You’ve heard of Nancy Drew, but have you heard of the Nancy Drew Cookie Contest? For fans of the Nancy Drew PC games, Her Interactive offers Nancy fans an opportunity to share their passion and excitement about the classic point and click games through an annual baking contest!
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There is no character more embedded in my psyche than Nancy Drew. I grew up reading the classic yellow hardcover books thanks to the complete collection in my elementary school library.
But what really unlocked my inner detective (and scarred me for a few decades thanks to the first game called Secrets Can Kill) was playing the Nancy Drew computer games. While I may have needed the walkthroughs to help me solve puzzles while playing the classic games as a kid, the Nancy Drew PC Games taught me to be relentless asking questions and that I am more than capable of accomplishing whatever I put my mind to.
Thanks to Her Interactive, the publisher of the Nancy Drew computer game series, fans of Nancy get to relive the magic and nostalgia of Nancy Drew with their annual Cookie Contest!
This post shares my experience entering the 2024 Nancy Drew cookie contest & how I attempted to level up my cookie decorating skills to rise to the challenge.
What is the Nancy Drew Cookie Contest?
The Nancy Drew Holiday Cookie Contest has been hosted by Her Interactive, the publisher of the Nancy Drew point & click games, for the past few years! You can check out the Her Interactive contest page for information about the most recent and past contests, including their holiday cookie contests and other seasonal events.
Most years of the Nancy Drew contest, they have had winners in two categories: general cookies & 3D building/gingerbread cookies. This year, however, they added a third category to celebrate the release of the 34th Nancy Drew game, Mystery of the Seven Keys!
Photo Credit: Her Interactive
Here are the winners from the 2019 Nancy Drew Cookie Contest! As you can see, Nancy fans get involved and create intricate and detailed cookies I could only dream of creating.
My 2023 Cookie Contest Attempt
2023 was my first time entering the Nancy Drew Cookie Contest.
I cannot tell a lie, my sole motivation for entering was that one of the prizes was a really cute pair of cookie contest socks! Not the KitchenAid mixer nor the other, some might call nicer, prizes also given to the winner. The socks were too cute, and I knew I had to give this contest my best.
As I almost never bake, I tried to get creative. My hope was to image a cookie I could bake that didn’t involve a lot of actual baking skills, and preferably no decorating.
The inspiration was from one of the most iconic moments in one of the first Nancy Drew games, Treasure in the Royal Tower. Professor Hotchkiss is a scholar staying in the Wickford Manor hotel (the setting for this iconic Nancy Drew game). While Nancy is trying to speak to her to investigate the mystery, Professor Hotchkiss orders 50 chicken drummies from room service by asking Nancy to bring them to her.
“Ah yes, I can make gingerbread cookies look like drumsticks!” A genius idea I thought, and no decoration needed, other than a little icing in the center acting as ranch dressing.
You can see every entry from the 2023 Cookie Contest on the @NancyDrewPCGames Instagram page!
While I didn’t win, I had a lot of fun struggling to bake even a simple cookie. I also learned that yes, baking is as hard as I thought.
Leveling Up My Nancy Drew Cookie Contest Game in 2024
This year, I was less invested in winning, and more determined to actually decorate a cookie. (Although winning would be nice, of course.)
I’ve been playing the newest Nancy Drew game, the Mystery of the Seven Keys, with friends. My goal this year was to bake something inspired by the latest game in the series.
Of course, we have only found one key (out of what I’m assuming will be seven). Since we are still in the early stages of the new Nancy game, I had to get creative with my cookie choices.
Mystery of the Seven Keys takes place in Prague, and Nancy finds herself being asked to help out in a cafe, make lattes, and even create some latte art.
I felt making coffee themed cookies would be a really great way to capture a really engaging part of the game. And latte art themed cookies wouldn’t be too difficult to decorate, right?
From Inspiration to Creation…Time to Bake!
Did I mention I never bake? Honestly, baking usually fills me with dread. I mainly view it as something that leads to my least favorite thing…doing dishes.
But the Cookie Contest is a great reason to overcome my baking stress! Since I was decorating the cookies, I decided to go with this recipe for cut out sugar cookies.
If you’re wondering about the magnifying glass, I bought it as a prop for a Nancy Drew costume a few years ago. I’ve never regretted it! If you are a fellow Nancy Drew fan, I highly recommend getting yourself a magnifying glass. It’s such a fun prop to have for photos and for dramatic flair.
As someone who almost never bakes, the cookies came out great! Perfectly round and with no spread, which is apparently ideal for decorating according to my last minute google research on baking.
Latte Art: Decorating with Royal Icing
Decorating was going to be the hard part. After trying to find an easier way, I decided to attempt to make flood consistency royal icing using this recipe. I replaced meringue powder with egg whites because it seemed simpler.
Here’s a reel I created to show the decorating process:
Yes, I did get creative trying to color the icing brown. There are a lot of guides online about mixing the regular colors of food coloring to make the color brown. But of course the only thing in stock at my grocery store was neon gel food coloring.
I think my green, orange, and purple coloring mixture turned out a nice shade of creamy brown. Perfect for latte inspired cookies!
The Finished Nancy Drew Latte Art Cookies
Here are the fully decorated cookies – latte art, as if designed by Nancy herself. They are not perfect, but I’m proud of them!
I tried to incorporate some of the designs from the game, and of course Ned Nickerson needed his own latte art too.
It was cool to see how flood consistency royal icing actually worked. Because of how “watery” the icing was, the white icing did melt, or flow into the brown icing. The result is flat icing across the top, just how latte art would be in coffee!
A lot of the latte art in the game was shapes, like a key or a clock, as opposed to more fluid latte art. This did make the cookies difficult to decorate. I think the icing I made would be easier to work with if the designs were more flexible.
However, I would love to try again in the future. and get more creative with my latte art designs!
Have you ever entered the Nancy Drew Cookie Contest, or is this something you’d like to try in the future? Please leave a comment and let me know – I’d love to hear!
For now, I’ll put away my baking supplies for a while. I’m happy not to do so many dishes again for at least a few months.
But the Cookie Contest was a great way to share my love for the Nancy Drew PC games & my creativity. And it has made me change my tune on baking, just a little. Baking can be creative and fun! I guess most people probably already think this, I’ve just had my “I hate doing dishes” goggles on for too long.
Make sure to check out the Her Interactive contest page for future contest info & results! And good luck to all who entered! I can’t wait to see what the next contest brings.
Littlemxhoney, your latte art cookies are simply amazing! We shout them out in our honorable mentions blog! Your icing had an expert level difficulty, I felt like I was watching a professional baker on the food channel do the flood-consistency designs, quite a feat especially for someone that doesn’t bake much. Great video and way to go, I hope they were as delicious as they look!
-Brighella
Brighella, THANK YOU!! I’m honored! This is very encouraging because I gave it my all. And they WERE actually quite tasty! I’m already thinking of how I can up my game for next year 🙂