Rangoli-inspired Diwali cookies

While I enjoy all of India's many celebrations, Diwali has always been my favourite. To me, there's something magical about all those diyas and lights glowing from every home. That is one of the things I miss the most, being outside India.That, and the sweets!

I wanted to do something special for Diwali, but since mithai-making is not my forte, I decided to stick to my usual - baking - and go desi-style for the decoration.

These are simple sugar cookies (recipe from Glorious Treats), covered in home-made royal icing (I will post my version soon).

Of these three designs, my favourite is the blue-petal one.

I had really wanted to take step-by-step shots of these, but had to keep rushing between the kitchen (where I had my set-up) and the dining table (where the child had her set-up) to supervise. I'd been telling her about Diwali and how it's a special time. Since she loves decorating too, I thought I'd try to instil some of that Diwali-buzz by letting her decorate her own cookies.

I gave her four of the flower-shaped cookies, 2 piping bags and a plate of sprinkles. Unfortunately, she got so carried away ''piping" (read: dumping mounds of icing on cookies), that most of them set before she could get the sprinkles on, with the end result that the sprinkles meant for four cookies ended up on one, like so:

Anyway, here's wishing you a peaceful, prosperous and of course, sweet Diwali!