Last month two of my favorite athletes were in town, my nieces Jordan and Jenna! My hubby’s family is from Erie, PA, so the girls both play for the Erie Frost travel softball team. Every August, the Frosties participate in a tournament in Clarence, NY (which is a short 15 minute drive from our house) so Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa get to come and watch them play without driving 2 hours to Erie. It’s awesome! We get to visit with family, watch the girls play, and we barely have to leave our backyard. It’s like a SCORE for us before the game even starts!

This year was Jenna’s first year playing softball and OMG talk about a natural! I mean look at that mean mug….True…Grit!!! She really shined at shortstop! I couldn’t get over how confident she was and the way she just ran the field at only ten years old!! Look out for this one folks!! And her speed! Oh my!! All that time spent on the soccer field has really given her an edge on the base running. If this girl is stealing bases, don’t even bother trying to throw her out. She’ll beat the tag ever time. She’s definitely an up and comer to watch out for.

And then there’s this one! The original 1-6! (both girls share the same number on the field…sixteen!) We have been watching Jordan play for years now and I have been more than impressed to watch her skill level and talent develop. At fifteen, she has matured into a force to be reckoned with on the pitcher’s mound. I was truly impressed by her patience and ability to stay calm under pressure. And then there’s the powerhouse batting skills that somehow jump leaps and bounds from one year to the next! I was lucky enough to witness this girl clock one right outta the park!

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa were thrilled to be able to take in a few games! We tried our best to alternate between the two! You have to admit, those are some good looking softball fans right there.

Whenever our favorite team comes to town we try to show our support by making a special treat! I like to think of it as a little bit of a good luck charm. These girls play so hard and leave their hearts out on the field so this year I thought why not make softball cookies in the shape of a heart! I’ll show you how to recreate this sweet treat for your favorite baller! (Cookie dough and royal icing recipes coming soon!!)

Roll out your favorite cookie dough to 1/4 inch thickness. I recommend our Soft Cut Out Cookies recipe!
Use a heart cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Bake according to recipe directions. Allow cookies to cool.
Prepare royal icing. I tinted the majority of the icing yellow (to match a softball) and prepared it to flooding consistency. The remainder was tinted red and prepared to piping consistency. Outline the heart shape in yellow.

Flood the heart shape with more yellow icing.

Use a toothpick to spread the icing and to fill in any spaces or gaps.

Tap cookie (or lightly drop it on the countertop) to allow icing to spread out evenly. Allow cookie to dry about 20-30 minutes. I made about 35 cookies so by the time I was done flooding and filling, the cookies I started with were dry.

Pipe on two curved lines in red to start the laces.

Pipe “V’s” over top to look like laces on a softball. Down one side.

And up the other!

Allow icing to harden for 3 hours or overnight. You can pipe the laces in any direction that you like!

I absolutely love how these cookies turned out! Live. Love. Softball.

I packaged them up with cellophane treat bags and matched the ribbons to the team colors, navy and royal blue, and then added a few “softball” printed ribbons as well. I managed to somehow only lose two to Jenna, before I had to put them on top of the fridge out of reach!

Jordan showing off her cookies before passing them out to the team! Game day ready!!

And the good luck cookies must have worked because Jenna’s team won the Championship in her age bracket!!!

She was so proud of her trophy! I have a feeling there are a lot more championships in her future!

And her big sister Jordan couldn’t have been more proud of her! I mean, she’s taught her everything she knows…. at least on the softball field! There’s no better friend than a sister! I love that these two girls get to share their trials and tribulations on the field together. They might not know it yet, but they’ll remember these days forever.