Happy Friday! EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts starts today and I’m celebrating with these copycat Artist Palette Cookies! Just like the ones at EPCOT, these soft and chewy jumbo chocolate chip cookies are shaped like an artist’s paint palette and are topped with colorful royal icing! If you serve them right after decorating, you can even use the icing as paint!
Art and Disney have always gone together for me and it’s so cool to have a festival that celebrates creativity in art. One of the other fun things about all of EPCOT’s festivals is that there are special food booths around the World Showcase. I always love trying the new foods and sometimes recreating them at home! These Artist Palette Cookies debuted at the Festival of the Arts a few years ago. This year, these cookies will be available at The Artist’s Table booth. I just love how fun they are!
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To make these cookies, start by combining the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Then, heat the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds so that it’s soft and somewhat melted. I like to use a combination of unsalted and salted butter as I find the mix adds a touch more salt and makes a tastier cookie. Transfer the butter to a medium bowl and add in both the brown and granulated sugars. Stir, using a spatula, until well-combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla and then gradually add in the flour mixture. Stir until incorporated and then add in the chocolate chips.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies are jumbo sized, so you should only have six. Give them a little bit of room on the baking sheet as they’ll expand while baking. Use a spatula to gently press the tops of the cookies down so that they look like disks. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes.
Once the cookies have cooled, use a 1/4 inch round cookie cutter to cut hole near the side of each cookie. This will make the palette’s thumb hole.
To make the icing, first whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Then, add the warm water and beat on low speed until combined. Turn to high speed and beat until the icing is glossy and holds stiff peaks. Add more water, a little at a time, until the icing 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.
Divide the icing between three bowls and dye using gel food color. For these cookies I used red, yellow, and blue from Americolor. Some versions of the cookie also have green, but three colors are the more recent presentation and fit better on my cookies. Spoon a small dollop of each color onto each cookie. They don’t have to be perfect rounds since paint can be a bit messy! Enjoy right away or save in an airtight container. If you want to do some edible painting, serve while the icing is fresh with a clean paintbrush that hasn’t been used with paint.
Enjoy! Happy International Festival of the Arts!
Artist Palette Cookies
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup salted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Royal Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons meringue powder
- 1 tablespoons warm water
- red gel food coloring
- blue gel food coloring
- yellow gel food coloring
Equipment
- 1 ¼ inch round cookie cutter
Instructions
Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
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In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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Place the butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 20 seconds, until soft and somewhat melted.
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In a medium bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Stir together with a spatula.
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Add in the egg and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.
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Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until combined.
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Stir in the chocolate chips.
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Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Use a spatula to flatten the dough scoops into disks.
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Bake 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let it rest on the stove for 10-15 minutes, until cool. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
Royal Icing
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In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.
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Beat on low speed until well combined. Then, turn to high speed and beat until glossy and the icing holds stiff peaks.
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Stir in additional warm water, a little at a time, until icing 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 the icing into three bowls. Add a couple drops of gel food coloring to each bowl so that you have one bowl of red icing, one bowl of yellow icing, and one bowl of blue icing. Cover each bowl with plastic wrap until you’re ready to decorate.
Assembly
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Using a 1 ¼ inch round cookie cutter, cut a hole on one side of each cookie. This will make the thumb hole on the artist’s palette.
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Spoon a small dollop of each icing color onto each cookie.