Beatles Theme Gender Reveal

Back in November, Beth and I talked our sister-in-law Tiffany into letting us throw her a gender reveal party.  Knowing my brother and Tiffany like we do, we knew it HAD to be Beatles themed.  I used an invitation I already had but tweaked the design and came up with this:

This was our starting point for decorations and food ideas.  To see more of the products I designed head on over to the KateOGroup blog.

Beth and I began brainstorming and coming up with food ideas.  We decided to stick with just desserts.  Beth made cakes and got all the supplies to make twinkie yellow submarines.  I made cookies.

Not that long ago I discovered, thanks to Instagram, Sallys Baking Addiction Blog.  Sally has a ton of awesome cookie recipes like the Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  The fun thing about these cookies is you can really change up how they looked based on the sprinkles.  I thought these were perfect for a Beatles theme gender reveal because they look a bit psychedelic with all the colors.

I also made a long time family favorite Cut Out (or Sugar) Cookies.  If you were ever in my house as a child, more likely than not my mom had some reason to make these cookies.  And, because I get asked about these cookies all of the time I wanted to share the recipe with you.

The Best Ever Cut-Out Cookies

2/3 C Shortening
3/4 C Sugar
1 t Vanilla
1 Egg
4 t Milk
2 C Flour
1 1/2 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Salt

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla.  Add egg and beat until light and fluffy.  Mix in milk.  Add dry ingredients a little at a time.   Divide in half and chill in fridge for an hour.  Roll to 1/2″ thickness and cut into desired shapes.  Bake on greased cookie sheets at 375 degrees for about 6-8 minutes.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies; but is determined by the size of the cookie cutter.

Of course you can’t have the Best Ever Cut-Out Cookies with out icing (my brother’s favorite part)!

Buttercream Icing

1/2 C Crisco
1/2 C Butter
1 t Vanilla
2 T Water
4 C Powdered Sugar

Cream butter, Crisco, vanilla and water.  Gradually add sugar.  Beat at high-speed until light and fluffy.  Keep in airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.  Makes approximately 3 cups.

If you’re going to leave it white you might want to try to use clear vanilla but if you’re going to color it don’t worry about clear vanilla.  To color the icing we’ve always used Wilton Coloring that you can get at Michael’s or Wal-Mart or I’m sure a ton of other places.

I used an Easter Egg Cookie Cutter and turned these into Walruses.

They aren’t the prettiest cookies ever; I’m way better on digital designs then icing designs.  And yes, I made grey icing but I didn’t want to make black icing too so I stuck with white for the details and a skittle for the nose.

This theme made putting the party together easy and fun.  But the most exciting part of the night was when we found out.

It’s a . . .

I’m so excited to have a niece and can’t wait to meet her this spring!

To see more of the Beatles Theme Gender Reveal Party click here.