[Music throughout] [How to make sunspot sugar cookies] Narrator: Hi, this is video about
how to make sugar cookies that look like the Sun.
First, you mix a quarter-cup of softened butter
with a quarter-cup of sugar. The butter should be
soft so it will mix well. It was hard to keep everything in the bowl.
Once it’s mixed
into sugary lumps, you can add one egg,
half-a-teaspoon of vanilla extract, and then
mix it again. I had to keep pushing it down the sides of the bowl
with the spatula. Next,
you add one-and-a-quarter-cups of flour,
and one teaspoon of baking powder,
and then mix it again.
It took a long time to push the mix into a ball. I started with
the spoon and then used my hands.
Finally it felt like dough. Spread some flour on a pastry
cloth, or on the counter if you don’t have one, and then get some flour on both sides
of the dough and flatten it a little.
Roll it out flat. Go in both directions and stop when it’s
about as thick as a pencil.
Then cut it out into Sun shapes. We tried two different ones. You can even use
an empty jar to make circles. Put them on a metal pan covered with parchment
paper if you have it. Bake them in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit
for 10-12 minutes. You should have an adult do this part. Carefully take
them off the pan and let them cool for a little while as you’re making the icing.
Add milk slowly to one-and-a-half-cups of powdered sugar.
Keep adding and mixing
until it starts to feel a little runny.
It goes fast at the end, so be careful. Divide into two
bowls. To make yellow frosting, add three drops of yellow food coloring. To make
orange, use two drops of yellow and one drop of red.
Spread the yellow on first.
Then drizzle the orange in a neat pattern.
It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Then you can use a toothpick to mix the orange in and make it look like
the Sun. Be creative!
To make sunspots, we used chocolate chips and cake-writing gel.
They are dark areas that are cooler than what’s around them. When the Sun is
active it has more. Sometimes the Sun is quiet and doesn’t have any, so we left
a few cookies plain. That’s it! You’re done! Except for the best
part! Make sure to help clean up.
Want to know more about the Sun? Go here to get some great info. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun
Explore: Solar system & beyond
NASA