Cap and Diploma Sugar Cookies: A Sweet Graduation Celebration
Graduation season is a whirlwind of activities, and amidst the hustle, baking personalized treats can add a special touch to the celebration. These cap and diploma sugar cookies are not only delicious but also serve as a festive tribute to the graduate's achievement. This recipe provides a foundation for creating memorable and customizable graduation cookies, perfect for parties or as thoughtful gifts.
Why Bake Graduation Cookies?
Graduation ceremonies mark a significant milestone, and what better way to celebrate than with themed cookies? Cap and diploma sugar cookies bring a personal and creative element to the festivities. They can be customized with school colors, graduate's name, or other unique designs, making them a standout treat that adds a personal touch to any graduation party.
Essential Ingredients for Sugar Cookies
To begin, gather the necessary ingredients for the sugar cookie dough:
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Flavoring (such as vanilla extract or almond extract)
Step-by-Step Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat about 4 minutes by hand.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Crack egg into a separate bowl and add flavoring. Add the egg mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry mixture, little by little, to the butter/sugar mixture. A paddle attachment works well for this step.
- Roll Out Dough: Roll out on parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick, using flour for dusting as necessary. If you roll out your dough on a silicone mat you can use just the tiniest bit of flour to dust the mat. If you don't have a silicone mat, then dust your counter or cutting board liberally with flour and roll out the dough.
- Cut Out Shapes: Use cap and diploma cookie cutters to cut out the desired shapes from the dough.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 10-14 minutes until the edges look set and the tops no longer look wet. Baking times are approximate, so watch the cookies carefully.
- Cool: When cookies are baked, immediately loosen them from cookie sheet with thin metal spatula. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
Royal Icing Recipe
- Powdered sugar
- Meringue powder
- Water
- Food coloring
Decorating the Cookies
- Prepare Royal Icing: Mix powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until you achieve a smooth consistency. Divide the icing into separate bowls and add color in small amounts to achieve the desired shades.
- Outline and Flood: Use piping icing to outline the cookies and then flood the centers with the thinned icing.
- Add Details to Caps: Outline the top of the cap first (it’s almost a diamond shape) then the bottom. I made each cap slightly different just to show that there is a little room for creativity with even the most generic of cookie shapes.
- Add Details to Diplomas: Use white or off-white icing to create the rolled diploma look. Add a ribbon with school colors using a contrasting icing.
- Finishing Touches: Add decorative details such as the graduate's initials, graduation year, or school logo.
Cute Smiling Graduates with Modeling Chocolate
To erase the horror of yet another graduation cookie, I thought I would finish up with something fun. You might notice that these are actually gumpaste/fondant cutters. The one drawback is that these don’t work well for cookies over half an inch thick. Learn how to decorate these Cute Smiling Graduates using delicious modeling chocolate. Our next-door neighbor graduated from high school recently and I helped create desserts for his party. I kept the design super simple by drawing a simple smiley face, using a black food coloring marker, onto a peach-colored modeling chocolate face. The tassels can also be colored accordingly. I chose to make my tassels gold. If you love working with modeling chocolate (Candy Clay) then you might really enjoy my book, Candy Clay Creations which is filled with detailed step-by-step instructions for making the cutest treats using candy clay. If you'd like more information, check out my Candy Clay Creations page. Start by making my favorite cut-out cookie dough. Color about ⅔ of the white modeling chocolate using flesh tone food coloring. Color your modeling chocolate appropriately for your tassels. I'm sorry if that sounds a bit confusing. Cute smiley face graduate cookies decorated with modeling chocolate make great desserts for your graduation party.
Working with Modeling Chocolate
- Color the Modeling Chocolate: Color about ⅔ of the white modeling chocolate using flesh tone food coloring. Color your modeling chocolate appropriately for your tassels.
- Create Faces: Roll out the flesh-toned modeling chocolate and cut out small circles for the faces.
- Add Details: Draw a simple smiley face using a black food coloring marker onto each peach-colored modeling chocolate face.
- Make Tassels: Shape the colored modeling chocolate into small tassels.
- Attach to Cookies: Attach the modeling chocolate faces and tassels to the cookies.
Candy Coating Option
The candy coating can be microwaved. Place into microwave-safe bowl; microwave candy coating 60 seconds. Stir; continue microwaving 30-60 seconds or until candy coating is melted.
Read also: Understanding the IB Diploma Program
Tips for Success
- Chill the Dough: If the dough becomes too soft, chill it in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes before rolling it out.
- Even Thickness: Ensure the dough is rolled out to an even thickness for uniform baking.
- Prevent Spreading: To prevent the cookies from spreading during baking, use chilled cookie sheets.
- Practice Piping: Practice piping techniques on parchment paper before decorating the cookies to achieve clean lines and precise details.
- Creative Freedom: Don't be afraid to experiment with different colors, designs, and embellishments to make each cookie unique.
Freezing and Storage
These sugar cookies can be baked ahead of time, frozen, then defrosted and decorated, or the decorated cookies can be frozen.
- Freezing Dough: Wrap the unbaked dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling and baking.
- Freezing Baked Cookies: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. For longer storage, freeze the cookies for up to 2-3 months.
- Freezing Decorated Cookies: Freeze decorated cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer them to an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper.
Serving Suggestions
- Graduation Parties: Display the cookies on a decorative platter or arrange them as part of a dessert table.
- Gifts: Package the cookies in cellophane bags or decorative boxes as thoughtful graduation gifts for friends and family.
- Personalized Touches: Add personalized messages or the graduate's name to make the cookies extra special.
Customizing Your Cookies
- School Colors: Use food coloring to match the icing to the graduate's school colors.
- Graduate's Name: Pipe the graduate's name or initials onto the diploma cookies.
- Graduation Year: Add the graduation year to the cap cookies.
- Edible Decorations: Use edible glitter, sprinkles, or pearls to add extra sparkle and flair.
Alternative Cookie Shapes
While caps and diplomas are classic choices, consider other graduation-themed shapes such as:
- Stars
- Books
- School mascots
- Numbers representing the graduation year
Basic Sugar Cookie and Royal Icing Recipe
So here’s my recipe for basic sugar cookies and royal icing. Have a graduate in your family?
Candy Coating Option
If you would like to freeze these cookies, wait to dip the cookies into the coating until a day or two before serving.
End-Of-School-Craziness
It’s that time of year again! Call it End-Of-School-Craziness, but this year it meets house training an adorable puppy (pics at a later date) + repairs in an area of the house effected by a leaky roof + two graduations. That doesn’t leave time for much else including blog posts, but then I thought…cookies. Guess what I’m itching to bake? Graduation cookies!
Read also: High School Diploma Jobs
Yield
Yield: 2 - 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
Notes
Notes: Baking times are approximate so watch the cookies.
Rolling Cookies
Working quickly, place buttered handle of wooden spoon on one side of cookie; carefully roll up. Keep bowl of spoon over edge of counter to make rolling easier. Slide cookie off spoon handle onto cooling rack.
Read also: Navigating CDL Education
tags: #diploma #sugar #cookies #recipe
