Happy St. Patrick's Day, McReaders! Every year about this time, I try to convince my husband to officially add a "Mc" to the beginning of our last name. No disrespect to my in-laws, our name is wonderful...but a "Mc"...that would add a little something. When I was going through my Gone with the Wind stage in high school, I was sure I would marry someone named O'Hara...Bridget O'Hara. Then, I fantasized about being Bridget McBride or even Bridget St. John....well, he's not going for it. Let's drown our sorrows in St. Paddy's cookies. 
Let me say up front...I'm not thrilled with these cookies. Why I thought a BLACK POT cookie would be cute, I'll never know. Today, hours after they were finished, mind you, it hit me...DOTS! I should have made dotty pots. Next year?
It doesn't show in the picture, but the "gold" is actually shiny and metallic looking and made with luster dust,* which you can find at bakery supply stores and online. 
Here's how to use it:
- Decorate cookies with royal icing and let dry overnight.
- Mix a little vodka (the guy at the cake supply store swears by Everclear, but that's not something I keep on-hand, vodka however...) with small amount of luster dust. I use a baby spoon for this; a little goes a long way.
- Using a child's paintbrush, paint the mixture onto the cookies.
- The alcohol will evaporate, leaving the metallic sheen.
*Lustre or Luster Dust is a dry powder that can be applied to add a metallic sheen to icing. The product is interesting...my bakery supply store sells lustre dust that is labeled "non-toxic" and edible, some is labeled "for decorative purposes only." Remember those silver dragees (balls) that you ate as a kid on cookies and cupcakes? Those are labeled "decorative" now, too. In my opinion, a little won't kill me. From what I understand through the "baking grapevine", Europe considers all lustre dust "edible"; the US doesn't. Weird! Anyway...check your bakery supply for the "non-toxic" version.
More cookies decorated with luster dust:
Don't forget to enter the COOKIE GIVEAWAY!!!
Welcome to Bake at 350! I'm Bridget and I like all things sweet...especially cookie decorating. I hope you'll find some inspiration here. So, grab a chair (and a cookie) and let's get baking! [
cute cute cute! I like the pots of gold! And Bridget O'Hara would have been great, but I think that you married a nice guy--even if he doesn't have a Mc- or O' prefix. :)
ReplyDeleteEasy coming from you, miss D'! ;) I'm kidding! I gladly take the great guy over the name!
ReplyDeleteAdorable. Maybe you could convince your husband to add an O' at the beginning of your name. :o)
ReplyDeleteI can't stop laughing at the name 'luster dust'. It sounds like something I need to add to my beauty regime.
ReplyDeleteThe cookies are adorable! Sadly, I don't live in the US so I can't enter the contest to win any cookies. I'll have to comfort myself with the thought that I DO have an Irish last name, which is pretty fun on St. Paddy's Day.
I like the pots of gold with the green clover accent, too! I think many of us had a Scarlett O'Hara stage... I love her phrase: "Fiddle-dee-dee, I'll think about it tomorrow"...
ReplyDeleteI have that pot of gold cookie cutter too. This year I made brownie rollout cookies for it and they turned out great. Not as pretty as yours, but still great.
ReplyDeleteI love the luster dust! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Your cookies look so perfect. But now I know the trick, chill after cutting, before baking.
ReplyDeletei love them and i want a Mc on the front of my new last name :) McFlynn that is awesome !!
ReplyDeleteYou sell yourself short, these are adorable!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute!! You are an awesome cookie baker. I want you to be my neighbor :)
ReplyDeleteThe cookies look great. As usual.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Gone With the Wind, all I see is Carol Burnett wearing the dress with the drapery rod across her shoulders!!
May I ask one question? How do you set up your cookies for pictures to get either an all black background or an all white one? They look so perfect!
ReplyDeleteGiBee...I take the black pictures on a piece of black velvet. The white is just my countertops. :)
ReplyDeleteThese look awesome! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHello! Just wanted to let you know that we linked up to this great post of yours in our recently published article on a St. Patrick's Day engagement party. Thank you for a sweet (literally) idea!
ReplyDeleteThis is the link: http://www.bellenza.com/wedding-ideas/decorate/put-on-a-classy-st-patrick%E2%80%99s-day-engagement-party.html