Watermelon Shortbread Cookies

For the prep:

1. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the dough:

1. Place soft butter in a medium-size mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula until nice and smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix together by hand for about 30 seconds until well blended.
2. Add the flour and cornstarch. Stir until dry ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be a little shaggy but will start to come together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and gather into a ball. Knead 5-6 times until smooth and all the small pieces are worked in. If the dough seems sticky, knead it again with a tablespoon or two of extra flour on your work surface. Form the dough into a ball again and flatten it with your hand to form a flat disk.
4. Turn the disk to coat both sides with flour. Roll out the dough to an approximate ¼-inch thickness (see Café Tips above in the post). Keep your work surface, dough and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour.
5. With a round cookie cutter, cut out circles then cut each one in half with a knife or dough scraper. Transfer the semicircles to the prepared pans with a thin, metal spatula. Re-roll scraps as many times as needed to use up the dough.
6. Place cutouts in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Remove the cutouts from the refrigerator and bake for 12-18 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges. Repeat with the second pan of cutouts. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

For the pink icing:

1. Combine powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons half-and-half, vanilla extract and almond extract (if using) in a medium-size bowl. Mix until smooth. The glaze should be fairly thick, but pourable. Add a little more half-and-half if too thick. Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin. (See the picture above in the post.)
2. Add a bit of pink gel food coloring (I use a toothpick) or a few drops of pink liquid food coloring and stir well to combine. Add more food color if needed to achieve the desired color.
3. Transfer the glaze to a small shallow bowl (a little larger than your cookies).
4. Hold onto the edges of a cookie and dip the top surface into the glaze, being sure all of the surface touches the glaze. Pull the cookie straight up out of the glaze and allow the excess glaze to drip into the bowl for about 15-20 seconds. (You can gently shake the cookie back and forth and up and down to get it to drip a little faster.)
5. Then quickly flip the cookie to the right side up and give it a gentle jiggle to allow the glaze to flow evenly over the surface.
6. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Gently press 6-10 of the mini chocolate chips into the icing randomly or in a pattern.
7. Place cookies on a wire cooling rack to dry for at least 3-4 hours before adding the green (rind) icing.
8. See pictures and a video in the post above, demonstrating this Dip, Drip and Flip technique.

For the green (rind) icing:

1. Combine powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons half-and-half and vanilla extract in a medium-size bowl. Mix until smooth. This glaze should be a little thicker than the pink icing. Add a little more half-and-half if too thick. Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin. (See a picture above in the post.)
2. Add a bit of green gel food coloring (I use a toothpick) or a few drops of green liquid food coloring and stir well to combine. Add more food color if needed to achieve the desired color.
3. Transfer the glaze to a small shallow bowl (a little larger than your cookies).
4. Hold onto a cookie with one corner of the rounded edge facing down. Dip the rounded corner into the icing and slowly turn the cookie in the icing to coat the entire rounded edge with the green icing. See the pictures in the post above of this technique.
5. Pull the cookie up out of the glaze and allow the excess glaze to drip back into the bowl for about 15-20 seconds.
6. Run your finger along the back edge of the cookie several times to remove any excess icing then lay the cookie on a wire cooling rack to dry completely before storing in an airtight container.

For storage:

1. I like to let these cookies sit out for 12-24 hours before layering or stacking them in an airtight container. If gifting these cookies, I also let them dry for 12-24 hours before stacking them between parchment paper in a gift box.
2. See pictures in the post above demonstrating this (rind) technique.