Tombstone Cookies Recipes

SHORTBREAD TOMBSTONES

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the flour and salt and work the mixture with your fingers or a pastry blender until all the flour is incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
• When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough until it's 1/4-inch thick. Using a small knife, cut out rectangular or slightly rounded tombstone shapes, about 3 inches tall. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Roll and cut the second half of the dough, and place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. You can gather together scraps and re-roll them.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the shortbread is very lightly golden. Do not let the cookies brown. Remove to a wire rack and cool.
• When the cookies are completely cool, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in a heatproof bowl for 1 minutes. The chips may look unmelted, but stir them with a spoon to see if they have actually softened before putting them in for another minute, if necessary.
• Spoon the melted chocolate into a zipper-lock bag. Seal the bag, pressing out any air. Use a toothpick to make a very tiny hole in one corner of the bag to release a thin stream of chocolate for writing. Decorate tombstones with crosses and RIP or other writing as desired. Allow the chocolate to set before stacking the cookies.

EMPTY TOMB COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees--you MUST do it now. Also, gather a cooking mallet, kitchen mixer, masking tape and Bible.
• Read John 19:1-3 ~ Jesus was beaten for our sins; beat the nuts with a cooking mallet; set aside.
• Read John 19:28-30 - Jesus drank something like vinegar (gall), sniff the fragrance, dip finger in and taste, too; place the vinegar in a mixing bowl.
• Read John 10:10-11 - Egg whites symbolize Jesus' holy, innocent life; add whites to the bowl with the vinegar.
• Read Luke 23:27 - the bitter tears of the women; taste a few grains, remember your own sins; add the salt to the bowl.
• Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 - Sweet salvation! Taste and see; add to the bowl.
• Crank up the mixer and let it go while you read from Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3; let the mixer go for about 12-15 MINUTES; this needs to be VERY stiff!
• Read Matthew 27:57-60 - Fold the nuts into the egg-sugar mixture; this symbolizes the rocks in the garden.
• Using a scoop or knife & spoon, drop by spoon into mounds (to resemble a rocky tomb); put into the oven and turn it OFF!
• Read Matthew 27:65-66 - The tomb is sealed; use two pieces of tape (5-6 inches long) to "seal" the door edges (symbolically).
• Read John 16:20 & 22 - Consider these passages, then go to bed!
• NEXT MORNING: Read Matthew 28:1-9 - Jesus is risen! Behold--the empty tomb! Unseal the oven door, take out the cookies, break or bite one in half -- it should be hollow inside---empty---just like the Tomb!
• He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

TOMBSTONE COOKIE POPS

Steps:

• In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, butter and egg until dough forms. Shape dough into a ball; flatten slightly. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Unwrap dough. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 3-inch tombstone-shaped cookie cutter. On ungreased cookie sheet, place cutouts 2 inches apart. Insert craft stick halfway into center of each cookie.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely.
• Spread chocolate frosting on cookies. Attach plain tip to tube of green icing; pipe grass along bottom edge of tombstones. Remove plain tip from green icing; attach to tube of white icing. Pipe RIP in center of each tombstone.