Barbara Beery - Fairies Cookbook

Visions of sugarplums will dance in your head!

Makes 36 cookies

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Turn off heat and add flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir until dough binds together and forms a dough ball. Remove dough from saucepan and place on work area. Be careful; its very warm!

Divide dough into 3 equal portions and drop a few drops of a different food coloring into each portion. Knead color into each dough portion until color is swirled through.

Form dough into small 1-inch balls and place 1 inch apart on foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until very slightly browned.

Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Put powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl and roll each ball in powdered sugar to coat. Store cookies between layers of waxed paper.

Fancy fairy fun!

Makes 6 small cakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer, combine butter, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, and milk.

Generously spray six small 2 to 4-inch brioche pans or decorative baking dishes with nonstick cooking spray. Place all dishes on a sheet pan and then fill each half full with batter.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown on top.

Cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Finish cooling cakes on a wire rack.

Melt half of the candy coating according to package directions and then divide the melted candy coating between three small bowls.

Add a different coloring to each bowl, using a very tiny amount. Dip the end of a butter knife into the food coloring and then mix the color into the candy coating with the knife. Add more if needed and stir well to blend.

Spoon the candy coating frosting evenly over the six cakes, letting the frosting run down the sides of each one. Smooth out the excess frosting on top and decorate with the assorted decorative candies.

A happily-ever-after treat!

Makes 24 brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour and cocoa and whisk until blended. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and combine until smooth and free of lumps.

Pour batter into two 8 x 8-inch pans (or one 9 x 13-inch pan) that have been lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. The length of the foil used should be about 2 inches longer than the pan. This allows you to pull it out easily and remove the baked brownie in one giant piece.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes for the smaller pans and 25 to 30 minutes for the larger pan.

Remove brownies from oven and allow them to cool in pan for 10 minutes; then pull out of pan and cool another 10 minutes. Cut into assorted shapes with 2 to 3-inch cookie cutters.

In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, milk or cream, and vanilla with a hand mixer. Divide frosting into smaller bowls. Using a couple of drops of assorted food coloring, color each frosting a different color, such as pale pink, lavender, yellow, and so on.

Frost each cutout brownie with frosting and decorate with sprinkles and candies, if desired.

Perfect masks for a fairy ball!

Makes 8 to 10 cookie masks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, knead 1/4 cup flour and powdered sugar into cookie dough. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Dust work area with remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and roll out dough about 1/2 inch thick. Using a 2 to 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 2 hearts per mask. Lay hearts on cookie sheet overlapping the pointed ends of each heart and press down slightly to shape the dough into one piece.

Insert small pretzels into the dough (as shown in photograph) to form the butterflys antennae.

Using a very small cookie cutter, or with the tip of a butter knife, cut out oval-shaped circles in center of each heart for the eyes.

Bake cookies for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Then frost and decorate with assorted candies.