Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Roll the cookie dough into several small balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. The size will depend on how large you want your mushroom caps. You'll want to make more than you plan on putting on the cake to allow for errors (don't worry, the ugly ones taste just as good!)
3. Shape more cookie dough into cylindrical, stem-like shapes. They should be appropriately sized for the mushroom caps. I experimented with a variety of thick/thin, long/short, straight/curved shapes until I found what I liked.
   
4. Bake the shaped cookie dough for 5-6 minutes depending on the size you made. Then allow the cookies to fully cool on the cookie sheet.
5. Once the cookies are cool, use a very sharp paring knife to gently cut away a small hole in the flat part of the cookie mushroom caps. It should be slightly larger than the "stem" you're using with that cap.
6. Microwave the dairy free caramel for just 5 seconds or until it's soft enough to manipulate with your fingers. Remember if you microwave it too long it will be way too hot to touch. Break off a tiny piece of the caramel and stick it into the hole you cut. Immediately press a stem into the caramel to stick it in place. Set aside until the caramel cools.
   
7. Put the buttercream in a microwave safe bowl and again, being super gentle with the microwave times, heat for a few seconds. Start with 5 seconds and continue adding from there - you want the frosting to lose it's hold and be dip-able/ever so slightly runny but not so cooked that the oils split out.
8. Stir in a drop of red food coloring at a time until you reach your desired tint.
9. Get out your cooling rack. Dip each mushroom cap in the red frosting, using the stem to hold them, then place the stems through the holes of the cooling rack so the frosting can dry without smudging.
10. Once the frosting is mostly dry, use a small food-safe paint brush dipped in white gel food coloring to paint on the white spots and allow to fully dry before using on a cake.