Cookie Variation: Witches

If there wasn't already enough food out there to inspire us, holidays always give us further inspiration to find a way to make any holiday icon into a dessert. This is easiest to do with cookies, in particular, as anyone who has gone to a kitchen store recently knows - evidenced through the cookie cutter displays which now take up whole walls to accommodate every season, animal, and holiday icon in existence. My personal cookie cutter inventory includes the traditional (christmas tree) and more unique (salmon). With all of this choice, unfortunately, comes tough decisions then about what features embody certain icons.

In the case of Halloween, I have always found it tough to make the perfect witch, as there are so many variations on witches and not one standard for how a witch has to look. Many cookies are a profile of a witch on a broom, or just the witch's hat without the person underneath. Since the broom could be too fragile in miniature polymer clay, and the hat not inclusive of the witch herself, I've always gone back to making just the witch's head for the perfect cookie. But what features to focus on? The pointed nose and chin, the prominent hat, or just getting all the colors correct?

The three above variations showcase each of these, which you can add to the collection of variations already in the Gingerbread Cookie recipe in the book. Each of the above is roughly 1/2" tall and work well with the sugar cookie base, with granny smith green, orange and black each mixed with translucent for the icing.

I kept all of the witches friendly, and gave each a small red smile (or leers, should you prefer to make them more sinister). The eyes are small black glass marbles, which can typically be found in the scrapbooking aisle of a craft store.

I'd be interested to know which witch is preferred - or if there are any other favorite variations people make in the edible version (purple hats, whole witches which wouldn't be too fragile, etc).

I think my favorite is the profile witch - although not as cute, she looks like she could emit the shrill cackle needed when flying through the night air.

~Susan