Carla Hall's 'cookie art' recipe
If you’re looking for a sweet treat that’s not only easy and delicious but also beautiful, Carla Hall’s got you covered. With stay-at-home orders still in place in some parts of the United States, it’s a perfect time to practice your baking skills. Fans of Hall know that the Top Chef fan favorite and former co-host of The Chew is always baking up something great, and now she’s revealing how to turn your dessert into a work of art—literally. Hall’s “Cookie Art” takes a classic shortbread cookie recipe and uses it to create an edible blank canvas which allows you to “paint” with multicolored frosting to turn your creation into a masterpiece. Carla Hall’s Cookie Art Vanilla shortbread “canvas” 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (slightly softened) 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups flour In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter and sugar. With the mixer on medium cream the butter and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt until combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add flour 1/2 cup at a time until combined. Form the dough into a square and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to an 8x8” square, about ½” thick. Use a bench scraper or an off-set spatula to shape the dough into a neat square. Carefully move the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a rack before “painting” with frosting. Vanilla frosting “paint” 2 sticks chilled, unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces 3 cups confectioners sugar ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup heavy cream 1½ teaspoons maple extract Your choice of food coloring Add butter, salt, extract and heavy cream to the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar a tablespoon at a time as it incorporates. Separate your frosting into multiple bowls. Add food coloring to all but one of the bowls. Use your plain white frosting as your base on the shortbread “canvas.” Spoon colored frostings into pastry bags. If you don’t have a pastry bag, use a zip-top bag with the corner clipped off. “Paint” using the colored frosting.
Video Transcript
CARLA HALL: Hey. Who says cooked up can't be fun? I'm Carla Hall. And I'm showing you how to make a big, beautiful, simple batch of cookies that the whole family will love. I'm calling this cookie art.
So this is what you'll need. One and a half sticks of butter, slightly soft. A half cup of sugar. One teaspoon of vanilla or any extract that you have. A half teaspoon of salt. And two cups of flour.
[MUSIC]
Add the butter and sugar, then your vanilla and salt. And slowly add the flour. Then, form your dough. We're going to put two pieces of plastic down, one like this and one like this.
[MUSIC]
Shape it into a nice square.
[MUSIC]
Let's put in the fridge for at least an hour.
So we do want this to be even. Because this is our palate. This is actually our canvas. Now, carefully move it to your parchment lined baking sheet. We don't want our shortbread to buckle up. So we're going to prick it with a fork. Everybody has a fork.
Make designs with your fork. I like this. Ready to go into the oven. Here we go. Set the timer for about 18 minutes.
[DING]
For our paint, it is buttercream. You'll need butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, or the extract of your choice, salt, and food coloring.
We're starting the butter cold because we want to aerate and emulsify all those other ingredients. And we really want our frosting to stand up. It's almost like using cold butter when you're making cookies, not really soft butter.
All right. So add the powdered sugar a little at a time. And I know when it's time to add more because I can see that it's all incorporated and mostly in the butter mixture.
Separate your frosting into a few different bowls. Then add a dash of food coloring to all but one bowl.
[MUSIC]
If you have a pastry bag, great. If not, you can use a sandwich bag or a zip top bag and snip off a corner. And then, add your frosting.
[POP]
Apply a thin base coat of white frosting. This is really going to make your colors pop. Then, have a little fun with decorating. This is where the art comes in. Are you ready for the big reveal?
[TADA]
Look at this. Oh my God. I had so much fun. It is like baking and crafting. I mean, just call me Leonardo da Cookie.
[LAUGHING]
OK. What about--
[DING]
Jackson Hallock? Or Vincent van Dough?
[DING]
[DING]
Claude Doughnet? I love it. Claude Doughnet.
[MUSIC]
