Simple Yoda Sugar Cookies

Last month, Mr. C and I enjoyed a little March Madness. No, not the one with the basketballs. The other one. The nerdier one.

This is Madness compiled 32 of Star Wars characters and pitted them together in a bracket system to find out which Jedi, Sith, or Droid would be declared the best of the bunch. This was serious business - no Jar Jars were even considered.

I enjoyed the game, but, like usual in any sort of playoff situtation, I got a little bitter towards the end. I mean, how on earth was Han beat out in the second round? By Obi Wan, no less? And pitting two female characters against each other in the first round? That just prolonged the epic Star Wars sausage fest. Come on now.

The biggest beef I had was who was voted the winner. That's right. The little green guy. Who was up against the Dark Lord himself. I guess times have changed - back in the 80s and 90s, being the personification of evil meant something. Now it's all cartoons and Clone Wars. And being bad is, well, bad. The kids just don't appreciate a good villain now-a-days, I guess.

For instance, my classroom has fallen in love with the Origami Yoda series. Partly because it's a really fun and animated narrative. Partly because they love it when I do my horrible Yoda impression. I try and promote nerdiness in the classroom, but it's difficult when they think Luke Skywalker is "that Anikin guy" and Han Solo is "I don't know. A Jedi?". Curse you Episodes One through Three!

Yoda is a character, like R2, that brings together both new fans and old. He's a constant. I'm sure, when Disney reanimates the Star Wars corpse, Yoda (or his ghost) will somehow be involved. Because kids love him. And kids love to buy lots and lots of merchandise. 

These yoda sugar cookies were baked up for my class after we finished the first Origami Yoda book. It's small, simple, and sweet - something to nibble on when pondering the ins and out of the universe. And how much cooler Darth Vader is than Yoda. 

Yoda Sugar Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour (minus 2 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons matcha powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
mini chocolate chips

1) In your mixer, whip together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add your egg, then your vanilla, and continue to mix until completely incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, marcha, baking powder, and salt. Stir your dry ingredients into your wet ones with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough. Form into a disc and cover completely with plastic wrap. Cool in the refrigerator for at least a half hour.

2) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. For the cookie cutting, you can use a yoda cookie cutter you have at home, or bend one of your pre-existing ones into a yoda shape. You can also just use your circle cookie cutter and add two triangle ears to it. Yoda's a simple guy. Don't worry too much about getting it perfect. Cut the yodas out and place on a baking sheet. Bake for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until the tips of yoda's ears start to get a little golden. As soon as they come out of the oven, add the mini chocolate chip eyes and press down a bit so they melt and bind with the cookie. Share with some fellow Star Wars fans.