Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables...and Flowers!

When I set out to create my first cookie house recipes, my immediate focus was on texture. I needed cookies that were crisp, sturdy, and ones that would create lasting structures. I started by experimenting with different base ingredients. Cake flour, I learned, was 27 times finer than all-purpose flour, and made for crunchier cookies. Egg yolks softened the dough and caused it to rise too much, and should thus be omitted. Baking soda was fine, but baking powder was not. I continued on like this until I had a strong base recipe, and began thinking about how to incorporate flavor and color. I needed ingredients that wouldn't wet the dough or icing too much, and which would impart flavor without changing texture. And I wanted to avoid synthetic ingredients like food colorings as much as possible.

After a bit of research, I decided to order a variety of powders online. You would be amazed at how many ingredients are available in dry, powdered form, allowing you to use them in new and exciting ways. Carrot powder, for example, would enable me to make a crispy Carrot Cake Crunch cookie. Apple powder could yield an amazing September cookie. And why not rose powder for a May Mother's Day house?

Bunny Bungalow pieces in Carrot Cake Crunch cookie

In February, I used raspberry powder to create Cupid's Cookie Cottage in Raspberry Tart cookie. The powder not only added delicious flavor, but it also tinted the cookies pink. In March, fresh mint added an herbaceous flavor and a natural green hue to Leprechaun Lair in Herbaceous Mint Choc Chip cookie. In April, carrot powder turned our Bunny Bungalow into a truly spectacular dessert in Carrot Cake Crunch cookie. And for May, I'll be using rose powder to build a Cookie Conservatory any mom would love.

Finding this endless array of powders has changed the way I think about cookie-making. My focus now is not just on creating sturdy and tasty cookies, but also on doing so with minimal (or no) synthetic chemical ingredients. Why add red chemical dye to your food when you can use dried rose petals?! And the availability of outside-of-the-box options means that there is no limit to the flavor profiles one can create. Chances are, if you're craving a flavor, there's a powder out there that will deliver. Naturally.

My hope is that people will eventually be drawn to Edible Architect not just for our cookie building designs, but also for our thoughtful and clean recipes. Who would have thought you could get your daily serving of vegetables by consuming a Bunny Bungalow cookie house?

Hungry and happy,

Patrick