Make me cookies you will!

More than anything, my five-year-old wants one of those T-shirts that says, "Come to the Dark Side...We have cookies!"  Well, now we really do have cookies on the dark side. One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was from all my boys--the Star Wars Heroes & Villains cookie press set from William's Sonoma. Once I looked at the beautifully frosted cookies on the box I knew I would have to work out some other way to decorate them. I mean you have to have just the right green for yoda and it isn't the same green as Boba Fett. And how unappetizing is Darth Vader in all that black frosting? So after doing a little research online, I decided to doctor the recipe that came with the kit by adding 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1 Tb instant coffee granules (to enhance the chocolate flavor) for an Oreo-type cookie. Then I whipped up a buttercream frosting for the filling. OMGosh! Fabulous. Of course, you don't have to use this cookie press. Any cookie cutter will do. Just be sure the image is symmetrical (I think that's the word I'm looking for), so the top and bottom cookies match up. For example, Boba Fett has a little pipe on the left-hand side of his helmet that was on the right-hand side on the bottom cookie, but Vader, the stormtrooper and Yoda worked perfect.

REVIEW: So if you're thinking about buying this set from Williams Sonoma, here's my two cents. I like them. They're $20, but if you have a little Star Wars fan (or a big Star Wars fan) in the house they're fun to have around. I can't wait for his birthday party this year. I feel a Star Wars theme coming on. Lincoln had a great time using them with me. I had to help a little because the dough is pretty stiff. They clean up well and although they don't come with a container, they fit easily in a quart-sized freezer bag for storage. I also kept the recipe info and cut out the small picture of the frosted cookies on the back of the box to keep with the presses for future reference if I decide to tackle actually frosting them.

The Dark Side Filled Cookies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Tb instant coffee granules
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 Tbs), room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1.) Preheat oven to 350'. Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2.) In an electric beater, beat the butter until smooth, 2 mins. Slowly add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 2 mins more. Add the egg and vanilla, scraping the sides to thoroughly combine.
3.) Combine the flour, salt, cocoa powder and coffee granules in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in batches until a stiff dough forms.
4.) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into two balls. Wrap each ball in Saran Wrap and refrigerate 2 hours to 2 days.
5.) Remove the dough from the refrigerator one ball at a time and let stand 5 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (Try using powdered sugar instead of flour) until 1/4-inch thick.
6.) Using the SW press or a cookie cutter, cut out the shapes as desired and transfer to the pans. Be sure to cut out two of each shape so you can make a sandwich with the same images. For the SW presses, I lifted the dough into my hand while still inside the press and pushed the plunger again to get an extra clear imprint of the faces.
7.) Place the cookie sheets with the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes to avoid spreading and puffy cookies.
8.) Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks while you make the frosting.

Buttercream Filling
1 stick of butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk or cream, 1 Tb at a time

1.) Beat the first three ingredients until well combined.
2.) Add the milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time until you get a smooth but thick consistency to your frosting, just thin enough to be spreadable but not so thin it will run off the edges of the cookie when you press them together. Transfer the frosting to a quart-sized freezer bag and cut off one small corner of the bag to use for piping.
3.) When your cookies have cooled, pipe a nice big blob of frosting on the blank side of the cookie and press the other cookie together. Let sit a few minutes to firm up before eating. 

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For Christmas, Lincoln got the LEGO Darth Vader Tie Fighter with Vader mini-fig. Just had to include. He's very proud of his handiwork.I also found this great Star Wars snowflake for my background this month.