The idea for these Japanese pattern cookies came to mind when I was folding origami one evening with the boys. Some of my best cookie design inspiration comes from fabric or paper patterns. Because fabric patterns tend to have clean lines and limited colors, they translate well onto cookies. Traditional origami paper tends to be the same, with its clean lines and high contrast. 
This was not my first origami rodeo. Back in 2015 I had made some origami-inspired thank you cookies that turned out lovely, but I was filled with guilt by the amount of dark food coloring I had to use to achieve them. Nothing is more embarrassing than having someone compliment your cookies with a huge smile of black teeth.
The water in this crane cookie uses the same technique as my Easter lace cookies and heart lace cookies. Pipe the main lines, and once they dry, use a very, very thin flood icing to give a very thin and translucent layer of white. Use just a small amount of flood. It won’t be translucent when you pipe, but if it’s thin enough, it will dry thin enough to give a peek of color from underneath.
Hexagonal cookies are fun, but after baking they can spread a bit and not give you the tight fit you want. To avoid this, punch the shape twice: once before baking, and the once more RIGHT after you take them out of the oven. You might only shave off trace amounts, but will give you nice clean lines for fitting them together. I did not do this for my Bee Monogram Cookies, and even though they turned out beautiful, they could fit together a bit tighter.
A gold outline finished off these Japanese pattern cookies. Gold accents can make your cookies pop. You can use a gold dust powder mixed with alcohol.
Happy baking!
Originally posted on January 20, 2018
[…] The flood icing used on the lid was supposed to be much much thinner. I was aiming for a translucent look that you get when you use a super thin icing, as seen here in these Japanese Pattern Cookies. […]