To celebrate Earth Day, here is an easy cookie project that comes together quickly. Everyone can enjoy creating this Earth Day Baking DIY! Using one roll of store-bought cookie dough and a handful of ingredients, you can create a sweet eco-treat to celebrate our planet!
Materials:
For approximately 12 cookies:
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough, approximately 16 oz.
A pinch of cocoa powder
6 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
A drop of yellow liquid food color
¼ teaspoon blue liquid food color
⅛ teaspoon green liquid food color
Approximately ¼ cup of white chocolate chips or white candy disks (Candy Melts)
½ to 1 cup red chocolate candy disks (Candy Melts); the amount needed depends on the size heart you cut out in your cookies (a smaller heart will use less, and larger heart will use more).
How-To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Unwrap the roll of cookie dough. Divide the dough into three sections: one piece approximately ½ an inch, one piece 7 to 8 inches long, and one piece approximately 4 inches long.
Knead 1 teaspoon of flour and a pinch of cocoa powder into the ½” section of dough. Once the flour is incorporated, knead in a drop of yellow food color until combined. Set this dough aside.
Knead 4 tablespoons of flour into the 7” long section of dough. When all of the flour is incorporated, knead in ¼ teaspoon of blue food color (disposable gloves strongly recommended). Set this dough aside.
Knead 2 tablespoons of flour into the remaining 4” section of dough. When all of the flour is incorporated, knead in ⅛ teaspoon green food color. Set the dough aside.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working with one color at a time, roll the dough section into a log shape, and then divide the log into 12 equal pieces. Repeat with the other two colored dough sections.
To make a cookie, take one piece of each color in your hand and gently work the colors together to marble them (be careful not to mix the colors too much or you will not see the swirls of the three colors in the finished cookie).
Roll into a ball and flatten it slightly with your palms. Place the cookies on the parchment lined baking sheets, placing six cookies on each sheet.
Bake the cookies for 9 to 12 minutes, until firm but not yet beginning to brown. Remove the tray from the oven and set it aside to allow the cookies to cool just a little, about 5 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, use a metal heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape in each cookie. Remove the cut out and allow the cookies to cool completely on the trays.
Put the red chocolate in a zip-top freezer bag, seal the top of the bag and place the bag in a bowl of hot tap water. It will take about 5 minutes to melt completely.
Meanwhile, put the white chocolate in a small bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds, until fully melted.
Remove the bag of melted red chocolate from the bowl of hot water, and dry off the outside of the bag. Knead the bag a bit to ensure that all of the chocolate is fully melted. Use scissors to snip a small opening from one corner of the bag.
Carefully fill the cut-out heart on each cookie with the melted red chocolate. Allow the cookies to sit until the chocolate sets. Once the chocolate is set, remove the cookies from the tray.
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