DIY Fortune Cookies

What an adorable addition to your welcome bags, dessert table, or shower event than cute fortune cookies that are hand made by YOU!?! I found this great DIY recipe to make your own cookies and truly think that for the baking bride, this would be a unique and sweet addition to make your wedding that much more special. Enjoy! 

To make your own fortune cookies, you will need…

(Makes 6 cookies..You will need to multiply the recipe depending on how many cookies you will need.)

• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp melted butter, cooled
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 2 1/2″ x 1/2″ fortune strips (Already printed, cut and ready to go!)
• Optional: Food Coloring
• Optional: Chocolate and sprinkles/nuts/colored sugar (SugarCraft has a huge variety of colored sprinkles!)

Here are the easy to follow steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet thoroughly.
2. Whip the egg whites on low speed until light and foamy. Blend in the sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.
3. Pour in the melted butter, flour, salt, and extracts; mix until well combined. If you want to color your cookies add a drop of food coloring to the batter and mix well!
4. Drop a tablespoon of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, spread the batter evenly into very thin 3-inch rounds. Alternatively, use the lid of a jar with a 3-inch circle punched out as a template, pour the batter in the ring, and remove. Because you must work quickly to shape these cookies, bake just 3 at a time.
5. Bake for about 5 to 8 minutes or until the edges are a light golden color.
6. Optional Step – Once cooled you may decide you want to dip your yummy cookies in chocolate and then either roll the dipped cookies in fun sprinkles, crushed nuts or colored sugar. If this is the case melt your chocolate in a double boiler or microwave following the package instructions. Then just dip, roll and place on a piece of wax paper to cool! Sooo delicious! Plus, you can further customize the cookie favors to your wedding theme by dipping them in colored chocolate to match or rolling the dipped cookies in sprinkles or sugar to coordinate with your wedding. Maybe you’ll get a little crazy and do both! Heehee.

Once your cookies are cooled off and the chocolate has set just wrap them in a little cellophane bag or favor box, tie on a pretty ribbon and add on a cute favor tag! Your guests will love these homemade treats and they will be so impressed you made them yourself!

Some tips….

• Visit Fancy Fortune Cookies for some wedding themed fortunes for your fortune strips!
• Make sure when you drop the batter on the cookie sheet it is spread very thinly. If it is too thick you will not be able to fold them!
• When pulling the cookies out of the oven work quickly! If you allow the cookies to cool they will crack and crumble when you try to fold.
• If the cookie is too stiff or brittle when trying to fold place them back in the oven 2-3 minutes and try again!
• Place cookies in a muffin tin after folding to help them keep their shape when cooling.
• Practice makes perfect! Be prepared to have some screwy cookies at first until you get the hang of it 

Lastly – If you have issues with the recipe or are tight on time you can by prepackaged fortune cookies, unwrap and just dip them in the chocolate and sprinkles to skip the whole baking process. They may not have wedding fortunes but it will obviously save you a lot of time! Then just wrap up and tag and you are set! 

Recipe Box Gift DIY

When one of my besties Julia got married a few years back, I was at a loss as to what I should get her that would be meaningful and special for her bridal shower. I decided to email some of the closest ladies in her life and ask them to send me some of their personal favorite recipes that I then could put together in a recipe box for Julia. It was a lot of fun gathering all of the recipes from her family members and friends and putting it together in an adorable (if I do say so myself) little kit that also included some small kitchen items from her registry. To this day, when I go to Julia's and see the recipe box on her counter, I feel special.
When I saw this adorable DIY idea from the people at Wedding Chicks, I just had to share. While some of the items are things you might not have laying around the house, they are easy to access at a Kinkos (or in the case of a paper cutter if you can cut a straight line, you're golden). What a great and personal gift to give!

Supplies:

1. Paper Cutter 

2. 8.5 x 11 Cover Stock 
3. Dots Medium Box
4. XYRON Sticker Making Machine

Steps:

1. Print out the recipe card templates here. They are printed on front and back so be sure to make a test print on regular paper so you don’t waste your card stock.

a. Trim 3/4 of an inch from the top and bottom.

b. Trim 1/4 of an inch from the left and right.

c. Now cut in half both ways. You will be left with 4 recipe cards that are 4 inches wide and 4.75 inches tall.

2. Cut 6 more blank cards at 4 inches wide and 4.75 inches tall to use for the dividing tabs.

3. Print out the tabs file which is called tabs.jpg

a. Trim the width to your liking and trim the height so your words are on the bottom half of the card stock and you are left with a 1 inch tall tab.

b. Place your tab face up in the XYRON and pull the adhesive roll from the bottom and tear.

c. Smooth the adhesive with your fingers and remove the top portion, then the white backing.

d. Place the adhesive onto your 4 x 4.75 card and fold it in half on itself making sure it’s attached to the blank card. The tab should be attached to the short side of the card.

4. Place your tabs and your recipe cards in the box and viola! Your own recipe box to fill with your favorite recipes!