I Love You To The Core

I knew it would happen, I just wasn't ready for it. The day that my oldest son pulled away from my attempted motherly embrace in public, followed by the stiff arm and stink eye in my direction.  Then, my heart sank even further when he called me "MOM", not "Mommy". I knew that we had turned that fateful pre-teen corner in our relationship. It was a sad day. Mind you, at home he returns my hugs and "Mommy" is still the preferred title for me, but I now understand the boundaries.   

So with Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to make some cookies just for my growing-up oldest.  I needed to avoid this nightmarish scene: he pulls out the lovingly decorated pink heart sugar cookie from his lunchbox and the students at his lunch table chime in with "Awwww, your mommy loves you" said in the most childish voice that they could muster. That would not be good. 

He loves apples. Eats them all the time. And I figured that he wouldn't be embarrassed when he pulled one these apple core cookies from his lunchbox. Want to make some apple cores too?  They're super easy!

Start off with an apple shape. Get out your favorite scalloped round. The store where I got my favorite round set is no longer in business. However, you can find a similar set here!

Making bite marks in cookie "foods" is no big secret. Cookiers have been doing it forever. We want bite marks on both sides of the apple. So bite away!

After the cookie is baked, you'll need the following icing colors:
        * 20+ second white
        * 20+ pale yellow (just a little bit)
        * 20 second red
        * small amounts of brown and green
And some chocolate sprinkles for apple seeds.

Start with the white icing. Outline the shape of the bite marks and then fill in the core. You don't have to be neat. Add a little squiggle of yellow. 

Wait 30-60 seconds. Use your trusty boo-boo stick or a toothpick and start to swirl the yellow and white icing. We want the colors to blend. But more importantly, we want the TEXTURE. I have never seen a smooth real apple core, have you? Drop on some chocolate sprinkles as the apple seeds.

Now is a good time to add the stem and leaf.

Wait about 15 minutes. Pipe the red apple skin on the top and bottom of the apple core. Next time, I might make green ones too. They're my son's favorite.

Ta Da!  Look at that cool texture!

I know that my oldest will be delighted when he sees these in his lunchbox. He might even be the envy of the students at his lunch table since he has cool cookies! But deep down he knows that his Mommy made them. Just for him. Because she loves him to his core. 

Want to see some other non-traditional Valentine cookies? Check out my post on some cookie nuts I made for Mike the Cookie Widower. No pink hearts and frilly flowers in this family!