Emma and I have been very busy baking sugar cookies. Last week I shared our Black Bats, and today I’m sharing our Heirloom Pumpkin, Acorn & Leaf cookies. Of course you could add a Jack-o-Lantern face to these and make them spooky for Halloween, but these Fall themed cookies would be perfect for Thanksgiving, too.
This packaging idea was inspired by a box of cookies I received when I attended a baby shower hosted by Amy Shaw. Amy, formerly at the Dolce Baking Co. here in KC, is now making amazing desserts and pastries at The South End Buttery in Boston. She has a great flair for making (and packaging) scrumptious looking desserts. I love that you can see the cookies through the scalloped window of the box, and that the kinkle helps cushion the cookies to keep them from breaking. Wouldn’t it make a great gift for teachers, neighbors or a party? (The last day to order Halloween Products is this Wednesday.) Products for Packaging Cookies: – Kraft Cookie Boxes (with Scalloped Window), $12 for 10 – Kraft Krinkle, $4 – Halloween Tags, $6 Products for Baking Cookies : – Parchment Sheet Pan Liners – Disposable Pastry Bags
As I’ve said before, great looking icing colors can make a huge difference on a cookie – even with a simple design and minimal decoration. My rule of thumb is to mute the colors I’m mixing slightly by adding a touch of the opposite color. For instance, here I am mixing a pale orange to match the heirloom pumpkin. 1 drop red 1 drop yellow 1/2 drop green The green helps to mute the orange so it is not as bright and a little more natural looking.
Recipes : My Favorite Sugar Cookie (made with powdered sugar) & Royal Icing.
I made a pale brown to match the stem color. 1/2 drop of red 1 drop of yellow 1/2 drop of blue 1/4 drop of black
Then I created a brighter orange to match the squash by adding more red.
Next, I made acorns and oak leafs.
The oak leaves are a great mustard yellow with dark brown stems.
The acorns are two different tones of brown. I wish I’d had brown sprinkles for the tops!
When decorating the pumpkins, I tried to leave some vertical streaks as I piped in the icing to mimic the shape of a a real pumpkin. You can see the colors look pretty close to the real thing. Two years ago I did four different colors of heirloom pumpkins complete with icing tinting instructions – you can see it here.
Here are the cookies boxed up. You can see how the krinkle helps hold them in place and protect them… too much work to have them break.
Sweet little hands helping tie (ok, untie) bows.
I’m offer three different tags for Halloween : – Happy Halloween – BOO! Happy Halloween – Trick or Treat Again, the last day to order Halloween products is this Wednesday to receive them by October 29th (at the latest). 
Here are more of the Halloween Cookies we decorated and packaged in Cello Bags. 
These Ina’s Orange candles would also be great for a spooky Halloween treat. I’m planning to put these on top of cupcakes with black sprinkles for our Pumpkin Carving Party this weekend. They come in 15″ tall & 6″ candles, $15/$7