Learn how to make some tropical chameleon decorated sugar cookies with this royal icing cookie decorating tutorial!!
Also... what exactly IS "polite company?"
Is that a group of people who always always always express their gratitude in written form within three days of receiving a gift? Or maybe these are the people that know where you're supposed to put your napkin if you have to leave the table for just a smidgeon while you pretend to go to the bathroom with a friend, but really you both just want to talk about how the guy across the table is TOTALLY into his sister's friend, but neither one of them will actually admit it.
Do you think THEY would like shopping at grocery stores? Because I do. And not just because they sell chocolate there. Although, admittedly, that's a pretty solid reason in my book.
Secretly...
I just REALLY like the baking aisle.
Sometimes I save it for last.
Sometimes I buy my children balloons so they will leave me alone for 37 whole seconds while I look at all the different kinds of flours I could possibly purchase and take home with me to experiment with and discover their individual flavors and possibilities.
Sometimes I go withOUT my children. (GASP!! It **is** possible!) And I spend all the time I want to looking at the cocoa powders and flavorings and spices until multiple store employees have come to ask me if there is anything they can help me find.
And of course there isn't.
Because the sanity and joy and excitement I've come for can really only be found IN the looking. And in surprise discoveries. And also in the eating of the chocolate and cocoa powders and perfect flavorings later.
How to make chameleon decorated sugar cookies:
Step 1.
With a medium consistency green icing and a #3 tip, outline the top half of the chameleon. Let dry for an hour.Step 2.
Fill in the top section of the cookie with the same medium consistency green icing. Immediately add three dots of a lighter green icing to the top of the chameleon. Let dry for another hour.Step 3.
Outline the bottom of the chameleon with a medium consistency light green icing and immediately fill in. Drag a scribe tool through the tiny icing sections on the tail to help avoid craters. (You can also place in front of a moving air source like a fan or dehydrator for the first 15 minutes of dry time to help reduce craters as well.) Let it dry for 20 minutes.Step 4.
Add an eye by piping dots of white, dark blue, light blue, and black on top of each other. You could, of course, just go with black and white for the eyes as well. Grab some white icing with the tip of a scribe tool or toothpick and place it gently on the top "corner" of the eye.Use the darker green icing to pipe legs on the chameleon. You can outline and fill these areas, or just pipe something that vaguely resembles and oval and then pipe an upside down "V" below that for the feet. They kind of look like drumsticks, if I'm being honest.
Step 5.
Pipe something that looks like an eyebrow (but is actually an orbital crest...probably) with the darker green icing. You can leave the cookie just like that, or go all out and pipe over the top of the ear again to give it more dimension.
Not feeling fiddly with the decorating? Or just REALLY need to make these faster? Here are some other ways to decorate this cutter! (The top right option can be done in only two steps!)
NEED MORE??
Grab my tutorial for the whimsical flower cookies here.
