Parks and Recreation Cookies

I'm a huge fan of Parks and Recreation. It's definitely my favorite show on TV right now (I love TV comedies... a lot).

Characters (L->R): Donna, Leslie, Ann, April, Andy, Tom, Ben, Ron, Jerry, Chris

If you've never watched it before, Parks and Rec is about a group of people working for the Department of Parks and Recreation in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana. What makes the show great are the quirky characters, the awesome pop culture references, all those slow head shakes and deadpan stares (Ben and April especially), and the plethora of continued gags & jokes (Zorp and the Reasonabilists, the creepy City Hall 4th Floor, the absurdly offensive murals, snooty rival city Eagleton, the library, the love for Li'l Sebastian, etc.).

I decided to make cookies based on characters in the show, much like I did for my Glee Cookies. It just seems fitting since I adore the show's characters so much. Tom and Ron have the best lines, so it was difficult to pick just one to use on the images above and below this blurb. Though Leslie and Ben are cute together, my favorite couple on the show has to be April and Andy! By the way, the Ron cookie is wearing his "got lucky" Tiger Woods-ish red polo, haha. Enjoy!

P.S. If you've decided to start watching, it's better to start from the 2nd season rather than the 1st. (It doesn't become the awesome show it is now until the 2nd season; they made a huge comeback after mixed reviews in regards to the 1st season.)

P.P.S. I'm sort of wishing I made a Jean-Ralphio cookie...  Orin and Tammy II as well :).

P.P.P.S. If you're a Parks and Rec fan and haven't checked out Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, it's great. Oh and Tom Haverfoods!

Parks & Rec Cookies
sugar cookie dough
sugar cookie icing
food coloring
1-inch circle cookie
knife
pearl milk tea straw
rainbow nonpareils
chopstick
toothpicks

For all the cookies, I started with a circle* for the face, and then added little bits of dough for the hair and ears. Then, I cut out rectangles with a knife for the neck/body. The ears were made as usual, by cutting out circles with a pearl milk tea straw, pushing the circles out with a chopstick, and then cutting the dough circle in half.

Below, on the left side of the pictures, I've illustrated how I generally made each of the character cookie dough shapes. The numbered steps above the pictures list the order that I iced and decorated each character after the cookies were baked and cooled. The right side of the character image shows how the cookies look after all the icing is done. Mix food coloring with the sugar cookie icing and use toothpicks to spread the icing onto the cookies. Let the icing dry between steps.

*In the illustrations below, assume that the main shape is a circle even though the circles might not look that round in the images

Ron Swanson
1) Red polo collar
2) Brown hair
3) Rest of red polo
4) Peach skin
5) Green sprinkle eyes
6) Brown moustache

April Ludgate
1) Brown hair
2) Gray shirt
3) Blue jacket
4) Peach skin
5) Purple sprinkle eyes
6) Red mouth

Chris Traeger
1) White shirt collar
2) Brown hair
3) Black tie
4) Rest of white shirt
5) Peach skin
6) Blue sprinkle eyes
7) Black mouth

Ann Perkins
1) Brown hair
2) Gray cardigan
3) White shirt
4) Tan skin
5) Purple sprinkle eyes
6) Light blue shirt stripes
7) Red mouth

Garry "Jerry" Gergich
1) White shirt collar
2) Gray hair
3) Blue sweater vest
4) Rest of white shirt
5) Peach skin
6) Purple sprinkle eyes
7) Black mouth

Donna Meagle
1) Black hair
2) Magenta cardigan
3) Pink shirt
4) Yellow sprinkle necklace
5) Brown skin
6) Black (or purple) sprinkle eyes
7) Rest of yellow sprinkle necklace
8) Red mouth

Ben Wyatt
1) White shirt collar
2) Brown hair
3) Blue tie
4) Brown blazer
5) Rest of white shirt
6) Peach skin
7) Purple sprinkle eyes
8) Black smile

Leslie Knope
1) Light blue shirt collar
2) Yellow hair
3) Navy blazer lapels
4) Rest of light blue shirt
5) Rest of navy blazer
6) Peach skin
7) Blue sprinkle eyes
8) Red mouth

Andy Dwyer
1) Brown hair, beard, sideburns
2) White shirt
3) Black shirt design
4) Peach skin
5) Green sprinkle eyes
6) Red "Mouse R" words
7) Brown moustache
8) Black smile

Tom Haverford
1) White shirt collar
2) Black hair, beard, sideburns
3) Red tie
4) Gray blazer
5) Rest of white shirt
6) Brown skin
7) Purple sprinkle eyes
8) Black moustache/goatee
9) Black smile

Here's the clip of the Parks and Rec episode quoted in the Tom image: