Edgar Allan Poe Cookies

Edgar Allan Poe Cookies

Edgar Allan Poe Cookies

Happy Birthday Edgar Allan Poe. I ordered Edgar Allan Poe edible wafer paper from Fancy Flours, and baked cookies in honor of his birthday today. Poe is one of my favorite writers and I never used wafer paper before and was eager to try this technique. Wafer paper is very thin, edible and made from dehydrated potato starch, water and vegetable oil. Fancy Flours prints the images with food-safe dye. Gladly, it was a great experience and I will use wafer paper again. I use Sweetopia's Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe and Joy of Baking's Royal Icing Recipe. I had dough saved from a previous recipe in my freezer and just thawed it overnight. The directions and recipe that follows below are for a full batch of cookies. If you only need a small batch, save half of the dough. I recommend you cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to bake.

Edgar Allan Poe Cookies

For this recipe you need:
Small Raven cookie cutter and medium and large Plaque cookie cutters

1 sheet, 8 Wafer Paper, Edgar Allan Paper Poe Design (from Fancy Flours)

Craft Knife

Craft Brush

1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup (to adhere wafer paper to royal icing)

Black Sanding Sugar for the Raven Cookies

Edgar Allan Poe Cookies

Raven Cookies

Vanilla Sugar Cookie 
Ingredients
2 cups, 4 sticks Unsalted Butter, softened and each stick cut into 8 cubes

2 cups Granulated Sugar

2 Extra Large Eggs

3 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

5 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Coarse Salt

All the Edgar Allan Poe Cookies I baked

My copy of Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Directions
Sift flour and add salt. Combine with spatula; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a hand held or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; about 2 minutes.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for a 10-15 seconds.

Add eggs one at a time, mix until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5-10 seconds.

Craft Knife to cut wafer paper designs

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie on stand

Add vanilla extract and mix on low until incorporated, about 20-25 seconds.

Slowly add flour mixture on low to combine. The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Roll dough into ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-2 hours.

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie close up

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie

Cut dough into 4 cuts, leaving unused dough covered with plastic wrap in the fridge until ready to use.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Use 2 sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached. I left the dough 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out shapes. Place onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and put in freezer for 10 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 12 minutes.

Edgar Allan Poe The Complete Tales and Poems Book Cookie

Edgar Allan Poe The Complete Tales and Poems Book Cookie close up

Royal Icing
Ingredients
4 Egg Whites

4 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

6 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie

Directions
In a medium size bowl, whisk together egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment.

Slowly add sifted sugar and beat on low until smooth.

If needed, you may add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. Watch the Joy of Baking (link at the end) video for both Flooding Consistency and Piping Consistency Royal Icing. If you prefer a recipe using Meringue Powder, it is also available at this link.

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie

Edgar Allan Poe The Raven Cookie

I placed the icing in a plastic container, and added a few drops of AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Super White.

I transfer the icing immediately into squeeze bottles using a funnel to prevent it from spilling.

Keep the Royal Icing covered until you are ready to color because if left opened, it hardens fast due to air exposure. If this happens use a spray bottle and spritz 1-2 times and shake bottle well holding the tip with your finger. Test the icing consistency on a paper towel before decorating the cookie.

I did the white borders around each cookie and waited 1/2 hour before flooding the cookie.

Use a paintbrush to reach edges and use cookie stick or tip of a toothpick to pop any air bubbles.

I placed the cookies on top of cooling rack with paper towels under it.

Let the cookies dry overnight before you apply the wafer paper designs.

Edgar Allan Poe Cookie

Edgar Allan Poe Quoth the Raven Cookie

Wafer Paper
Directions
Use craft knife and carefully cut wafer paper to the size of your cookie shapes.

Pour 1/4 cup of light corn syrup in a small bowl.

Appy corn syrup gently to wafer paper with craft brush.

Gently place the wafer paper on your dry cookie. Press gently around all the edges of the cookie.

Take a paper towel and gently press on the wafer design.

Turn cookie over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let wafer paper set for 10 minutes.

Your hands may get sticky from the corn syrup so be sure to rinse with warm water and dry your hands completely before handling the wafer paper again.

Make sure you do not get corn syrup on the front side of the image.

For further information:
Please visit, Sweetopia for the Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe:
http://sweetopia.net/2009/12/sugar-cookie-recipe/

Please visit, Fancy Flours to order Edgar Allan Poe Edible Wafer Paper and other fine baking products:
http://www.fancyflours.com/product/edgar-allan-poe-waffer-paper/halloween-themed-edible-wafer-paper

Please visit, Joy of Baking for the Royal Icing Recipe and Video Tutorial:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys