Directions

In a bowl fitted with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream together 8oz soft butter and 8oz powdered sugar until a soft paste forms. Temper in 8oz room temperature egg whites, scraping down the bowl often. Add 6oz flour all at once and mix until well combined. Divide prepared batter into 5 containers, using food coloring color one yellow, another orange, the third red, and the 4th maroon- leaving one plain with no color, add brown as needed to mute the colors to a fall palette. Refrigerate overnight. The next day, preheat oven to 350F. Place a non-stick liner on a very flat half sheet tray. Using a leaf stencil, place a few colors of prepared cookie paste and swipe over stencil using an offset spatula. Remove stencil and bake for roughly 5 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. While the cookie is still warm, carefully remove it from the pan using an offset spatula and mold around a dowel to give the cookie shape. If cookies become too cool, they can be popped in the oven again and warmed to become pliable.