China Doll Cookies

August 20, 2013 | 39 Comments »

After making Chinese New Year Cookies last January, I thought I’d satisfied my creative urge.  But when I saw these Kokeshi doll cookies by Trinnie Loves Cookies, the wheels in my head began to turn…again.  Suddenly the simple red outfit designs I came up with looked a bit drab.

After a week or two of trying to figure out how Trinnie created the wet on wet pattern she used for her cookies, I finally asked.  I’d have never guessed that she used printed wafer paper.

The original plan was to remake my girls using the same wafer paper but I ran into a few problems along the way.  First of all, when I ordered the pattern Trinnie used, I discovered that there was actually only a tiny bit of the pattern I needed.  Second, I’m absolutely terrified of wafer paper, so to make things a bit easier on myself I decided to go ahead and make them using techniques I was comfortable with.

China or Kokeshi Doll CookieI started with a simple bear cutter.  Any bear cutter will work, but I recommend one with a closed space between the legs {if it isn’t misplaced when you’re ready to bake}.  If you don’t already have a bear cutter, you can find a similar one here.

Kokeshi Doll Cookie CutterTo make China doll cookies simply trim the bear’s arms to look like they’re bent at the elbow and gently move the legs together so there is only a negligible gap when baked.

China or Japanse Doll Cookie CutterTo decorate these cookies you will need:

Begin by using flesh-tone 20-second icing to create a face.

China Doll Cookie 1After a bit of drying time, make hair with black 20-second icing.  This should be done in two steps, waiting 10-15 minutes between applications to create dimension.

China Doll Cookie 2Next, outline and fill the girl’s robe.  Quickly move onto the next step.

China Doll Cookie 3Using white flood icing follow the steps below to create a simple floral pattern.  Begin by flooding circles into the wet blue icing.  Use a toothpick or needle tool to quickly drag through each circle five times to make flowers.  For a more in-depth tutorial on this technique, click here.

Finish up by adding red dots to the center of each flower and a few pink dots in some of the empty space. If you’re feeling brave {unlike myself} you can also try to more closely replicate the pattern on the wafer paper.  The most important thing to remember is to work quickly when using the wet-on-wet technique.

China Doll Cookie 4Let the dress dry for a bit then add eyes, hands, and slippers.

China Doll Cookie 5Next, add a bit of detail to the hair.

China Doll Cookie 6Use piping icing to outline the robe.  I broke it down step-by-step to simplify the process.

China Doll Cookie 7If you like, use light pink pearl dust to ever so slightly blush her cheeks.

China Doll Cookie 8Mix these sweet little china dolls with Chinese lantern cookies and other coordinating designs.

China Doll Cookies Close UpI called my girls China dolls because of the lanterns I added, but this idea would work well for Japanese Kokeshi dolls too.  For more inspirational ideas check out the following links:

Cookies, Creative Use of Cutters, Flower Cookies, Miscellaneous Cookies, Pattern and Print Cookies, Popular Cookies, Sweet Sugar Belle, Tutorials
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