Marbled Stars

Marbled Stars

For the Labor Day holiday, I made Marbled Stars using my orange sugar cookie recipe that I share below. I used vanilla sugar and granulated sugar, and added a little orange extract to enhance the orange flavor from the orange juice and zest. This cookie is chewy and fragrant, with a perfect orange flavor profile. To see some of my other marbled cookies, go to Marbled Star Cookies and Eclipse Galaxy Cookies. I used Bakery Bling Glittery Fourth of July Glittery Sugar and CK Products Mini Red, White, and Blue Stars to decorate over the marbled icing. Each cookie has a unique design and though it is messy putting the cookies together, it is a fun project you may enjoy doing with your kids. See the Orange Sugar Cookie and Marble Glaze Icing recipe and directions below.

Marbled Stars

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen (depending on cookie cutter size)

Orange Sugar Cookie

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups Vanilla Sugar

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Coarse Salt

1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened

1 Large Egg 

1/2 teaspoon Orange Extract

1/4 cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Zest of 1 Orange

Marbled Stars

Directions

Zest the orange and squeeze juice; set aside.

Whisk together flour and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.

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

Add egg, orange extract, and mix until incorporated; about 1 minute. 

Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 seconds.

With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture and incorporate. The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Form a disk with the dough, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-3 hours or overnight. I chilled for 2 hours.

Marbled Stars, close-up

Heat oven to 375°F.

Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

Cut out star shapes.

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 15 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 10-15 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 13 minutes. 

Oven temps vary so check the cookies at the 9 minute mark.

Marbled Stars

Make sure cookie sheets cool in between baking. I place them in the freezer for a few minutes and then place cut-out dough on cold cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 20 minutes. This is important. Do not use hot cookie sheets or the cookies will spread and lose their shape.

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies with cookie spatula to cooling racks to complete cooling, about 1 hour.

Decorate once the cookies are cool to the touch.

Pretty glittery stars

Marble Glaze Icing 

Ingredients

3 cups Powdered Sugar

3 tablespoons Light Corn Syrup

3-4 tablespoons Milk

1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract

AmeriColor Soft Food Gel Paste Food Color in Super Red and Royal Blue 

Optional: Any sprinkles you desire

I used both to decorate over the marbled icing

Directions
In a large bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, and light corn syrup until smooth.

If the glaze is too dry, add 1 more tablespoon of milk

Add vanilla and almond extracts and stir.

Divide glaze into 2-3 containers with lids; use more containers if you have a lot of cookies.

Use one bowl at a time and dip toothpick into gel colors and then into glaze and swirl with Wilton Scribe Tool or a toothpick to make a pretty design.

Red and Blue Gel Food Color

Glaze Icing Swirled

Make each container a different variation of color with more red and more blue if you wish for variation.

Place a layer of paper towels over baking sheet, then place the cookies on wire racks for icing overflow.

Dip cookie into glaze, swirl around, and place on wire rack.

Cookies setting

If you wish, add sprinkles, stars, etc... and repeat until you are done.

For the Star-Spangled Cookies marbled icing recipe and video tutorial, visit Sugar Spun Run:
https://sugarspunrun.com/star-spangled-cookies/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys