These cookies are as beautiful as the sun hanging delicately in a clear blue sky. Ombre is the process of having colours which shade into one another, and it’s what we’ve used with these cookies to achieve that glowing effect. These Sunshine Ombre Cookies are beautiful, and ready to be shared!
Prep Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
Cook Time: 12 to 15 minutes
Yield: 30 cookies
Ingredients
- 313 g / 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 g / 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 g / 1/4 tsp salt
- 227 g / 1 cup Crystal margarine
- 80 g / 2/3 cup icing sugar
- 5 ml / 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 ml / 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
- orange gel food colouring
- golden yellow gel food colouring
- lemon yellow gel food colouring
Directions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the Crystal margarine and icing sugar, until smooth.
- Add vanilla and almond extracts, and cream until thoroughly incorporated into the Crystal margarine mixture.
- Add the flour mixture in thirds, mix until flour is just incorporated before adding more. Do not overmix or cookies will become tough.
- Divide the dough into 4 portions as follow: 3/4 cup (210 grams), 2/3 cup (190 grams), 1/2 cup (140 grams), and 1/3 cup (95 grams).
- Place a few drops of gel food colouring into each batch of dough in varying degrees of yellow. Start with the smallest piece of dough, and work towards the largest. It is always easier to add more gel colouring to achieve a darker colour than to lighten one. Mix the colour into the dough by folding and squishing the dough together with your hands. Keep dough well covered in plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out. Place wrapped dough into the fridge to rest and chill before using; about 30 minutes.
- Keeping the rest of the dough in the fridge, roll the smallest piece of dough into an even rope about 1/2 inch (13 millimeters) in diameter and 11 inches (28 centimetres) in length. Cover with plastic wrap and place back into the fridge.
- Between 2 sheets of parchment, with a rolling pin, roll out the next smallest piece of yellow dough into a rectangle 3 x 11 inches (7.6 centimetres X 28 centimetres) about 1/8 inch (3 millimeters) thick. Place onto a baking sheet and set into the fridge to chill; about 5 minutes. Place the rope on one edge of the rolled out dough and roll and wrap the dough around the rope. Use the parchment paper to aid in the rolling. Cover and place into the fridge. Take out the darker yellow dough and roll into a rectangle 4 1/2 x 11 inches (11.5 x 28 centimetres) and 1/8 inch (3 millimeters) thick. Repeat process, and place the thicker rope onto the chilled rectangle and roll the dough around it. Repeat with the last piece of dough, rolling the dough to 5 1/2 x 11 inches (14 x 28 centimetres). Wrap the entire log in plastic wrap and place into the freezer to firm up; at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Take log out of the freezer.
- With a sharp chef’s knife, slice log into 1/4 inch (6 millimeter) slices and place onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches (5 centimetres) apart. Place sliced cookies back into the freezer to chill; about 15 minutes. Transfer sheets into the preheated oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until just golden. Take out of the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored up to 4 days at room temperature in an airtight container or up to 2 months if placed into the freezer.
Chef Notes
- To control the amount of colouring added to the dough, add gel food colouring with a toothpick.
- If dough gets too soft to work with, place back into the fridge or into the freezer for about 15 minutes until it becomes firm again.
- Use a bench scraper, or a utensil with a straightedge, to aid in pushing the dough into a rectangle.
- Do not over bake cookies or the colours will become less vibrant.
- Chilling cookies in the freezer before baking will help cookies keep their shape.
