Puppy Sugar Cookies

I was lucky enough to get to work in daylight thanks to a sick kid home from school on the 5th day back.  I don't remember the last time I was home with a sick kid.  Typically my Mom covers me on those calls, but she's out of town.  I felt like I was playing hooky from work.

I had a dog house and fire hydrant cookie planned with the house cookies I had baked the previous night before bedtime.  With a few extra hours to play, I sculpted puppy faces for the cookies.

The puppy heads are pretty simple.  Round ball of gum paste (for furry texture, make tiny cuts or pricks with a sharp tool), poke small holes for the eyes and stick a black sugar pearl in the indentation, add a small piece of gum paste for the snout, place a round black sprinkle for the nose, place a round pink sprinkle for the tongue, place ears on the side/back of the head, add small eyebrows.  Gum paste sticks to itself with a little dab of water.

 For the doghouses, I cut the chimney off before they went into the oven.  The door shape was made using a round cookie cutter and pressing firmly enough to make a small indent to use as a guide for the curve.  Pipe, fill and allow to dry.

 After the door cutout dried, I piped stripes for the wood planks- a little rough for extra texture.

I wasn't in the mood to mix all sorts of pipe & fill colors, so I only used white royal icing with plans to handpaint the cookies.  3 dog houses would get wood planking and 3 dogs would get sky blue siding.  I painted the door cutout with black food coloring.

I knew I had nothing close to a fire hydrant cookie cutter in my collection, but the houses looked like a squatty fire hydrant.  I piped and filled the hydrants.

Again, no need for mixing red royal icing.  I used a paint brush, a little water and red & black food coloring.

Ready for green grass and daisies.

My daughter requested a leash and dog bowl for her birthday...not because we have a dog (we don't).  She said she wants to start a dog walking business in the neighborhood.

We'll start with the sugar kind.  Low maintenance.

Sugar cookies are finished.  Cake figures are finished.  Egg whites are aging for the French Macarons. Party bags tonight!