Off to School We Go...

As I was setting up my classroom and sharpening all those #2 pencils for the upcoming school year, I came up with a clever cookie idea:

Sugar Cookie Pencils! 

It doesn't matter how old you are, going back to school or office supply shopping is always fun and nostalgic.  I mean who can resist buying new pens, pencils, notebooks, Post It notes, etc.  Definitely not me!  Well this recipe is going to make your shopping trip even sweeter and more memorable.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup soft unsalted butter
• 3 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs Butter Extract
• 6 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• white frosting (any flavor is fine)
• yellow Sugar
• 1 bag each of pink and black Candy Melts

Directions:

• Cream together butter and sugar til light and fluffy
• Add eggs, vanilla extract, and butter extract, mix
• Add dry ingredients.  Mix til thoroughly combined... but do not over mix
• Wrap in plastic and let sit in refrigerator for at least 3 hours 
• When ready to make the cookies slightly roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to soften it. Do not roll too flat.
• Pull off small balls of dough and roll into long cylinder tubes about 1/4 in diameter.  Pinch the tips to look like points. See below:

 

• Once the "pencils" are formed, let sit in the fridge for at least ten minutes to firm
• Bakes at 350 degrees for 10-12 min, let cool
• Frost cookies with a white frosting and roll in yellow sugar ........ (Hint: Only frost a few at a time so the frosting does not harden.  If it hardens the sugar will not stick as well.)

• Melt pink Candy Melts in microwave safe bowl and gently paint the melted candy on the flat side to create an eraser.  (I used a butter knife because it had a nice flat edge.)

• Finally, melt the black Candy Melts in a plastic piping bag. (Hint: Plastic bag works too.)  Pipe two thin black lines to separate the eraser from the wood and pipe a black tip on the point to create the look of lead.  Feel free to add any other embellishment you would like.  I chose to draw a small black line to look like it says "no. 2."

 

What student wouldn't want to start off the new school year with a few freshly sharpened "Sugar Cookie" Pencils? Now go make this school year extra special!