One of my favorite parts of fall is watching the leaves change colors. I love being surrounded by the vibrant red, orange, and yellow colors and hearing the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet as I walk. As the leaves start to change, I’m reminded of one of my favorite movies, Pocahontas, and the beautiful colorful leaves that represent the wind throughout the movie. These spiced brown sugar cookies are perfectly sweet with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, giving them the perfect fall flavor!
I made these cookies in the shape of leaves, as leaves represent the colors of the wind in the movie. While the leaves in the movie are a range of colors, I used the classic fall colors–orange, red, and yellow. Of course, I couldn’t leave out my absolute favorite character and so Meeko makes a surprise appearance!
The spiced brown sugar cookies are easy to make, however decorating does take a bit so make sure to plan ahead. To start, make the cookie dough. Wrap the completed dough in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. The dough might be a bit crumbly but don’t worry, it’ll roll out fine.
Once the dough has chilled, roll it out on a floured surface. Make sure to do this in sections as the dough will be harder to roll and manipulate as it gets warmer. Once rolled out, cut out leaf and raccoon shapes using cutters or a sharp knife. For the leaves, I used this Wilton leaf cookie cutters set. I also made some paper templates for the two smooth sided leaves and cut them out using a sharp knife. To make the Meeko faces, I used an Ann Clark raccoon/fox face cookie cutter.
Place the cut cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and chill for about 15 minutes. This second chill just helps the cookies keep their shape while baking. Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Cool the cookies for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, make the icing. For these cookies, I used a royal icing made with meringue powder. You can also make it with pasteurized egg whites if you’re unable to find the meringue powder. The royal icing gives the cookies a nice shine and is more precise when creating complex designs (such as the Meeko face).
To decorate, you’ll want a flooding consistency of icing for everything except black. To achieve this, make the base royal icing and add water a tablespoon at a time until icing creates loose ribbons. Aim to have the icing melt back into the icing bowl within 10 seconds after picking it up with a spoon. Once the icing is the right consistency, divide it into bowls and dye it. If you’re making the leaves and Meeko, you’ll need to divide the icing into six separate bowls (one for each color leaf and one for white, black, and grey). Make sure you keep all of the icing covered with plastic wrap or in a piping bag when you’re not using it as it will harden while exposed to air.
I used piping bags with couplers so that I could easily change the piping tips when moving between colors of icing. For most of the decorating, I used a Wilton size 3 round tip and and alternated between a size 1-2 round tip for the smaller and more detailed sections of Meeko’s face.
Once the cookies have cooled, begin decorating! To decorate the leaves, first start with an outline around the edge of the cookie. Make sure to leave a little bit of space between the edge of the cookie and your outline. After you’ve piped the outline, fill the cookie in by piping the icing around the inside of the cookie, following the outline. It should start to spread out as you, but you can always use a sharp pick or a toothpick to help smooth out any areas that need it. I found these Wilton cookie decorating tools to be super helpful throughout this process.
To decorate the Meeko faces, I first drew out what I wanted the cookies to look like on paper and then re-drew the pattern onto the cookie using a food-safe maker. I found this to be super helpful as it was a nice guide for me to follow while I was piping the icing.
Since there are three different colors going on this cookie and they are all next to each other, you’ll need to decorate in stages, and let each color dry before moving on. If you don’t, the colors will start to bleed together. I found it easiest to start with the black icing. Since this icing is not the flooding consistency, it will be a little bit stiffer and harder to pipe. Once the black has dried, move onto the grey, and finally the white. When the white has dried, you’ll want to come back with the black to add the pupils to the eyes and the smile.
After you’ve finished decorating the cookies, let them sit out and dry for a couple hours. This allows the icing to fully dry and makes it so nothing will be smushed when stored.
Enjoy!
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Colors of the Wind Cookies
Ingredients
Spiced Brown Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Royal Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- ½ cup warm water
- yellow gel food coloring
- red gel food coloring
- orange gel food coloring
- black gel food coloring
Equipment
- piping bags
- round piping tips, sizes 1-3
- couplers
- cookie decorating pick
Instructions
Cookies
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In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
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In a separate bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
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Stir in flour mixture, mixing until combined. Dough will be a bit crumbly.
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Pour dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Press into a large mass and wrap with plastic. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350 Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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On a floured surface, roll out the dough, one half at a time, to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
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Place cut cookies onto prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
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Bake for about 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden brown. Let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing
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In a large bowl, beat sugar and meringue powder until combined.
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Add ½ cup water and beat on medium high speed until glossy and holds stiff peaks. Place a small amount of icing into a separate bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
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Stir in warm water, a tablespoon at a time, to the large bowl of icing until it creates loose ribbons when drizzled with a spoon. Aim to have the icing ribbons disappear back into the bowl within 10 seconds of being picked up with the spoon.
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Divide frosting into 5 bowls and add gel food coloring (red, orange, yellow, grey). Save one bowl for white icing and dye the first bowl of stiff icing black.
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Transfer icings to piping bags with couplers.
Decoration – Leaves
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Using a size 3 round piping tip, pipe an outline around the leaf cookie, leaving a bit of space between the edge of the cookie and the outline.
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Fill the cookie in by piping around the inside of the outline. The icing will spread out as you pipe, but use cookie decorating tools, such as a pick to help fill in any corners.
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Repeat until all leaf cookies are decorated. Let dry for a couple hours.
Decoration – Meeko
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Using a size 1 round piping tip, outline and fill the inside of the ears, the eye mask, and the nose. Let dry.
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Using a size 2 or 3 round piping tip, outline and fill the top of the face with grey icing. Let dry.
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Using a size 2 or 3 round piping tip, outline and file the top of the ears, eyes, eyebrows, and bottom of the face. Let dry.
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Using a size 1 round piping tip, add small dots to the eyes for pupils and a small smile on the lower part of the face, under the nose. Let dry for a couple of hours.