Sugar Rush Edible Jigsaw Puzzles (with Coffee Glaze)

Hi everyone!

Today's instructable is especially for kids (and adults) who enjoy playing with thier food and eating their toys. Just kidding. It's for everybody. Who wouldn't like sweet & salty fried doughs while doing jigsaw puzzles! Except, they're both the same thing..

These are easy to make, fun to solve and super yummy to eat. So let's get started.

Supplies

For Dough :
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)

For Glazing:
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee (can be replaced with cocoa powder or melted chocolate)

Other:
- cooking oil & wok (for frying)
- paint brush, toothpick or any pointed object (to draw on dough)
- dough cutter or knife (for cutting the puzzle pieces)
- mixing bowls & plates

These measurements are enough for 2-3 small sized puzzle boards.

Step 1: Decide the Shapes

The first thing to do is decide which shapes you want the puzzles to be. You can make a regular square or rectangular board, a heart shape or go for animal shapes like I did.

It's better to draw a rough outline on paper which you can refer to while making cuts on the dough.

Next is choosing the difficulty level. If you're going for an easy level, I'll suggest cutting interlocking pieces (pic.3). If you want to make it slightly difficult to solve, go for random cuts (pic.4) that can be a bit baffling.

Pardon my drawing skills here..

Step 2: Melt the Yum Binder

Instead of using water or plain old milk to knead the dough, we'll be using what I call the yum binder.

Pour sugar, ghee & milk in a bowl and heat it up till everything dissolves and forms into a nice glossy liquid. Set it aside to cool down.

Step 3: Dough It Up!

Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl.

Once the binder liquid has cooled down to room temperature, pour it in the flour little by little and start kneading to form a smooth dough.

This dough will be slightly flaky and not very stretchable like, say a regular pizza dough.

Step 4: Start Rolling

Take a fist sized dough ball, dust the surface with little flour and start rolling... Flatten it into a smooth sheet but don't make it very thin.

There will be visible flakes, but like I said before, that's very normal and what will give it the right crumby texture later.

Step 5: Get Crafty!

Use a toothpick (or any pointy object) to draw the shape outline of your choice. Cut it out using a knife or dough cutter.

Then divide the shape you get into smaller pieces. The tinier the pieces, the difficult to solve it will be. I've done random freehand cuts. You can also make classic interlocking pieces (see step 1) if you want.

After you're done, take a picture for later reference.

Step 6: Fry. Fry. Fry.

Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the pieces on low to medium flame till crispy. The darker the color, the uglier they look but the tastier they turn out to be... so you can stop at golden brown or keep frying a little longer.

Step 7: Make the Glaze

Take a mixing bowl and pour in 1 tablespoon milk and half the sugar. With a spoon, whisk the sugar into milk until you get a smooth paste.

If the mixture is too thick add spoonfuls of milk. If it's runny keep adding more sugar & whisk until you get a consistency that can be drizzled.

Step 8: Pick Up a Paint Brush

Take as much glaze you need in a small bowl, pour in the coffee powder & give it a quick mix. I kept a grainy texture but you can smooth it out if you like.

Once the puzzle pieces are cooled down start coating. I tried dipping them in the glaze bowl to coat the top surface but this method turned out to be a little messy. So I finished the rest by using a paint brush instead.

I love how they looked like varnished wooden pieces from a few feet away. Wow, that sounds unappetizing.

Step 9: Solve, Eat and Repeat!

The coffee waft will be tempting but wait for the polish, I mean the glaze, to dry before getting your hands on them.

These puzzles are not only a good mental exercise for kids but they can also help build inner strength & character... It's not an easy task to patiently keep solving one of these when all you really want to do is start popping them in your mouth. Wooden jokes aside, this stuff is seriously irresistible.

Have a creative day!