Autism Awareness Rose Cookies

Today on The Cookie Puzzle, we have a very special guest.  April is Autism Awareness Month, and today is the last day of April, so it seems only fitting that I have an Autism related post.

Last year, I went all out and hosted a "I am Blogging for Autism Awareness" EVENT, every day of the month had an Autism Awareness Post, Guest hosted by a different blogger.  This year, I did not have it in me to coordinate such an event, maybe next year I will try it again.

Anyway....I will now turn my blog over to Stephanie.  Stephanie blogs over at Ellie's Bites Decorated Cookies, she is MEGA talented.  She make AMAZING cookies like These, and These and THESE!

So...I love Stephanie...she is a great friend..and has two of the most adorable kiddos on the planet!

Take it away Steph!


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Hi! I'm Stephanie from Ellie's Bites. I'm honored that Kim let me take over her page again this year! Last year, I made these  but I didn't get a chance to actually make anything to send to Cookies For iPads. This year, I made a promise to myself that I would send some cookies out, and although I only made nine cookies, I did it. AND I made a tutorial, AND I talked Kim into letting me share it with you!

Again, I made these really simple to do. What you'll need is:

1. A cookie (any shape will do, base coated in the color of your choice. You can use royal icing or glaze- any icing that hardens to the touch. Light colors will work best- I used a light ivory. Allow the base coat to dry for several hours or over night.)

2. A puzzle piece (raid your kids' toy box.)

3. Glad Press and Seal

4. An airbrush or Wilton's color mist in a color that complements and will show up well on your base coat.

5. Piping icing in the same color as, or a complementary color of, your cookie's base coat.

1- Using the Press and Seal, wrap your puzzle piece. Make sure to press it into the contours. This will protect the puzzle piece from the spray, and also protect the cookies from the grimy fingerprints that your children have surely left all over that puzzle piece. 

2- Lay the puzzle piece in the center of the cookie, hold it in place with the handle of a paintbrush, or a chopstick, and lightly spray over it with the airbrush color. 

3- I went over a second time keeping a smaller diameter in the second pass in order to make a shaded effect on the cookie. Carefully remove the puzzle piece. Wait a few minutes for the color to dry.

4- Use the piping icing to outline the shape of the puzzle.

You can stop there. I kept going and made my cookie the shape of a rose. 

As I was making these, I forgot exactly WHY I had chosen to use a flower shape. Certainly the technique would work on a circle, plaque, or especially a heart. You could even move the piece around and create a collage of puzzle pieces on the cookie instead of only one central puzzle shape. When I try to remember why I chose a flower specifically, I can only think of words like: individuality, beauty, uniqueness, variety.... 

Thank you Kim, for letting me share with you today!

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Thank you so much Stephanie!  I love these cookies...and you too!

Lots and Lots of Autism Cookies

April has come and gone...

 

and I am a little sad to see it go.

 

During April....

 

I made LOTS AND LOTS

 

of Autism Cookies.

 

I know you might be a little

sick of seeing

Autism Posts

and

Autism Cookies.

 

But guess what?

 

MY BLOG....MY RULES!

 

So...here are some pictures of

some of the cookies I did last month.

 

 

 

25 dozen of these little beauties.

 

 

6 of these fun boxes to Autism events around the country.

 

 

 

8 Dozen of these huge Puzzle Ribbon Cookies!



 

36 dozen of these fun mini puzzle cookies to an

event on Long Island!



 

 

6 dozen of these large puzzle cookies to

a bake sale for Cookies for iPads.

 

How amazing are these cutters?

 

They are a Plastics in Print creation.

 

Patrick has been working with me for months,

to get me the PERFECT puzzle cutter.

 

Now...to the normal, non puzzle obsessed person, this

might seem like a simple task, but to me,

well, let's just say, I am

VERY PICKY!

 

I needed a cutter that looked good, like a

"typical puzzle piece"

 

BUT

 

I needed it functional too.

 

I make a TON of puzzle cookies,

and I needed this cutter to work,

and work well, and give me the

ability to make cut out these cookies

QUICKLY, I don't have time to struggle

with little "tabs" on the side, so

 

Patrick made me

3 different cutter, before we got it right.

 

Patrick is AMAZING!

 

He made me a large 3.5 inch one

and a smaller 2.5 inch one

and a mini is in the works now.

 

So..

 

Thank you Patrick!

 

You made me a very happy

puzzle cookie obsessed baker!

 



 

And finally, just this Saturday,

I mailed off an order of

4 dozen mini puzzle piece cookies to

North Dakota.

 

 

There you go,

my life last month in

Cookies!

 

I am so sad to see it go,

it was a lot of work,

but so much fun.

 

I pray I will get the chance to make

more puzzle piece cookies soon,

because they make me so happy!

 

Until next time

 

Hugs,

 

 

 

Once Upon a Time There Was A Tangram by Laura's Cookies

Hello Everyone!  I'm Laura from LaurasCookies, and I want to thank Kim for allowing me to do a guest post in honor of Autism Month on her blog. I 'met' Kim a couple of years ago when we were both part of the same cookie swap.  And through her, I 'virtually' met her son Collin, and learned a little more about autism and about the people and families whose lives have been changed by it.  As I pondered what to share with you today, I tried to imagine what it must be like to be inside Collin's world and, through reading on some autism sites, and knowing a little bit about Collin's life through Kim, I created a short story and some cookies to go along with it.  I hope you will enjoy!

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Once upon a time there was a jumble of pieces which would become a person.

Each shape was meant to do something different and special.  Some pieces would be muscles, some would be circulatory, some would be skeletal and some would be brain function.

The day arrived for the little one to be born and there was excitement in the house.

 

But after the young one was born, others notice that there were some things about him that seemed to work differently. Things like showing less attention to social stimuli, smiling and looking at others less often, and even responding less to his own name.  This made them notice, and watch:

 

As he grew, the little person often felt like he was running to catch up…

Sometimes he felt like he was swimming in deep water…

 

Or sailing alone on a big sea…

But he was becoming the person he should be.  A person with his own talents and gifts, and a big loving heart.  Even though he experienced the world a little differently from others, he learned he was unique, special and valuable.  He spread his wings:

And hopped along…

 

Being the best HIM, ever!

 

The End.  Or maybe not…

A word about these cookies:

These cookie pictures use “Tangrams.” Tangrams are a Chinese puzzle made by cutting a square into five triangles, a square, and a rhomboid which are capable of being recombined into many different figures. 

 

The upper two pictures show different geometric patterns and a tangram shape.  I searched ‘tangram’ on the Internet, printed out patterns, and then hand-cut them with a sharp knife on chilled vanilla sugar cookie dough (bottom two pictures.)  Once these were baked, I iced them with bright colored Royal Icing and they were ready to use!  My family had a fun time creating the different shapes used in this story.

I want to thank Kim , for the opportunity to research and understand autism a little better through her invitation to do a guest blog.  If you are interested in finding out more about autism, here are a few sites where you can find out further information:  

·         Austism Society of America Foundation: http://www.autism-society.org/

·         Autism Foundation: http://www.autism-society.org/

·         The Autism Research Foundation: http://theautismresearchfoundation.org/

·         The Center for Autism: http://www.thecenterforautism.org/autismfoundation

·         American Autism Foundation: http://www.americanautismfoundation.org/About_AAFI.html

·         National Autism Association: http://nationalautismassociation.org/

Thank you Kim and Collin, for helping me learn, and for inspiring me by sharing your lives!