Cookie Graduation Cap (Tutorial)

You know me.....and 3D cookies. Love 'em!

You'll need some chocolate cookie dough (or just color regular dough with black food color gel).
For one grad cap, you'll need 3-ovals cookies and 1-diamond cookie slightly bigger than the ovals.

With black 10-second glaze, "glue" the ovals and diamond together.

Add a black button to the mortarboard.

Then make a few tassel cookies (tutorial here) with bakers twine attached.....and you're ready to go!

Graduation Tassel Cookies (Tutorial)
Graduation Cap Cookies (Tutorial)
Cookie Graduation Cap (Tutorial)
2013 Graduation Cookie Collection

CookieCrazieBasics: Chocolate Cut-Out Recipe

I love making chocolate cookies not only because chocolate is AMAZING(!) but because the dark background of the cookies really makes certain designs pop. 

This recipe is a modification of my regular sugar cookie recipe. I didn't want to tamper with the success I've had with the original......so I traded out some of the flour in the original recipe and added cocoa instead. It works well.....and is very yummy. I also add expresso powder to intensify the chocolate flavor. Mmmmmm.....

CookieCrazie Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp expresso powder (optional....but highly recommended!)

1/2 cup sour cream

4 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla, cocoa, expresso powder & sour cream.

Blend in dry ingredients.

The dough does not need to be refrigerated before rolling & cutting.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough to desired thickness. Cut into shapes.

Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake approx 20 minutes.

Yield: 20-25 medium cookies

Everything else is the same after mixing up the dough.

Here's some of my favorite chocolate cookie designs.....(Click on the photo to see the blog post.)

Hey....and what a lovely way to end the post.....with some Valentines cookies made with the chocolate dough. :)