becky
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read the disclosure policy to learn more.
Thank you for supporting this blog!
The first time I tried sushi was way back in 2004. I was living in New York City for the summer, on break from my costume design graduate program in Pittsburgh. I’d sublet a small studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The apartment didn’t have much to offer in the way of kitchen space (it didn’t even have a full-size refrigerator, just a mini fridge!), so I ended up eating a lot of takeout that summer.
One evening on the walk home from my internship in midtown, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. For some reason I decided to pick up some sushi, too. (Vegetarian brown rice rolls, if I remember correctly!) And while in retrospect supermarket sushi probably wasn’t the best way to start, it certainly did the job: I was hooked.
These days I eat sushi about once a week, and it will always be my choice when it’s my turn to choose the restaurant. So it’s no surprise that, when I started seeing various examples of sushi cookies popping up on Pinterest and around the web, I had to create my own.
These sushi cookies aren’t difficult to make. However, the decorating does require a bit of a time commitment. If you wanted to you could certainly make the dough ahead of time, or even make the cookies one day and decorate them the next. Just wait until you are ready to decorate to prepare the buttercream frosting.
The trickiest part of this recipe was tracking down the candy decorations! Before starting I had an idea of the colors/shapes of candy I’d need to get the desired look. But, I didn’t realize how difficult they’d be to find locally. (I ended up finding a few things at Fairway, and the rest at IT’SUGAR.) When I make these again, I’ll save time by ordering my ingredients online.
Get Creative with Sushi Sugar Cookies
I made two cookie styles: Sushi “rolls” (round cookies) and “nigiri” (rectangular-shaped). I did green/yellow fruit gummies for “avocado rolls,” red/green/yellow gummies for “California rolls” and red/green gummies for “tuna avocado rolls.” My “nigiri” is made with strawberry gummy power belts. However, this is a great place to be creative.
Use different types of candy to mimic different types of fish. For instance, you could substitute peach power belts to make salmon nigiri. Add a swirl of colored buttercream to mimic spicy mayo. Top your cookies with toasted sesame seeds. Red or orange Nerds candy would make great lookalike caviar. The possibilities here are endless.
These cookies would be super fun to give as a gift or bring to a party, especially if packaged in plastic takeout trays, and wrapped up with a pair of chopsticks on top!
More “foods that look like other foods” recipes you might enjoy:
Corn Dog Cake Pops
White Chocolate Buttercream Deviled Eggs
Caramel Apple Lollipops
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Print
Sushi Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 35 cookies 1x
Description
A recipe for sushi sugar cookies made with buttercream, licorice, and gummy candies. A whimsical dessert that looks like sushi!
Ingredients
Cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 egg (1 egg, beaten and divided in half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
4 teaspoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decoration:
Strawberry power belts
Gummy fruit slice candy
Black licorice whips
Other gummy candies, as desired
Instructions
Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350° F / 176° C. Line two trays with silicone baking mats.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and mix on medium-high speed until well combined.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat until dry ingredients have been incorporated and a soft dough forms. Use your hands to shape dough into a ball.
On lightly floured rolling mat, use a rolling pin to roll half of the dough to 1/4-inch thickness.
With a 2-3-inch round cookie cutter, cut half of the dough into circles. Place 1-2 inches apart on prepared trays.
Roll remaining dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a ruler as a guide, cut dough into 1-inch x 2-inch rectangles.
Cut half of the rectangles into two smaller square pieces. Place a dough square on top of each rectangle.
Using damp fingertips, press the edges of the square into the rectangle, creating a slightly dome-shaped cookie.
Bake cookies in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before transferring cookies to a wire rack.
Buttercream:
In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, confectioner’s sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla and mix on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.
Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with round tip.
Decoration
Unroll black licorice (if you’ve purchased the kind that comes rolled into wheels) and chop gummy fruit slices into triangular pieces. Do NOT cut the gummy ribbons.
Make the round sushi rolls first. With a small palette knife, frost each cookie with a thin layer of buttercream frosting.
Next, trim the edge of each round cookie with a vine of black licorice. Use kitchen shears to trim each piece.
Add 2-3 gummy triangles to the center of each cookie. I did green/yellow for “avocado rolls,” red/green/yellow for “California rolls” and red/green for “tuna avocado rolls,” but feel free to be creative!
Pipe dots of buttercream around the gummy triangles, completely covering the first layer of frosting. This is your “rice.”
Next, prepare your nigiri. With a palette knife, frost each cookie with a thin layer of buttercream frosting.
Next, pipe dots of frosting over the entire top of the cookie. Drape a gummy candy belt lengthwise over the frosting dots. Use a knife to trim the edges, and reserve the remainder of the candy for the next cookie.
Drape a small piece of black licorice over the middle portion of each cookie. You might need a small dab of frosting to make the licorice “stick” to the cookie.
Store sushi cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Notes
Kitchen shears will come in handy for this recipe, especially for cutting the licorice vines. If you do not have kitchen shears, a knife can also be used.
Candy-wise, I used gummy fruit slices, gummy sour power belts, and black shoestring licorice vines, but feel free to be creative!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Biscuits and Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert