Stamped Cookies

I grew up in rural Tennessee without too many friends. As I have gotten older and moved several times, I have had the great luck of gathering an amazing group of them. Most days without even realizing it, I am surrounded by strong, inspiring women. I will be the first to admit that I am not always the best friend. I often forgot that my phone exists and that messages on social media aren't the most proper way to communicate your feelings for someone. But when I break out of my reclusive ways, I realize how lucky I am to have them around. My friends do so many mind-boggling things. They and aren't afraid to push themselves and inspire me endlessly. One of my oldest friends, Kaelah, was the first person in Nashville to open a mobile clothing boutique. She somehow balances a million projects, being a mother, and running several businesses seamlessly. For the longest time, Jenna was my the only other friend I had working in a bakery. Now she is working for a start-up marshmallow shop, working as a styling assistant, and pursuing her passion of book making. Izzy is an amazing artist, who runs a terrific distro called Brood X. Natalie has the best fashion sense. She designs clothing and hunts out perfect vintage pieces. My friend KC just finished a film entitled From The Back of the Room discussing women in punk. So many people in my life pour themselves into everything that they do. It's always good to remind them how wonderful they are.


I have been obsessed with stamped cookies for several months now. I am not exactly sure where the first time I saw one was, but I have seen countless renditions floating around the internet. Last year I saw Bakerella use springerle molds on fondant to create molded cookies. While I wanted pretty desperately to invest in a few molds afterwards, I have forced myself to show a little restraint. I seem to have a pile of rarely used baking supplies that is already quite extensive. Instead, I followed another trend and just bought a simple rubber stamp from a craft store which can be used with food dye to create beautiful images without the need of extensive decorating skills. While you can use the rubber stamp technique on either royal icing or fondant, I chose the later. I used a cheap bottle of black liquid food coloring I had left over from last Halloween. If you only have black food coloring gel, you can thin it out with a bit of alcohol or vanilla extract. I attempted a few different techniques for stamping the fondant. Painting the food coloring onto the stamp didn't work very well for me. It seemed to work best if I dabbed a rubber kitchen sponge in the dye, and then dabbed that onto the sponge. I didn't look for an empty stamp pad at the craft store, but I think that might be the best option. You could soak it in the food coloring, and then probably reuse it for several weeks afterwards. I also started with a fairly complex stamp, and probably should have attempted something without a lot of detail until I figured out what worked. I really liked playing with the contrast of the image by using different amounts of dye and also the placement of the stamp on the fondant. I probably should have made a larger batch of cookies to have more to experiment with.
Aside from the stamping technique, this was also my first time using fondant. I have always been a little afraid of it. But I didn't find it too difficult. You can either buy pre-made fondant or use this recipe for homemade marshmallow fondant from Manifest Vegan! I used a series of heart cookie cutters for both my cookies and fondant. I wasn't sure if I wanted there to be a rim of cookie showing or for the fondant to completely cover the cookie. I am still not sure if I have a solid preference. I really enjoy the way all of them look.


I am sure that most people feel similarly, but I am proud of all the people that I have chosen to keep close with over the years. They are all endlessly smart and sassy. It's nice to know that they not only stand up for themselves and fight for what they want, but also all take time to fight for others less privileged. It's the middle of winter, most arguably the worst season of the year. But it doesn't feel so terrible when you have so many people to love.