Whimsical Watermelon Cookies

Ahhh, summer. I love your hot, sticky days filled with ice cream  and carnival rides. I love your wildflowers, your woodland hikes, your bike rides around the lake. I savor each of your sun-kissed mornings like I savor the fresh veggies and honey I find at the farmers' market. But now Labor Day has come and gone, drawing this magical season to a close. So, while I can't stop time, I gave summer one final hurrah by baking a batch of delicious watermelon cookies.

Soft, sweet, and cute as a button, watermelon cookies are perfect for your next family picnic, block party, or casual night on the porch. But why wait to serve them at your next summer shindig? Turn heads this fall by including these adorable treats at your next cookie exchange or bake sale! Kids and grown-ups alike will love the tasty watermelon "seeds" and glittery sugar "rind," which makes these cookies great for many occasions.

Here's the recipe I used, which I adapted from www.meganscookin.com. Please don't be intimidated by the length of this recipe; these guys really are easy to make and only require a little patience. If you're pressed for time, I'd bet you could even substitute your own sugar cookie recipe and just follow the instructions below for creating the watermelon shapes. Also, don't worry if you can't find green candy coating--melted white chocolate chips mixed with green food coloring works just as well.


Watermelon Cookies
1 C cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 tablespoon slices
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
6-8 drops red food coloring (more for deeper pink color)
3 3/4 C cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. Wilton Green candy coating
1/2  C Wilton Vibrant Green candy coating
Green pearlized sprinkles
Miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In bowl of stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and red food coloring. Keeping mixer on low speed, gradually add cake flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Remove dough from bowl and divide into two equal halves. Place one dough ball between two sheets of wax or parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Repeat with other dough ball. Stack both sheets of dough on a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator. Using a circular cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out circles from dough.* Cut each circle in half using a sharp knife or dough scraper. Place cookie halves on parchment-lined baking sheet about 1/2" apart. Gently press mini chocolate chips upside down into each cookie half. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies are done when they are slightly puffed, but not browned. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack and let cool completely.

Melt candy coating in microwave for 1 minute according to package directions. Place sprinkles in a shallow bowl. Working with one cookie at a time, dip the round end of cookie into green candy coating to create a watermelon "rind." Wipe off excess coating. Roll "rind" in sprinkles and let dry on wax paper. Enjoy!

* I used 2 1/2" and 3" diameter scalloped edged biscuit cutters for a variety of cookie sizes, although the smaller cookies baked more evenly than the larger ones. Plain round cookie cutters in slightly different sizes work too--just be sure to adjust oven temps and times as necessary. You can even use a tiny scalloped cutter to make itty-bitty "bite marks" in some of your watermelon slices!