Chalkboard cookies so clever Willy Wonka would be impressed

Depending on how your kids feel about starting a new school year, they may or may not want to see more chalkboards when they get home. But we think they’ll at least be OK with this version — chalkboard cookies you can inscribe using edible chalk. Yes, this is a thing you can make. Pretty cool, right? Here’s how.

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Chalkboard cookies and edible chalk

Ingredients:

For the cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the icing

• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup meringue powder
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• Black food coloring

Directions:

For the cookies

1. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and powdered sugar.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and stir.
3. Add flour, baking powder and salt and combine. If the dough feels sticky at all, add a little more flour.
4. Roll out the dough and refrigerate it until it’s firm.
5. Cut out the cookies.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes until golden brown.

For the frosting

1. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix the powdered sugar, meringue powder, water and cocoa powder together on medium for approximately 5 minutes.
2. Mix on high for 3 to 4 more minutes until the batter gains a meringue-like appearance.
3. Add black food coloring and mix. It should now have a paste-like consistency for piping the frame around the edge of the chalkboard cookies. After framing the cookies, add a little water at a time until it has a gel-like consistency and flood the middle inside the frame. Smooth it out with a slanted spatula.
4. Let the icing dry completely while you make the edible chalk. Don’t write on them with it until it’s completely dry.

For the edible chalk

1. Melt the candy melts.
2. Pipe the melted candy into jumbo-sized straws and refrigerate the straws until they’re hard.
3. Using the end of a wooden spoon, push the chalk out of the straws.
4. Break the chalk into pieces.
5. In a large plastic zip-close bag filled with powdered sugar, toss the chalk pieces until well coated.
6. Now you can use your edible chalk to write on your chalkboard cookies!

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