The Lorax Cookies

August 7, 2012 | 45 Comments »

Once upon a time I used to love going to the movies, but that was a few kids ago.  Something about fifteen bathroom trips kind of ruins the whole experience.

These days we’re stay-at-home movie people.  This weekend it’s The Lorax.  Besides saving me boatloads on snacks and concessions, home movie night gives me the opportunity to add a few treats of my own.  Bet you already guessed it’s cookies.

Lorax cookies are definitely not a new thing, but for my interpretation I chose to make a standing Lorax.  Since I really don’t like hand-cutting, I wanted to find a cutter that closely resembled the shape .  This is what I came up with.  You can find this fish in Wilton’s box of 101 cookie cutters.

*If you have a little trouble matching specific shapes to common cutters, I have a tip to make it a little easier for you.  Take the image you’d like to create, and draw around it with a black marker.  This helps your eyes to see it as a concrete shape rather than a picture.  If you do this, when you first begin the design process, you’ll often find that you already have a cutter that will work on hand.

Because the royal icing eyes are handmade, the prep work needs to begin a few days ahead of time.  Making them is actually very easy.  Begin by taping a piece of parchment or waxed paper to a cookie sheet, then use white twenty-second icing fitted with a #2 tip to make half-circle shaped “eyes”.  In this case, it’s important to make the eyes similar to the Lorax character so he will look like him when you’re through.

After piping a few eyes, {work in little sections at a time and don’t get too far ahead of yourself} use light blue 20-second icing and a #1.5 tip to add irises.  This is as simple as adding a small drop of blue to the wet white icing.  This is called the wet-on-wet technique. At this point let the eyes dry completely.  To be safe, 24 hours is best.

The next day you will have about a gazillion pupil-less eyes gazing at you. Use a #1 tip and black 20-second icing to add one to the center of each iris.

The next step may not seem that important, but it really makes a big difference.  I call it the eye glint.  It’s that little white speck that you often see in cartoon eyes.  Use white twenty-second icing to add the itsy bitsy little speck.  It’s amazing the life that this tiny little dot adds to a character.

Once the the eyes are ready you’re finally ready to decorate.  To make these cookies you will need:

Have the eyes, beads, and popsicle sticks handy because you will need to work quickly.

Begin by outlining the cookie and immediately filling it with piping icing.  Yes, you heard me right…piping icing.  When the outline is filled, swirl the icing around with a toothpick or popsicle stick to give Mr. Lorax a fuzzy look.

Make the fur a little more realistic by quickly lifting the toothpick away from the icing to form peaks.  I used this same technique to make fuzzy bunny cookies last Easter.

Once the icing is swirled, it will look like this.  While the cookie is still wet, add the nose and eyes.

Tweezers to make this a little easier to do accurately.  I like the ones that jewelry makers use best.

At this point, let the cookie dry completely.

When it has dried, add the extras with yellow 20-second icing.

Finally, use orange piping icing and a #1.5 tip to add hands.  In hindsight, you might want to be mindful of where your little fur swirls end or you may unexpectedly end up making an exhibitionist of poor Mr. Lorax.  If you don’t see what I see, forget I mentioned it.

After his facial hair dried, I used the brush embroidery technique to give it a little more detail, but I neglected to take a pic.  You can take or leave this step, whatever you’re in the mood for.

These cookies are sure to be a hit on your next movie night, so make them.  If you’re like these cookies, than you are sure to love these other Lorax-themed treats:

PS-The “fur technique” would also make snazzy Truffula trees too…

Character Cookies, Cookies, Creative Use of Cutters, Movie Cookies, Tutorials
45 Comments »