Natural Dyed Valentine Cookies

I ate pomegranates all of January, tossing them in this kale + butternut squash salad. One day I looked at my pomegranate-stained sink and thought, “surely I can dye something with this intensely pink fruit!” One sugar cookie recipe later, it turns out pomegranates make a gorgeous natural dye! Perfect for Valentine’s Day – or any day you’re in the mood to bake something delicious and colorful, which is pretty much every gray wintery day at our house.

If you want to give these cookies a try, you’ll need a juicer (I use this one) or a blender + strainer, a dependable sugar cookie recipe (I like this one); and 2-4 reusable bottles (I have these) with a #5 tip (like this). Just follow the recipes below for white, light pink, medium pink, and dark pink icing. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

White icing

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp milk or mylk (I used almond)

Light pink icing

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk or mylk

1 tbsp pomegranate juice

Medium pink icing

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tbsp milk or mylk

2 tbsp pomegranate juice

Dark pink icing

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp pomegranate juice

Directions

Cut and peel one pomegranate, being sure to remove the seeds from the flesh. Place the seeds in a colander and rinse well. If you have a juicer, feed the seeds through the feeding tube and reserve the juice. If you don’t have a juicer, place the seeds in a blender and pulse them until they break down into juice; then strain the juice into a small bowl or glass jar. To make different colored dyes, place the ingredients for each color in separate bowls, then mix well with a spoon or fork until a thick, creamy icing is formed. Using a spoon, transfer the different colored icings to separate plastic bottles, screw on the tips, invert the bottles, and decorate the cookies. Let the icing dry for 15-20 minutes, then enjoy!