Sushi Look-Alike Cookie Platter Recipe

Tiny food may have been all the rage in the early 2020s, but if the next big thing turns out to be trompe l'oeil treats, developer Patterson Watkins is right in the vanguard with these cute little sushi-shaped cookies. How did she get them to look just like California rolls? Well, it took a lot of brainstorming and a few tasty trial runs, but the latter was no hardship since she assures us, "The testing phase was delicious." Eventually, she settled on using coconut macaroon dough to simulate the sushi rice, while black sugar cookie dough (courtesy of food coloring) mimics the seaweed wrapper. As for the other components, cookie dough dyed green stands in for cucumber or avocado, while pink dough represents crab or tuna, and orange dough is faux fish roe.

These cookies' resemblance to sushi stops well short of the flavor, though. Patterson tells us, "I am a big fan of coconut. If you are as well, you'll love these cookies. The buttery sugar cookie cup creates this crispy outer area, concealing the semi-firm, almost sticky coconut center. Pops of vanilla and almond from the extracts play well with the buttery and coconutty elements." So tempting are these sushi-themed treats that Watkins admits, "I struggled to wait for them to cool completely before snacking."

The sugar cookie dough is made from flour, baking soda, baking powder, butter, sugar, vanilla, and an egg and are tinted with black, orange, pink, and green food coloring. The macaroon dough requires shredded coconut, egg whites, almond extract, and salt, while you'll also need chocolate syrup for dipping the finished cookies.

Place flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl, whisk to combine.

Place softened butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until combined.

Add the egg to the bowl and mix on medium speed until combined and fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix on low until the dough has combined.

Remove three portions of cookie dough from the bowl, each portion being approximately ¼ cup.

Add the black food coloring to the largest portion of cookie dough. Add the orange, pink, and green food coloring to the smaller portions.

Stir until the food coloring has dispersed and the dough portions are bright and vibrantly colored. (Amounts of food coloring may vary depending on the brand or type used).

Wrap the dough portions in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the coconut, egg whites, sugar, flour, almond extract, and salt in a large bowl.

Stir to combine the coconut macaroon mix, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Once the cookie dough has rested, remove the black-colored dough from the refrigerator, and using a small scoop or tablespoon-measure, divide the dough and place it in a mini muffin pan.

Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the muffin tins, making a cup.

Using a knife, trim any excess cookie dough that might have pushed up over the edges of the tins and place the pan, uncovered, in the freezer, and chill for at least 30 minutes (cover with wrap if you plan on freezing the cups for longer than 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, remove the pink, orange, and green-colored dough from the refrigerator. Create 24 little pea-sized portions of each dough, place on a wax paper-lined plate, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Once chilled, remove the muffin pan from the freezer, and fill each cup with approximately 1 tablespoon of the macaroon mix, gently pressing into the cups.

Using the back of a ¼ teaspoon, create a little divot in the center of each cookie.

Place one of each colored "pea" into the divots. Once filled, place the pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through and slightly crisp around the edges.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Once cooled, gently pry the cookies from the tins, and serve with some chocolate sauce on the side for dipping and dunking.

If you wind up with leftover sugar cookie dough, this can be used to make sashimi cookies to augment the sushi theme. Patterson tells us that you can simply cut the pink and orange dough into rectangles, mimicking salmon or tuna sashimi, and maybe save some un-dyed cookie dough to create those light or whiter striations you can see in the raw real fish, or dock the dough to create that texture. She says, "You could even roll up little balls of the leftover green dough to make it look like those sashimi cookies have been dressed with wasabi (before baking)." If you also have leftover macaroon dough, you can form it into rectangular mounds and drape thin slices of the colored dough on top to form nigiri cookies. While all of these can be baked alongside the sushi cookies, thinner ones will take less time so keep an eye on them while cooking.

Speaking of wasabi, you can also make a green dip to go with the chocolate "soy sauce." This can be made from vanilla frosting or cookie butter colored with green food coloring, or you could use pistachio cream since its flavor would complement the almond extract in the macaroons. To complete the platter, you could add thin-sliced candied ginger to play the part of pickled ginger, while wasabi-flavored Kit-Kats would also be a fun addition to this sushi-themed dessert.

Although this recipe involves quite a few steps, the end result it well worth it. In addition, Watkins tells us she made the cookies over the course of two days. Both the sugar cookie dough and the macaroon dough can be made the day ahead, wrapped in plastic, and refrigerated. The sugar cookie dough can also be divided, dyed, and shaped in advance. If you get so far as pressing the black dough into the mini muffin pan, go ahead and freeze it overnight since the extra chill time won't hurt.

Any cookies you don't eat the day you bake them should be stored in the refrigerator because of the moist macaroon filling. The refrigerated cookies will last up to a week and can either be eaten cold or allowed to warm up to room temperature before they're dipped in chocolate. While they may be slightly less crispy after they've spent some time in the fridge, they'll be just as delicious as when they were fresh out of the oven.