In The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Gurgi receives a magical wallet as a reward for his faithfulness to his companions. The little leather coin purse may look unassuming, but it provides its owner with unlimited food for as long as there is enchantment in the land of Prydain! Pretty darn awesome. I’ve had several readers request a recipe from the Prydain books, so I decided to make cookies inspired by Gurgi’s wallet. After all, a coin purse with the power of unlimited snacks is SO my thing. 😉
Let’s talk inspiration. Have you ever seen on Pinterest or Instagram those cookies with the hidden pocket inside filled with candy, sprinkles, sugary cereal, etc.? I’ve heard them called surprise cookies, pocket cookies, and confetti cookies, but whatever you call them, I think they look SO COOL. Since wallets are for holding things, now seemed like a great time to make my own surprise cookie recipe. So I got to work!
I used a chocolate version of the sugar cookie recipe from my cookbook, A Literary Tea Party. Chocolate cookies made the most sense, since a leather bag would be brown. But I also wanted detailed decorations inspired by medieval leather tooling, so I broke out my favorite royal icing recipe (developed by Julie M. Usher), which would allow me to make more delicate shapes than buttercream would. As for the filling, I went with Reese’s Pieces to get that unbeatable chocolate peanut butter combo.
I was more than pleased with the results. The wallets looked so darling with their tidy little icing swirls and yellow Reese’s piece clasps. I can’t tell you how fun it was to give them a little shake and hear the candy rattling around inside. Now hurry up and go make your own! 😀
P.S. If it’s your first time using royal icing, I recommend Julia Usher’s how-to Youtube video. She has a lot of good tips to make it easier.
P.P.S. I’m taking reader requests for blog recipes, so email me here if there’s a classic book you’d like to see featured on the blog!
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