JAWA vegan cookie-cupcakes!
Anytime a new Star Wars or Marvel cookie cutter comes out at Williams Sonoma, I immediately start sketching ideas. I’ll admit I’m not a fan of just making frosted cookies, only because I try to come up with ways to get creative with the cookie cutter itself – from Captain America hand pies, SmoresTroopers cupcakes to Yoda oreos.
The new Droids and Aliens cutters came out and I was drawn to the Jawas. I was always fascinated with how the hoods covered them entirely and how deeply inset their faces seemed to be – what exactly was behind those beady yellow eyes? I knew I wanted to capture that same idea when using the cookie cutters.
I was going to a Merry Sithmas party believe it or not, and one of the guests (Autumn, for whom who I made the Game of Thrones cupcakes) had a lot of food allergies. She is always left out when it came to desserts and seeing as how she LOVES Star Wars as much as I do, I decided to come up with a totally Vegan cookie and cupcake combo.
Vegan chocolate cookie ingredients:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder (I prefer Valrhona
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
edible sugar pearls
Vegan Chocolate cupcakes (recipe here)
Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter frosting (recipe here)
In a bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer stir together the vegetable oil and the sugar until combined. Add the flour mixture and the water.
It will be crumbly, but knead it together and roll it into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap it in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpats. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out onto a floured board. Using the cookie cutter, cut out the Jawas.
Use a paring knife to cut out the ‘face’ part of the Jawa, leaving an empty hole in the cookie.
Transfer the cookies to the prepped baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
Frost the cupcakes and place the Jawa cookie on top. Add the sugar pearls for eyes.
Now you have a very sneaky little Vegan Jawa!
Yoda Cookie ornaments
Merry SITHmas and Happy HOTHidays! Tis the season to celebrate and decorate and what better way to do it than with cookies! Cookie ornaments are an old fashioned treat and whether you use them to decorate or just eat, they are a lot of fun to make – especially when Star Wars is involved!
The Yoda cookie cutter is from Williams Sonoma, and I like them because they always leave exact imprints. I’ve used their other cutters for Captain America mini hand pies, Hulk cookie ice cream sandwiches, and the faces always come out perfectly.
I originally made these Yoda cookies in oreo form for my Ultimate Star Wars party. I decided to change it up just slightly so they would make nice edible decorations.
ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon matcha (green tea powder)
2 teaspoons of lemon zest
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Powdered green tea, aka matcha, is what gives Yoda his striking green color. It has great flavor and the best part is you don’t even need food coloring. You can find matcha in Japanese markets or online
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, matcha and lemon zest. To me, the lemon just adds a little something, almost undetectable, yet adds so much flavor. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until combined. Add the egg.
Slowly add in the flour until it is incorporated. The dough will form quickly, and when it starts to pull away from the bowl, it’s done!
Split the dough into two and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until you are ready to use.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prep baking sheets with silpats.
Start rolling out the dough. I use powdered sugar instead of flour so it doesn’t get that dough-y taste and the sugar adds a slight sweetness. Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.
Use your cutter to cut out the yoda shapes, place them on the silpat lined baking sheet. For the loop, use a small round cutter – or I just used a coupler, approx 3/4″ – 1″ round.
Make a hole in the center using a straw, then cut the whole thing in half so you get two rainbow shapes.
Take one of the halves and press it to the top of Yoda’s head. This will bake together and attach itself, but still leave a hole that goes all the way through.
Bake for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
Once cooled, loop a ribbon through the hole. Now you’re ready to decorate your tree!
cupcakes for Rancho Obi-Wan
This weekend was the grand re-opening of Rancho Obi-Wan, the world’s largest privately owned Star Wars collection. It’s an astounding tribute to all things Star Wars housed in 5000 sqft. Rancho Obi-Wan is owned by Steve Sansweet who recently retired as the Head of Fan Relations, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars ambassador.
I was asked to make some sweets for an invited guest to take up to the event. I pulled some tricks from my very own “Ultimate Star Wars Party” because what would be more fitting for a Star Wars tribute than:
Princess Leia cupcakes (recipe here)
SmoresTrooper cupcakes (recipe here)
Blue Milk cupcakes (recipe here)
Yoda cupcakes (recipe here)
Rancho Obi-Wan looks amazing and I only hope that I can visit it someday. Also this weekend my friend Bonnie Burton visited L.A. and we held our own #BonnieCon in her honor. So of course I wanted to make her some Leia and SmoresTrooper cupcakes of her very own, too. It was truly a Star Wars weekend all around!
Star Wars food place cards
I have been getting tons of requests lately for the food cards that I used for my Ultimate Star Wars Party. Sounds like a lot of you folks are planning on throwing Star Wars parties for the holidays.
I’ve made a free pdf of the food cards for you to print out, along with a few extra ones thrown in. Click here and Enjoy!
Blue Milk Cupcakes
Man…isn’t it the worst when your Dad cuts off your hand? Or when you find out you just kissed your sister? Yikes. Better just sit back and think about the good old days when you lived with your Aunt and Uncle…oh wait. They were killed…by your father’s orders. Hm, Luke just can’t catch a break.
I first made Blue Milk for the Ultimate Star Wars Party and it was a huge hit! These Blue Milk cupcakes will take you to your happy place. Soft and delicious, topped with a light mascarpone frosting – you just can’t go wrong. Pure comfort, it’s like being in your mother’s womb…when your father force choked her. Yeesh.
ingredients:
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2-1/4 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup BLUE milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
electric blue gel dye
Mascarpone Frosting (recipe, here)
To make Blue Milk get a Bantha, no wait… Just get one cup of milk and add a few drops of electric blue gel dye. Gel dye is the best because you need very little. I can’t stand liquid dyes, they totally alter your cake. Gel dyes are better and pretty inexpensive. Once the blue get dye is added, stir up the milk and you will get an instant gorgeous blue.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Carefully add the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add the vanilla.
Alternate the dry ingredients with the Blue Milk until combined. You may need to add more gel dye to the batter for maximum blue-ness. Add a few drops as needed.
Spoon the batter into prepped liners, 1/2 to 2/3 full.
Bake 15-17 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
Top these with a super light mascarpone frosting and you’ll have the sweetest treat in the galaxy!
WWVE – Brown Sugar Meatballs
Every new school year I try to document the lunches I make for the kids by doing “What Would____eat?” based on their lunch boxes.
Yoda ate very well in years past, so well that – I had an incident with teachers eating my Kid’s food. I know, right? Who does that?? Well that teacher (and daycare) is gone, and we’ve got a new lunch box. So I give you…What Would Vader Eat.
For lunch today Vader has Brown Sugar Meatballs. These are a big hit at parties but are so easy that I often make them for weekday dinners. The leftovers are perfect for the kid’s lunches because they can eat them quickly, no mess and can run off to play faster than you can say “Luke, I am you fa…”
Brown Sugar Meatballs recipe, here.
*More Vader lunches coming soon – depending on how busy this school year goes. Yikes.
**All lunches kept frozen or cold w/ice packs because of my complete and total paranoia.
Star Wars Day!
Do you know what today is?? It’s Star Wars Day of course! Come on. May 4th? May the Fourth be with you? Seriously.
If you’re looking for ways to celebrate Star Wars Day, you’ve come to the right place. You can throw my “Ultimate Star Wars Party” or I’ve hand picked a few of my fave recipes. No one will *force choke* on this food, I promise. May the fork be with you.
Han Solo in Carbonite Jell-o (recipe, here)
Boba Fett Ice Cream Sandwiches (recipe, here)
(green tea cookies + red bean ice cream)
Darth Vader Egg Salad Sandwiches (recipe, here)
Ewok Food (recipe, here)
S’moresTroopers Cupcakes (recipe, here)
Yoda + Vader cupcakes
A lot of the kids parties we’ve gone to lately have been Star Wars themed. It must be making a comeback with the youngling set and I am the go-to for birthday cupcakes. I wonder why that is…oh yeah, the Ultimate Star Wars Party!
I made some very cool cupcakes for a fun Star Wars birthday using Williams Sonoma cookie cutters. Vanilla Yoda cupcakes for the Rebels and Chocolate Vader cupcakes for those who belong on the dark side. I think you know which ones my kids chose.
ingredients:
Vanilla cupcakes
Vanilla buttercream
Green Tea cookies
Chocolate cupcakes
Chocolate buttercream
Chocolate cookies
I made Vanilla cupcakes and frosted them with a vanilla buttercream and chocolate cupcakes frosted with chocolate frosting.
For the cookies I made green tea cookies and using my handy dandy Yoda cutter, cut out lots of the little green jedi master.
Then I made a chocolate roll out dough and cut out tons of Vader heads. Scaaary.
Once the cookies were cooled and crisp, I pressed them onto the top of the frosted cupcakes.
I love cookies as toppers for cupcakes…it’s two desserts in one!
“Smores”Troopers cupcakes
Out of the Star Wars cookie cutter set I’ve made Vader Egg Salad, Yoda Oreos and Boba Fett ice cream sandwiches, but I’ve yet to use the Stormtrooper. So I decided to make some homemade Graham Crackers (in Stormtrooper form of course) and use them as toppers on a marshmallow filled chocolate cupcake. Thus, SMOREStroopers. Oh word puns, you never get old.
ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup Valrhona cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
marshmallow fluff
chocolate frosting
homemade Graham Crackers (recipe, here)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time. Then the vanilla.
Alternate the flour mixture and the milk until combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepped liners. Bake the cupcakes for 15-17 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
When the cupcakes are cooled, using a cutter or a paring knife, simply cut out a little well in the middle. Fill the well with the marshmallow creme
Frost the cupcakes, then place a homemade Stormtrooper graham cracker on top. And suddenly you have – SMOREStroopers cupcakes!!
Homemade Graham Crackers
Sure you can go to the store and buy graham crackers, but they will be square and have those little holes all over them.
I need mine in the shape of…Stormtroopers. They will do your bidding.
ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup whole milk
In a bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar. Once combined, add the honey and vanilla.
Alternate the dry ingredients with the milk until combined. When the dough starts to pull away from the bowl, you’re done!
Separate the dough into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Keep the fridge until you are ready to use.
Roll the dough out to a thin 1/8 of an inch. You can cut squares like a traditional graham cracker, but I used stormtrooper cookie cutters for a very specific project.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.
Let cool on a wire rack. Here Spatula Vader rallies his troops before they are eaten.
These smell and taste like store bought graham crackers – but waaay better. I’m sure all stormtroopers eat these homemade graham crackers to gather strength before they fight the rebels!
