you once again Susan! Can't wait to see photos from the big event.

Sushi Samba!

When I receieved a request for sushi cookies, I was excited but admittedly a little nervous. A long-time vegetarian, I have never so much as set foot in a sushi restaurant, let alone had a sample other than a veggie roll to serve as inspiration. But I started looking at photos of sushi and checking it out during my nearly daily trip to Whole Foods (sad-but-true) and I knew it would be okay.

These cookies made their way to a birthday party at a sushi restaurant last night. (I was dying to post them as soon as they were finished but did not want to ruin any surprises.) I certainly hope that a good time was had by all!


Thank you so much Courtney - it was great to hear from you and work with your fun idea!

TUTORIAL: How to Make "Hamburger" Cupcakes

Well, since the "hamburger" cupcakes were so well received and since you have all been so great to me since I started this journey, I decided to put together my first tutorial for you! I am going to do my best to walk you through how to make my version of these cupcakes from start to finish so you can wow your friends at your next get together. ;) Now before we get started, a couple of disclaimers:

1.) I am not a professional photographer (nothing new to you I am sure.)

2.) It is hard to demonstrate something with one hand while photographing with the other, so my apologies in advance for the shadows!

Okay, now that I have that off my chest, let's get started. You will need:

-One batch vanilla mini cupcakes, prepared (homemade or box is fine)
-One batch brownies, prepared (if using a box, splurge on Ghiradelli please!)
-One batch prepared vanilla buttercream icing (or one large can)
-Coconut
-Red, yellow and green food coloring
-Sesame seeds (optional)

Once your brownies have cooled, take a small circular cookie cutter and cut out your "hamburger patties" just like you would cut shapes into sugar cookie dough.



Allow your cupcakes to cool and then peel off the wrappers. (Do not skip baking them in wrappers or they will become overly brown.)


Cut the center out of the cupcake, leaving you with the top and bottom "bun."


Die one half of your icing red. Fill a piping bag (or sandwich bag with the end snipped) with it and apply your "ketchup" to the bottom of the cupcake.


Add your "patty" and then top with yellow icing as your "mustard" or "cheese."


Add green die and coconut to a plastic bag and shake it up until your "lettuce" is ready.


Add your "lettuce" on top of your icing.


Add the top half of your "bun."


Optional: Mist (or use your finger to add) a small amount of water on top of the bun. Sprinkle sesame sesame seeds on top of water. You won't taste them and they add a lot to the presentation! I found that adding a toothpick on top made them look more like sliders. (Maybe that was only in my imagination, but I liked it!)


This yields quite a few cupcakes. (If I had used every ingredient, I probably could have done 2-3 dozen depending on how generous I was with icing.)

Let me know if I missed anything, but otherwise please enjoy!