Callye from The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle is here today with the most darling 3D “Cookie Cupcake” tutorial – seriously, how cute are these?!

In honor of the 4th of July holiday coming up, she created this tutorial in an Independence Day theme, but you can really tailor this concept to any color palette and theme of your choice. How cute would a fuschia/orange/lime green stripe version be for summer… maybe topped with mini homemade multicolor abstract candy melt toppers?

Read on for lots more detailed images + step-by-step instructions…

3D COOKIE “CUPCAKE” TUTORIAL

by Callye of The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle

This may be unusual, but aside from Easter, Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays.  To me it is a celebration of all things American. I love the colors, the activities, and the fact that we are free to celebrate being FREE!

Since I love this day so much, I wanted to adapt one of my favorite cookie ideas for this special day.  They take a little work, but you’ll be glad you took the time!

To make these you will need to bake regular and blue colored cookies in the sizes shown below. Each completed cupcake cookie requires five small cookies, one of each size. I have graduated sets of straight and fluted edged cutters that worked PERFECTLY for this.

I like to use my favorite sugar cookie recipe, but you can use whichever recipe you like best.  To tint the dough, I added a few drops of royal blue gel coloring to the raw dough before baking.

Once you have the cookies baked, you are ready to begin.

For this project you will need:

• Blue & White Icing Royal Icing for Piping
• White Flood Icing
• Red, White, & Blue Sprinkles
• Candy Stars
• #3 & #9 Round Icing Tips

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Instructions:

Before I start connecting cookies, I lay them all out to make sure I have everything I need.

When that’s done, begin by building the base of the cupcake cookie.  I lay all three cookies out in the direction that they will be connected to the other.

Pipe the icing on as shown below, and begin by sticking the medium cookie to the largest one, and then the smallest to the medium.  Be careful not to over fill the centers of these with icing, because any overflow will show.

Also, by attaching them as demonstrated, it helps to make sure the bases are level.  So, keep this in mind as you work.

I always do them upside down, because it’s much easier to ensure that they are centered.

When you are finished, they should look like this.  Let them dry and begin to attach the top piece of the cupcake cookie.

I did these in the same manner, except I applied icing to the underside of the smallest cookie and set it on the larger one.

Give them a firm press to make sure they are attached, and don’t worry about any icing seeping out of the sides.  That will be covered later.

Let the two parts dry for at least 4-5 hours before beginning on the second phase of this project.

For part two, I will be using icing bottle lids to elevate the tops off of the cookie sheet so that they can be coated with royal icing.

To those of you unfamiliar with these, they are the lids that come with the icing bottles I use for decorating cookies.  It you don’t have access to these, I suggest something similar such as dice, small wooden blocks, or even Rolo candies.

You will also need to have the white flood icing and patriotic sprinkles ready at this point.

Set the “tops” up on the base you chose, and begin to flood. If you need to, add a tiny little dot of piping icing to the lid (or other “riser” of your choice) before placing the cookie on top.  This will help to make sure it stays in place while you work.

Cover the cookie with icing, using the tip of your bottle to guide it down over the edges.  Soon gravity will take over and it will begin dripping over the side.

After you have covered a few, use a popsicle stick, or something similar to disconnect the drips so that the cookie has a clean edge.

Immediately sprinkle them with sprinkles.

Let them dry once again, for at least an hour, and use the white piping bag fitted with a #9 tip to create the tip of the cupcake.

To get the cute little dollop, put the tip very close to the cookie and squeeze the bag while lifting upward.  Then, lower the tip back into the icing, and squeeze again while lifting the bag and simultaneously releasing pressure.

Now, quickly sprinkle this step and get ready to add the star.

I used these candy stars that I bought from a baking supply store.  Now only are they pretty, they taste great too!  The bag is actually multi-colored candy, I just picked out the red ones for this.

While the dollop is wet, quickly use tweezers to add the star. At this point, they will need to dry overnight.

To finish up, press the dried “cupcake top” down onto a dollop of white icing squeezed onto the base of the “cupcake”.

Do you see that little bit that seeped out?  I LOVE that!

Let them dry a few more hours and they are ready to eat!

These are always a hit, and they will be the talk of your Independence Day bash.

These can also be done in many other themes and colors…the possibilities are as endless as your imagination!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July!

For more fun projects, come visit me at The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle.  I’d love to see you there!