Pay tribute to America this 4th of July by decorating some of these patriotic Uncle Sam Nutter Butter Cookies. These cute treats will be a get as many "oohs and ahhs" as the independence day fireworks.
There back! I'm talking about Nutter Butters. I can't help myself. They are the ideal canvas on which to create so many edible crafts and their peanut shape was absolutely perfect for these Uncle Sam Cookies.
We are going to a friend's party on July 4th and the idea to create these patriotic cookies was hers. She knows I love working with Nutter Butters and she has been the lucky recipient of many a chocolate covered peanut butter cookie treat.
This friend has fun trying to help me brainstorm ideas. Some of her suggestions are a bit wacky, but then, so is she, that's why I love her. But on more than one occasion she has helped me devise a plan for making something truly great, and although I designed these Uncle Sam Nutter Butters, she gets credit for the idea!
I know many of you will think these look like a lot of work, and you'd be right. But, if you work in an assembly line style, they really don't take that long to make. I used modeling chocolate to create Uncle Sam's facial features and his stars and stripes hat. If you cut all the pieces out then do the assembly they come together pretty easily.
If you still haven't tried working with modeling chocolate, you really should give it a whirl. It's soft and pliable and easy to work with, but then it hardens up enough to stay rigid. Plus, it tastes like chocolate. What could be better?
Uncle Sam Nutter Butter Cookies
You'll Need:
Nutter Butter Cookies
white confectionery coating/Candy Melts
orange candy coloring
dipping fork or kitchen fork
parchment paper lined baking sheetcutting board
powdered sugar
white modeling chocolate, (recipe here)
red and blue food coloring
1 ½ inch square cookie cutter
knife
mini star plunger cutter
mini candy eyes
food use only paint brushes
water
food use only tweezers
clay extruder with multi hole disc
Before you begin, for detailed instructions of melting and coloring confectionery coating, making and coloring modeling chocolate, see my Chocolate Making Tips page.
Instructions:
Melt your white confectionery coating. If you don't have experience melting candy coating, see my Chocolate Making Tips page for instructions.
Color the candy coating with a very small amount of orange candy coloring. You want a skin color. I should have gone just a bit darker on mine. In person the skin color on Uncle Sam's face looks great, but in pictures it's a bit too light.
Dip a your Nutter Butter Cookies in the peach candy coating. Completely cover the cookie, then lift the cookie out of the melted candy coating using a dipping fork or kitchen fork. Tap the fork on the side of the bowl a few times, allowing the excess candy coating to drip off the cookie. Set the dipped cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Dip about 6 cookies, then put them in the freezer for about 5 minutes. If you make an entire tray of these dipped cookies, by the time you freeze them, the first cookies you dipped with have hardened, and will develop white streaks and spots on them.
Dust your cutting board lightly with powdered sugar. Roll out some red, white, and blue modeling chocolate to about 1/16th of an inch thickness. Cut one square of each color for the hat. Cut the blue square in half. Cut four thin stripes and 1 wide stripe out of the white square. Cut three mini stars out of the remaining piece of white. Cut a hat brim out of red.
Color some modeling chocolate skin color using a small amount of orange coloring. Pinch off small pieces and roll into balls for the nose. Flatten some smaller balls into discs, then cut off one edge to become ears.
Insert some white modeling chocolate into a clay extruder fitted with a multi hole plate. Press out the spaghetti like strands of modeling chocolate. Cut off ½ inch lengths of the strands. Pinch together both ends creating the moustache, beard, and hair. Reshape as needed.
Cut off ¼ inch pieces and create curved eyebrows.
To make Uncle Sam's hat, brush the bottom of the red square with some water. Press one piece of blue modeling chocolate so that only half of it is on the red square. This will elongate the hat into a rectangle. Brush the backsides of the white stripes with water. Press them onto the red square, creating red and white stripes. Cut off excess.
Attach the min stars to the blue band using water, then attach the hat brim to the bottom edge of the blue band.
Use melted confectionery coating to attach the hat to the top half of the dipped Nutter Butter Cookie. Create Uncle Sam's face, by using the melted candy coating as glue to attach two eyes, eyebrows, a nose, the moustache and beard, ears, and hair. To make the eyebrows look fuzzy, use a knife to cut along the edges of the modeling chocolate.
If you are making a lot of these cookies, create all the decorative pieces then assemble them all at once, adding the hats first, then adding the facial features, and lastly adding the hair and ears.
Store these in an airtight container for up to several weeks. Don't refrigerate them, but be sure to keep them in a cool spot at your 4th of July party.
Items used to create this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)
Nutter Butter Peanut Butter...Shop on Amazon
Wilton White Candy Melts, 1...Shop on Amazon
Chefmaster Orange Candy Col...Shop on Amazon
Americolor Candy Oil Food C...Shop on Amazon
AmeriColor 2 oz Navy Blue O...Shop on Amazon
Ateco Plain Edge Square Cut...Shop on Amazon
⅜" White And Black Icing ...Shop on Amazon
Ateco 1378 Dipping Tool 3-P...Shop on Amazon
If you're looking for other 4th of July Recipes, click the link and explore all my other Independence Day inspired food.
- Irresistible Sweets with Dixie Crystals® - July 13, 2024
- How to make peanut butter? - February 15, 2024
- OREO Penguins - December 20, 2023
Sue says
Nutter Butter needs to hire you as their spokesperson, Beth! These are incredible and done so perfectly!
beth says
Oh, I sure wish they would! That would be great:)
Anonymous says
Beth, I think these are your best yet, but I always feel that way until I see your next project, lol I love this and I have never liked an Uncle Sam picture until now. Thanks Trish utler
beth says
Yeah, I never liked Uncle Sam too much either. He always seemed so angry. But these guys are pretty sweet looking. I'm glad you like them!
Beth Gorden says
WOW - these are adorable!!
Thanks for sharing your creativity with all of us =) Hope to see you linked up again today. I featured this on TGIF today (http://www.123homeschool4me.com/2013/07/tgif-linky-party-83.html)
Have a great weekend,
Beth
beth says
Thanks for featuring these cookies on 123Homeschool2me.com. I appreciate it!
Erin says
These are so cute!
Brenda @ SweetSimpleStuff says
WOW!!! Of course you are the genius who created Uncle Sam ... you are such a talented Nutter Butter artist 🙂
beth says
Thanks, Brenda. I do love my Nutter Butters!
SensiblySara says
Oh how cute!! I wouldn't have the patience to make these, but they are AWESOME!
beth says
Thanks Sara. I must admit these do have quite a bit of detail to them and will take some time to replicate. I only made three which was enough to make the 4th of July party guests oooh and aaaah:)
Kim of Mo Betta says
You are so talented! These are adorable!
beth says
Thank you, Kim:)
Maria says
Oh my goodness HOW ADORABLE!!!! Such a cute idea, you are so creative! Beautifully done!!!
beth says
Thank you, Maria:)
Linda V @ Bubble and Sweet says
Wow out of Nutter Butters! They look fabulous.
beth says
Thanks, Linda:)
Madelein - Mother of six says
Fantastic!
beth says
🙂 Thanks!
Kalamity Kelli says
Oh my gosh Beth! You KNOW how I love Nutter Butters and I'm going to pin this right on my board. This is so cool!
beth says
Thank you Kelli:)
Victoria Burke says
It is so hard to believe that you can create Uncle Sam out of Nutter Butters. Seriously to cute and creative!
beth says
I am of the belief that almost anything can be made out of a Nutter Butter, and I'm willing to try!!!!
Janine Eshelbrenner says
I can't believe those Uncle Sams started out as Nutter Butters! Too cute!
Lisa@hooplapalooza says
oh my! these are" frameable" and would go great with my spoons :>D
beth says
Lisa, I loved your spoons. I was working on this blog post when you're e-mail came in, and I saw Uncle Sam and my first thought was "oh, that is so clever!" Using spoons was a great idea, and the shapes spoons you used were perfect of Uncle Sam.
Project Denneler says
OH...... WOW! Those are seriously awesome Uncle Sams. Love 'em!
beth says
Thanks, Sandra:)
Patricia @ ButterYum says
Look at how cute they are! And what could be more American than a peanutbutter uncle sam cookie? Love it.
beth says
I totally agree, peanut butter and Uncle Sam couldn't be more American! Thanks, Patricia.
sandy says
very nice
sandy says
those are just the cutest things very nice
beth says
Thank you, Sandy:)
Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons.com says
Adorable!!!!
beth says
Thanks Jill. I posted these tonight instead of tomorrow, just so I could share them at your party tonight!
sugarswings says
as soon as I saw the pic, I knew this had to be yours! So fun!!
beth says
You know I love my Nutter Butters!!!