Monkey Business

This weekend my childhood friend McKensy's son celebrated his 1st birthday! Although I was not able to attend the party since we live in different states, I of course wanted to participate somehow so I offered to make and send some cookies for his special day! The theme was monkeys which I thought was adorable! I just love the invitation that McKensy created with pics of Barrett and his stuffed monkey! Using the colors from the invite created some personalized cookies to spell out his name.

I just had a feeling these cookies were going to turn out super cute, so I captured step-by-step photos so you can see how to create these little monkeys! So let's get down to business shall we...

You will need:
-monkey cookie cutter (I used Wilton brand found at my local craft store)
-sugar cookie recipe
-royal icing (tinted light brown, dark brown, pink, black)
-decorating tips: #2 for light brown, dark brown, pink, #1 for black)
-2 squeeze bottles for flooding icing

1.Using piping bag with tip #2 light brown icing, pipe an oval outline for the monkey face.

2.Using piping bag with tip #2 dark brown icing, outline the shape of the monkey and create outlines for the ears.

3.Using piping bag with tip #2 pink icing, fill in the monkey ears.

4.Once all the monkeys are outlined in brown it is time to go back in and "flood" the cookies with a thinned down version of royal icing using squeeze bottles. Allow the outlines to dry for about 30 minutes before flooding.

5.Using the flooding consistency light brown icing in the bottle, squeeze some icing in a zig zag inside the monkey face and the icing will start to spread.

6.Using the tip of the squeeze bottle gently move the icing to fill in the entire shape of the face.

7.Using the flooding consistency dark brown icing in the bottle, squeeze some icing in a zig zag inside the monkey head and the icing will start to spread.

8.Using the tip of the squeeze bottle gently move the icing to fill in the entire shape of the head.

9.Using the piping bag with tip #1 black icing, pipe on the eyes, nose and mouth. Wait about 1-2 hours before you go back and pipe on the face so it doesn't bleed into the wet icing.

10.Allow flooded cookies to dry 24 hours before stacking or packaging.

And since every monkey needs a banana, I couldn't resist I had to make a few bananas too!

McKensy went all out for Barrett's birthday by making some monkey cake pops, mini cupcakes and a jumbo cupcake! Everything turned out super cute from the pictures I have seen and the birthday boy seemed very happy enjoying his sweets!

Happy 1st Birthday Barrett!