Gone Fishing Sugar Cookies, swirls of aqua-blue water or fish swimming in sparkling blue seas, have eye-catching pizzazz and crunchy vanilla goodness. These colorful cookies are ready for summer time snacking.
Why you'll love this recipe
Meet the first set of decorated cookies in my Summer 2015 Monday Box Challenge: sugar cookies that melt in your mouth, not in the mail. This summer, I will share a variety of easy, heat resistant ways to decorate my favorite desert-safe sugar cookies. No icing allowed.
These sugar cookies were designed for the Gone Fishing theme of Military Care Package #12. Both easy to make designs were sliced from logs of dough (no rolling out or cookie cutters needed).
Gone Fishing Sugar Cookies would be a special Father's Day treat for a fishing enthusiast dad!
These crunchy treats stay delicious for weeks. A couple of sugar cookies and a glass of milk are a wonderful way to cool down, relax, and imagine you have "gone fishing"!
Care package contents and decorating
Most of the contents (other than the home baked items) and the box decorations for the military care packages I create, come from the dollar store. That is not because I am being frugal.
I shop at the dollar store because my care packages are intended as a quick, temporary respite from the realities of the dangerous jobs the troops are performing. The dollar store items will hopefully be used, enjoyed, and then thrown away.
The troops don't need sturdy, long lasting Nerf balls or Rubix cubes. There is no room for those things in duffle bags.
This box is filled with "fishy" goodies like Swedish Fish, gummy worms and sharks, Goldfish crackers, a plastic fishing rod game, and decorative blow-up fish and under the sea wall mural.
Some fishing snacks of lemonade powder and jerky found their way into the box as well.
I lined the box with blue wrapping paper then let my inner "sticker queen" loose with puffy and glittery sticker fish. I used blue celophane (instead of tissue paper) as filler, giving a "watery" look
Though my photos don't show this, I always tape an address label, with my soldiers full name, on an inside flap of the box, just in case something happens to the outer label.
Sugar cookie instructions
For hot weather shipping, sugar cookies offer 2 challenges. First, the recipe itself has to be desert-safe.
Most of the year, I use a sugar cookie recipe that uses butter. For hot weather, I switch to this recipe which uses vegetable shortening (Crisco). If your cookies won't be hanging out in extreme heat, these decorating ideas will, of course, work on butter based cookies also.
The second challenge is decorating. Icing of any kind will melt, plain and simple. As crazy hot as it can get inside a military mail delivery vehicle, even decorative sugar might melt, but I am going to try.
Using one batch of cookie dough ( ½ of the dough was used for each design), I made 24 smaller ( 2 inch) cookies and 12 larger (3 inch) cookies.
For the swirling water cookies, the dough is divided in half.- Add a few drops of food coloring gel to color each half a different shade of blue. I used Americolor electric blue and teal. Roll each colored dough into a log about 6-8 inches long (this is very inexact and free form).
- Twine the two logs together and use your hands to smoosh the two colors together a few times. Then roll the log to a diameter of about 2 inches.
- Roll the log in white nonpareils to resemble the white foam on waves.
- Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate several hours or overnight, until firm. When firm, cut into ⅜" slices and bake.
- For the fish cookies, roll the dough into a 3" diameter log, then roll the log in blue decorating sugar.
- Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate until firm. When firm, cut into ⅜" slices.
- To decorate with fish, place a paper fish stencil on the cut side of the cookie. (I printed out 1 ½" fish from online clipart.) Sprinkle the cookie with blue decorating sugar. Brush any sugar off the stencil and use finger tips to gently press remaining sugar into the dough.
- Use a toothpick to help remove the stencil from the dough. Press colored nonpareil sprinkles onto the fish for an eye and mouth.
Related recipes
Decorated Fudge Brownies are the obvious addition to this Gone Fishing care package. These brownies deliver chewy, fudgy deliciousness where ever they go!
Green Eggs and Ham Slice and Bake Cookies are a fun sugar cookie for a Dr. Seuss theme.
Star Wars Cookies make this space themed package fabulous!
These Slice and Bake Sprinkle Cookies are festive for any theme or occasion. Keep a frozen dough log handy for cookie emergencies.
Turmeric Cookies are slice and bake cookies with citrus flavor and a bright yellow hue.
Peach Tea Cookies are buttery, crunchy, and bursting with peach flavor! These cookies taste like a summer picnic.
You can read more about desert safe ingredients and find an index of all of the desert safe recipes on The Monday Box by clicking here.
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Gone Fishing Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter flavor vegetable shortening Crisco
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Decorations: blue/teal food coloring blue decorating sugar, white nonpareils
- paper fish stencils
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes)
- Thoroughly mix in egg, milk and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture until combined.
- To make both designs, divide the dough in half and follow the directions for each design.
- FOR SWIRLING WATER DESIGN: Divide the dough in half. Use 2-3 drops of food coloring gel to color each dough half a different shade of blue. Roll each colored dough into a log about 6-8 inches long (this is very inexact and free form). Twine the two logs together and use your hands to smoosh the two colors together a few times. Then roll the log to a diameter of about 2 inches. Roll the log in white nonpareils to resemble the white foam on waves. Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate several hours or overnight, until firm. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment. Cut the log into ⅜″ slices and bake on prepared baking sheet for 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- FOR FISH DESIGN: Roll the dough into a 3″ diameter log, then roll the log in blue decorating sugar. Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate until firm. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the dough log into ⅜″ slices. To decorate with fish, place a paper fish stencil on the cut side of the cookie. (I printed out 1 ½″ fish from online clipart.) Sprinkle the cookie with blue decorating sugar. Brush any sugar off the stencil and use finger tips to gently press remaining sugar into the dough. Use a toothpick to help remove the stencil from the dough. Press colored nonpareil sprinkles onto the fish for an eye and mouth. Bake for 10-12 minutes on the prepared baking sheet. Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Notes
Nutrition
First Published: June 9, 2015. Last Updated: January 31, 2023. Updated for better reader experience.
Brian
You know if you are not on Instagram, you should be. I know you can't put text up, but just throw in a few pics and build an audience there. I think you'd find a ton of people who would be super interested in your blog here.
Wendy Sondov
Hi Brian. Thank you for visiting The Monday Box! We most certainly ARE on Instagram! You can find our feed and our stories there @the_monday_box. I hope you will follow there too.
April J Harris
Blue is my absolute favourite colour so I really love these fun cookies, Wendy! The little fish are so cute! They sound delicious too. Scheduled to share later today on the Hearth and Soul Facebook page. Thank you so much for sharing, and for being a part of Hearth and Soul. Hope to see you at the party again this week!
The Monday Box
Thanks, April! My favorite color is blue also. 🙂 Thanks for sharing and for hosting Hearth and Soul!
saltandserenity
Those fish just put the biggest smile on my face! Thanks for sharing. I love them. Your creativity knows no bounds. Your photography is also improving so much. Your images are clear and sharp and so bright. Bravo!!
The Monday Box
Thanks, Cindy! I am so glad to hear these fish made you smile! As you know, that is the reaction I am going for. I figure, few people need a smile more than battle zone military and I have fun playing with decorating ideas. 🙂 I appreciate the photography support. I have big goals involving my dslr. I even signed up for a workshop in October that I need to practice for!
shannon
Those swirled cookies are AWESOME: love the whole outer ring of white pearls, too! Very sea-like without it being super literal (which i love). Also, i die with those adorable fish. How cute are they! You make it look so easy, and I love all the thought that went into these.
The Monday Box
Thanks, Shannon! When literal decorating ideas don't work out as planned, going with purposefully abstract is the only solution! 🙂 I hope it does look easy....because it is...and I want readers to know that ANYONE could do this. 🙂
Sheila @ BrainPowerBoy
Those are so cute! I just love the ones with the little fish in the middle. Pinning.
The Monday Box
Thanks, Sheila! I am having fun trying to find ways to decorate cookies without icing/frosting! With a stencil, you can make ANY design. 🙂
Chris @ The Café Sucré Farine
These are absolutely adorable Wendy! You are so creative, I know the soldier who receives your box will be so encouraged and delighted!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Chris! Experimenting with different desert-safe ways to decorate is fun. I hope you are right, and Soldier B. and his buddies enjoy the package! 🙂
Jennifer Tammy
THESE ARE SO STINKING CUTE!!! I love the marbley effect! What a sweet package to receive 🙂
The Monday Box
Thanks, Jennifer! Apparently, playing with "playdoh" is fun for adults too! 😉 That is what making these reminded me of...the joy of mushing different colors of dough together to make cookies. The only difference is that these taste way better than playdoh cookies! 🙂
Lyndsay
This is such a great idea. The fish cookies are so cute. Love it 🙂
The Monday Box
Thanks, Lyndsay! The designs work on any sugar cookie, of course. I make gluten-free vanilla-honey cookies for my daughter then add decorative bling! 🙂
Mir
The fish theme just gets better and better, Wendy! These cookies are gorgeous. I love the water ones, too! And the fish are so cute. Not to mention that filling a box with fish-themed treats and snacks is brilliant. Dollar stores are my happy place, too. You can get so much great stuff!
The Monday Box
Thanks, Mir! I am constantly browsing the shelves at the dollar store for care package theme ideas. Kind of like a live google search! 🙂 I hope your last few days of school go well, and you hear the theme from Rocky as you walk out the door for summer break!
Ashley
Wendy I love the swirled dough!! Gosh, that's pretty! And I'm seriously impressed by all these desert safe desserts you come up with each time!!
The Monday Box
Thanks, Ashley! The swirled dough was one of those lucky failures that turns into a success. I was working on a wave design which wasn't turning out. I didn't want just a swirl because....though gorgeous....a million blogs show how to do a swirl. In frustration I mushed the two colors together AND....swirling water! 🙂
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert
Oh Wendy - this is an amazing box! The cookies really are gorgeous - the color, the sprinkles, the outline of the fish - everything. You lined the box and put stickers on it - this is above and beyond and will be a welcome surprise I am sure! Great, great, great job!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Tricia! I really do have fun searching for or making up designs to go with the themes. Experimenting with decorations that will withstand the heat of the desert will hopefully prove helpful to those wanting desert-safe ideas. I do love sprinkles and sparkly sugar! 🙂
Monica
These cookies are so adorable! I am more and more impressed with each themed military package. Everything is made and the whole box is put together with such love, care, and attention to detail. What a worthy cause for all your efforts. And you said no package is complete without some chocolate...I could not agree more! Keep at it, Wendy! : )
The Monday Box
I knew you would agree about the chocolate, Monica! 🙂 Thanks for the kind words about the care packages. I have fun putting them together and a theme helps generate ideas. I like to imagine that the enjoyment I get out of creating these care packages transfers to the enjoyment the troops get when they receive the box. 🙂