Elmo Cookie How-to

Supplies:

• Sugar cookies.
• Black, Orange, and white candy melts (these can be bought at Michael's... I bought mine at a local cake decorating store).
• Red gel food coloring, powdered sugar, cornsyrup, water or milk (to make icing glaze - I used this recipe), or a batch of red royal icing.
• Round black candies, approx 6-7 mm.
• Parchment paper or a Silpat, a few sandwich sized ziploc bags or a pastry bag and decorating tip.

Instructions:

1. Bake your favorite cut-out sugar cookie recipe, using a 2.5 or 3 inch circular cookie cutter.  
2. Let cool.
3. Melt some black candy melts in a ziploc bag (set it corner down in a coffee mug, heat 15-30 seconds at a time on med power - until smooth.  If your candy melts have melting instructions on the bag, follow those instructions.).  Cut a small corner off the edge of the ziploc, so it can be used to pipe the candy melt.  As an alternative, use a cake decorating tip and pastry bag.  I find it easier and more convenient to use a ziploc bag!
4. Pipe the black candy melts in a jagged pattern around the outside of the cookie.
5. On the parchment paper or silpat, pipe the outline for the eyes and nose - one larger oval, plus two small circles for eyes.  For each set of eyes/noses, pipe a jagged solid D shaped mouth.  To aid this process, I put an Elmo coloring page under the parchment paper - to use as a pattern.  
6. After finishing the eye/nose outline, melt white chocolate melts - following the instructions above.
7. Fill in the eye outlines with white chocolate.  Put a black candy in the center for each eye pupil.
8. Melt orange chocolate melts, and fill in the nose oval.
9. Mix a batch of red frosting glaze, then pipe it onto the cookie to fill the Elmo head outline.
10. Place the chocolate nose/eyes, and a mouth on each cookie - while the red glaze is still wet.
11. Let the cookies dry overnight (the glaze should form a hard shell).
12. ENJOY!