Rolled Sugar Cookie Eyeballs

So, I’ll be honest, this is a recipe for some really killer sugar cookies…rather than a step by step guide on how to decorate them into eyeballs.  I pretty much suck at decorating cookies, because I have no patience, and I can never find the tools I need to do it.  Every other time I make these cookies, I opt for a nice messy glaze of the icing mentioned below (although, I try hard to sort-of contain it on the cookie).

This dough can be cut into any shape you want, and iced however you’d like too.  I was over ambitious today and created these eyeballs for Halloween.  It was a lot of work, and I’d rather not think too hard about what all went into it. But I’ll give you a brief rundown, so hopefully you can create some crazy good cookies too.
Regardless of how fancy looking they are, they are sure to amaze when it comes to taste and texture.  The best thing  about these is  that you can adjust the thickness of the dough and cooking time for different levels of “done-ness”.  I love them just barely baked, and half an inch thick… but I am known to eat an ungodly amount of raw cookie dough.  So, that’s not saying much.

I would argue that this is the perfect recipe for a rolled sugar cookie.  (You may disagree- if so, please, send me the opposing recipe!)  I have people beg me to make these for them- A LOT.  I can guarantee that you will too……..if you dare to share (insert evil laughter).

Rolled Sugar Cookies / Eyeball Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups Earth Balance margarine
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 cup regular sugar
• 6 tsp EnerG egg replacer frothed with 8 tbsp hot water -yeah, it’s a lot- and I’ve never tried it any other way… so, unfortunately I am not much help to those who cannot get their hands on EnerG :(
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 cups flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream Earth Balance and sugars together until smooth.  Add prepared egg replacer and baking powder.  Add vanilla extract and salt.  Mix in flour, adding 1 cup at a time until well blended.  Your final dough will look like this:

Place into bowl, flatten slightly and chill 2 hours in refrigerator.

Once cold, roll out on surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar.  To roll out this dough, it’s a combination of patting, and smoothing/rolling out with rolling pin, until 1/2″ thick.  It’s not like your typical dough.  Be forewarned- you can’t knead this stuff.  Also, if you like your cookies a little more “done”, then roll them thinner.

Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.  Using spatula, gently place cookies (they can stand to be fairly close together) on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 6-8 minutes.  I always bake mine for 6 minutes, and they seem underdone when warm, but when cooled they are perfect- moist and dense… just how I like them.

When cool, ice with icing below.  Let harden for at least an hour.  They are best if left overnight, covered.

To make into eyeballs:

Cut out dough with circle cookie cutters.  Bake and let cool.

I used store bought icing for the rim around the edge and the pupils, for lack of time, care, and enough piping bags.  Feel free to do the same for all or none of the icing.

Make a ring of icing to keep the filler icing from spilling over edges.

If you are just doing a simple glaze over the cookies, rather than eye-balls or other designs, the icing below is my all time fave.  I also used this stuff as the “whites’ of the eye.

Icing:
There are no measurements because I just look at the texture… sorry.

You will need:

• confectioner’s sugar
• water
• corn syrup

Take about 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar and add a little bit of water to make into a smooth paste.  Add about a tsp corn syrup and stir well.  The consistency should look like this:

Careful if using with a piping bag- it can, and will, spill everywhere.  Make sure to hold the ends of the bag up if you aren’t piping icing.

Take white icing and fill in first icing circle.. you don’t need much, it spreads. While icing is still wet, dip a toothpick into a little bit of red food dye and pull lines through to make blood vessels.  Let dry.

I took some leftover fondant that we had used for our wedding cake to make the iris of the eye.  Just added some blue food dye and kneaded it in.  I rolled it out and cut circles with tiny cookie cutters and placed it on the “whites” of the eye.

Then I took some black icing (store bought) and made pupils by squirting a bit in the center.

That’s it!  Let icing harden and enjoy.

Tip:  These cookies are majorly awesome the next day.  Gives enough time to let the icing soak into the cookie.  Well worth the wait.

Happy Halloween!