Beach Cookies Recipes

BEACH BALL COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough into 5 equal portions. Tint each portion a different color with food coloring. Divide each portion into 24 equal pieces; roll each piece into a ball. Gently press together 1 ball of each color to form a larger ball; place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with bottom of a glass., Bake until bottoms are lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

PEACH COOKIES

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking until the sugar is dissolved.
• Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the bowl while whisking, then add all of the mixture back to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly; let boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then stir in the preserves, schnapps and almond extract. Cool the pastry cream slightly, then cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
• For the cookies: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the sugar, milk, butter, nectar, schnapps and eggs in a large bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth to make a thick, sticky dough.
• Lightly grease your hands with the oil and roll tablespoons of the dough into balls, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time, until the undersides of the cookies are golden and the tops are just set, about 15 minutes. Cool just a few minutes. While the cookies are still warm, use a sharp paring knife to cut an approximately 1-inch-wide teaspoon-sized divot into the flat side of each cookie (be careful not to pierce the tops or sides of the cookies). Bake the other sheet of cookies and cut out the divots. Cool the cookies completely.
• Spoon a heaping teaspoon of pastry cream into each cookie, then sandwich 2 similar-looking ones together to make a peach shape, cleaning off any pastry cream that squeezes out of the seams. At this point, the cookies may not stick together very well; prop them up next to each other to keep their shape.
• For decorating: Combine the nectar and almond extract in a small bowl and add enough food coloring to make it bright red, about 8 drops. Put the sugar in another bowl.
• Working one at a time, paint each peach cookie all over with the red nectar mixture using a medium paintbrush, then roll in the sugar to coat thoroughly. Make sure the cookies are still nicely sandwiched and place in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (the cookies should fit snugly in the baking pan so that they keep their shape). Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate 8 hours and up to overnight (this will blend the flavors and also set the pastry cream to keep the cookies together).
• Just before serving, garnish each cookie with a clove and mint sprig to look like little stems.

PEACH COBBLER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in peaches., Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until set, 14-16 minutes. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

BEACH COOKIES

Steps:

• Place the Special K in the large bowl- set aside.
• Mix the sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil.
• Turn off the heat, and add the peanut butter, stirring until peanut butter is melted.
• Pour over the cereal, mixing with wooden spoon.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.
• Allow to cool.
• Store in airtight container or zip-lock bags (I use the 2-gallon size and try to"layer" them, including the wax paper in the bags so they don't stick together too much).

BEACH DAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare the cookie dough according to the package directions for roll-out cookies, incorporating flour as instructed. Cut the dough into twelve 4 1/2-inch circles, rerolling the scraps as needed. Arrange on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Bake until the edges are light golden brown, 11 to 14 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, adding up to 1 tablespoon more water if needed, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer 1/4 cup of the icing to a piping bag fitted with a round number 3 tip. Spoon another 1/4 cup of the icing into a small bowl and thin with 1/2 teaspoon water to flooding consistency. You will know it has reached flooding consistency when you run a knife or fork through the icing and it flows back to where it was in 10 seconds. Add more water 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you've reached the right consistency. Transfer to a small piping bag (no tip needed).
• Add the food coloring to the remaining icing in the bowl and mix to combine. Transfer 1/4 cup to a piping bag fitted with a round number 3 tip. Thin the remaining blue icing with 1/4 teaspoon water to flooding consistency. You will know it has reached flooding consistency when you run a knife or fork through the icing and it flows back to where it was in 10 seconds. Transfer to a small piping bag (no tip needed).
• Using the thick blue icing, pipe the outline of the ocean and some waves on the bottom half of each cookie circle and let dry, about 20 minutes. Fill in the ocean with blue flooding icing using a toothpick to spread it all the way to the edges. Let dry completely, about 30 minutes.
• Outline the top half of each cookie with the thick white icing. Let dry completely, about 20 minutes. Fill in the empty space on the top half of each cookie with the white flooding icing using a toothpick to spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon crushed graham crackers over the wet icing on each. Let the icing dry completely, about 30 minutes, then tap the cookies to remove any excess crumbs. Pipe white ocean foam in swirls over the space where the blue and sand meet. Let dry completely, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, build the sandcastles: Dip 4 mini marshmallows in water, then roll in the graham cracker crumbs until completely covered. Use the thick white icing to stick 3 marshmallows together to form the base of a sandcastle. Pipe a small amount of icing on the bottom of the fourth marshmallow and stick it on top of the base. Repeat with the remaining marshmallows, cracker crumbs and icing to make 12 castles.
• Make the flags: Use a sharp knife to cut 12 small flags out of the rainbow sour candy. Cut 6 toothpicks in half for the flag poles. Stick each flag to a toothpick piece, then stick a flagpole into the top of each sandcastle.
• Make the sand buckets: Cut 12 strips from the green taffy, each 1/2 inch long and 1/16 inch wide. Roll 1 strip in your hand to a 1-inch-long rope for a bucket handle. Use thick white icing to glue the handle to a green gumdrop half. Sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs into the top of the gumdrop bucket. Repeat with the remaining taffy strips, icing, gumdrop halves and graham cracker crumbs to make 12 buckets.
• Make the shovels: Cut 12 strips from the green taffy for the shovel handles, each 1/2 inch long and 1/16 inch wide. Cut twelve 1/4-inch squares from the green taffy. Squeeze one square onto the top of each handle to make 12 shovels.
• Make the crabs: Use the round part of a number 3 piping tip to cut 12 half-circles out of the red taffy. Cut 72 strips for legs, each 1/6 inch wide and 1/4 inch long. Press 3 legs onto each side of each half-circle to make 12 crabs.
• Make the seashells: Use a sharp paring knife to cut 2 small pieces off the bottom of each white chocolate chip to create a seashell. Use the paring knife to make indentation lines in the shape of a seashell on top of each chip.
• Assemble the cookies: Use thick white icing to glue 1 sandcastle, 1 bucket, 1 shovel, 3 seashells and 1 crab to each cookie. Let dry completely, about 20 minutes.