March 30, 2010

Scrabble Cookies

Actually, these are Meyer Lemon Sugar Cookies. I had this crazy idea of making these cookies into "letter tiles" for my kids to get excited about playing Scrabble, my favorite board game growing up. I love Scrabble and I would always beg my older siblings to play with me. Never mind that I was only five years old at the time and can't spell words longer than 3 letters! But my brothers and sister were kind to their baby sister and would always let me play along.


I was inspired by these periodic table cookies from Not So Humble Pie and also by this post from I am Baker (who took inspiration from this post by Bake at 350.) All this blog-hopping got me thinking maybe I can make them as authentic as possible, good enough so they can be used to play on the board. (Yes, I'm crazy and a nerd!) That means getting the exact dimensions for the letter tiles which surprisingly I cannot find in the Official Scrabble website. So I frantically looked all over the house for the board game but no luck, I think it's still packed away in storage. Then I ask my Twitter followers but no response either (but now Scrabble is following me, ha!)

I ended up just cutting them into 1 by 3/4-inch pieces. They baked quickly since they were small but apparently not small enough as you can see from the picture below. I also didn't have black food coloring for the icing for writing the letters so just used an edible marker which actually made it easier for me. My kids got into this little project I've concocted and helped writing in the letters, too. The not-so-perfect ones were munched right away. :)


But the best part was we actually used the cookies to play a little game of Scrabble. (I ended up buying a new board game.) When I mentioned that I'll be entering this for a contest, my kids wanted to spell them out and my genius first-born exclaimed "Hey, we're playing with our food!" Rather naughtily, I may add so I let them spell them out but we couldn't connect all the words together. :(


Then I told them Andrew Zimmern will be judging the contest, they quickly made this:


But I take full credit for the words spelled on the tile rack. :)

Meyer Lemon Sugar Cookies
(Feel free to use your favorite sugar cookie recipe, I just happen to have plenty of Meyer Lemons at the moment. Also, any type of citrus can be substituted)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tsp fresh Meyer Lemon juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
finely grated rind of 1 Meyer Lemon
salt

Put the butter and sugar and mix well with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Then add the egg yolk and juice and beat in. Sift the flour and salt into the bowl and stir until combined. Add the lemon rind and combine once more.

Divide the dough into 2 disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator to chill until firm, about 30 min to an hour.

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Line baking trays with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough, roll to 1/8 inch thick and use a chef's knife to make straight cuts. (A pasty wheel dragged my dough to skewed it, find out what works best for you. If the dough becomes too warm or soft to be transferred to the baking tray, return dough in the refrigerator to chill, 5-10 minutes.

Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until edges turn light brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

To frost the cookies, I used royal icing thinned with a little water. Letters were written using edible markers.


I am submitting my Scrabble Cookies to Tracey Tangled Noodle and Jennifer Savor the Thyme for their Eating Your Words 2010 Challenge.

UPDATE: WOW, thank you so much Mr. Zimmern for choosing my entry as the winner.  I am speechless and my children are ecstatic! Thank you also to Tracey and Jennifer for this fun challenge.

37 comments:

Divina Pe said...

Wow, that's very creative. I might actually eat it before using it to play scrabble. Better make extra. :)

Cherrie Pie said...

Awesome!!!! That's why you were asking on twitter...hehe. I love your idea of playing with your food. Your tiles look so realistic. Great job.

Unknown said...

THESE ARE FABULOUS!!! What a great idea! I feel so bad I missed out on this month's but hopefully I can make it in time next time! :)

Tangled Noodle said...

These are beyond adorable!!! The only problem playing with these is that my words would keep getting shorter as I keep eating the letter tiles! 8-D

Thanks so much for joining us in Eating Your Words. Your scrabble cookies are so much fun!

cusinera said...

they are adorable!!!!! looks yummy too...

Jun Belen said...

WOW! So pretty and I bet they're tasty, too! So creative!!!

SKIP TO MALOU said...

aww love the cuteness of this entry... i love it too that your boys played a part in this challenge. Hello Mr. Z take a cue from these boys... pick this entry hahaha...
great job caroline. *applause*

Phyllis said...

Fabulous! This would be a perfect way of getting my sweet-tooth husband to play a game of scrabble with me :)

Unknown said...

Oh. My. Goodness. These are the most adorable cookies I've seen in a long while! You made them so perfectly - if it were me, my cookie tiles would be all wacky and uneven shapes. Well done!

A cupcake or two said...

How cute. You were very patient making those. Ehehehe.. I dont think I could have played with those. I would have no letters by the end of the game because I would have eaten them all ehehehe.

bridget {bake at 350} said...

Awesome! Thanks for the shout-out!

I love the pics of yours on the board...and the cookies themselves sound so good!

Rachael Hutchings said...

I love this! SO FUN!

Anonymous said...

I love how creative this is! It's getting "Stumbled" just so you know :)

LetMeEatCake Eat With Me! said...

That is soooooo cute! What a creative idea I love it! Truly amazing!

Caroline said...

Thank you everyone! Your comments made my day!

Julia @Mélanger said...

What an amazing idea. They are fantastic. I wouldn't want to ever eat them!

Veeda said...

This is so awesome, I absolutely love this!

Jennifer said...

CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING EATING YOUR WORDS 2010!

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Babes ,ur awesome , im here now to congratulate on ur win and am jus so wondering how i missed this awesome entry while blog hopping...u had to win ....no no doubt about that surely.....

Kiss & Bake Up said...

So awesome!

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

I sure did see the cookies at bake350 and bookmarked 'em too .as am sure did lods of the rest, but u were the best of the gang ,u baked them and baked them way way good...i love ur genius at icing...and ur marker is so good too ,which one did ya use in which tip....
nw have said a big hullo to ur super amazing marvel of a cookie ,am off to run around ur exciting space...
cheers and super saprkly day to ya...

Miriam said...

This is unbelievably cute!!

Anonymous said...

This is so adorable! I don't know whether I would just lose this game by accidentally eating all the words!

Unknown said...

Insanely fantastic! And very well executed! btw... congrats on the win!

Kim @ http://frostmeblog.blogspot.com

Olive said...

wow, this is really cute,you made it so perfect,I hope you win Caroline! :)

Olive said...

Congrats Caroline! ...I didn't see it the first time..my bad

The Food Librarian said...

How did I miss this? Fantastic!!!! - mary

The Diva on a Diet said...

HUGE Congrats on your very well-deserved Eating Your Words win!!! Your Scrabble Cookie board was absolutely magnificent!!!!

Unknown said...

Hi Caroline! I'm back to wish you a VERY belated congratulations! I KNEW you would win!

The Beancounter said...

Congratulations on the win Caroline...it was well deserved indeed! Well done!

I've got to start planning so i can beat you next time... ;)

Betty Ann @Mango_Queen said...

So cute ! And so creative! My gosh, Caroline, no wonder the Twitterverse was all abuzz with these cookies. Jackie Gordon even found you through me in her tweet "she's friends with @Mango_Queen". Well, I'd like to say I am HONORED to be friends with the "Scrabble Cookie Queen"! Thanks for sharing! Must make this,too!

Anonymous said...

This is such a cool idea! I need to try this out :) Thanks!

katattack2000.wordpress.com

Dawn said...

Wow Caroline, These were a big hit for my moms 80th birthday! The cookies are SO delicious not to sweet just right, with a great mouthfeel. You are an inspiration, keep up the good work. Only comment, I accidentally got a Wiltons Fine Tip pen, now that I am looking at your cookies again, I should have gotten the medium tip for a "bolder" letter. Thanks again!

Two letter scrabble words said...

wow! it looks yummy..i would love to try it..scrabble is very great game ever..i enjoyed it a lot specially its very educational..

Unknown said...

Hey Caroline-
I'm making these for wedding favors- and wondered how long they keep?? Because I have a "lot" to make- I was wondering how long in advance I can begin to make them ... do they freeze well?

Unknown said...

how long do these keep? can they be frozen?
-L

Caroline said...

Hello Lindsey! I have never tried freezing them before but would probably be best to freeze after the dough has been rolled and cut. Then can be popped in the oven from frozen adding a few minutes to make up for being frozen. The times I've baked these, they never seem to last long - they're just too easy to eat! My guess would be around three days in an airtight container. Hope this helps and happy baking.

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