Cookie decorating for all

As we ring within the vacation season, we have formally declared this week to be Cookie Week. To rejoice, we’re masking all issues cookie-related, from adorning to gifting to going gluten-free. Be part of us for festive inspiration and loads of vacation cheer.

* * *

Creating lovely cookies to share is among the nice joys of baking, particularly in the course of the holidays. Irrespective of your ability stage, we’ve received recipes and methods that will help you create show-stopping cookies this season, whether or not you’re a grasp decorator or don’t even personal a pastry bag. 

With these festive cookie methods — starting from straightforward to superior — you would possibly simply add a brand new trick to your adorning toolkit.

Let’s unfold some pleasure and make some cookies!

Simple: Scoop, drop, and roll 

Whether or not you’re new to cookie adorning or simply on the lookout for a fast and simple option to create cute cookies, rolling your dough in a coat of sugar earlier than baking produces pretty cookies that may be shared, shipped, or simply loved along with your afternoon tea between Zoom conferences. 

Recipes to strive: This methodology works with nearly any kind of drop cookie, however we notably advocate these Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies for seasonal spice, or Vanilla Polka Dots for traditional flavors. 

The way to do it: These stunners are tremendous easy to make and received’t require further instruments.  Simply make your dough, scoop into balls, and roll within the sugar of your alternative. 

Attempt Swedish pearl sugar for a darling polka-dotted cookie, glowing sugar for a shimmering crunch, or coloured sugar for a shiny twist.

Coarse sugar like Demerara will give the cookies a pleasing crunch, whereas finer sugar like sanding sugar or desk sugar will add a delicate sparkle and have a minimal impact on the feel.

A tablespoon is an efficient measurement for these drop cookies, or a teaspoon will make tons of lovable cookie “buttons.”

Tip: Need to take it up a notch? Add a filling! We like this raspberry crammed model and these decadent chocolate buttons.

Simple: Make an impression

Up your cookie sport with a cookie stamp. These cool instruments press gorgeous designs into dough that look lovely when baked, so you possibly can create skilled trying cookies with no adorning expertise required.  

Recipes to strive: These merely snazzy maple sandwich cookies and these brown butter beauties each make attractive choices which can be straightforward to roll, stamp, and bake.

The way to do it: Upon getting your dough ready and rolled out, all it’s essential do is press down and stamp your cookie patterns. Try this weblog submit for additional tricks to create excellent stamped cookies.  

Tip: Use completely different cookie stamps to mess around with designs, shapes, and textures. Go traditional with this spherical geometric design, combine it up with this snazzy assortment full of various shapes, or add additional vacation cheer with these festive stamps. And if you do not have a cookie stamp set, by no means worry! We now have recommendation on this weblog submit on easy methods to obtain eye-catching designs with widespread kitchen instruments. 

Medium: Icing on the cake … er, cookie

Prepared so as to add a brand new ability to your cookie adorning repertoire? Piped frosting opens a world of prospects for making attractive (learn: gift-worthy) cookies. Thick, tender frosting is simple to make use of for adorning and arduous to mess up, excellent for bakers who aren’t as snug with piping.

Recipes to strive: Swirls of piped frosting sit atop cakey, pillowy sugar cookies harking back to colourful grocery retailer favorites. For a not-too-sweet base that is nearly extra cake than cookie, this recipe for Black and White Cookies is an ideal companion for candy and fluffy Delicate Cookie Frosting and yields good spherical cookies with out the necessity to roll and minimize dough.

The way to do it: You’ll want a pastry bag, adorning suggestions (and a coupler — which helps you to use completely different adorning suggestions with the identical bag of icing for those who’d like to change between a number of suggestions), and a bit time to observe. To get you began with piped frosting, like Delicate Cookie Frosting, this video will present you easy methods to assemble and fill a pastry bag.

For the wreath design, use a pastry bag fitted with a coupler and a adorning tip (open star, closed star, or grass tip are all enjoyable choices as proven) to pipe dollops or swirls of inexperienced frosting across the cookie’s edge, leaving the center open to resemble a wreath.  

For the snowflakes, use an open star tip to pipe three intersecting strains, then accent with dollops of white frosting to type a six-pointed design. High with sprinkles and admire your handiwork!

Tip: These will keep tender and scrumptious for a number of days, however aren’t excellent for stacking and delivery. For those who’re on the lookout for cookies that may be simply transported, learn on … 

Medium: Easy, sturdy, and spectacular 

Hoping to ship your embellished creations to family members close to and much this season? For a sturdier adorning choice, you’ll need to embellish with a firm- setting icing like Easy Cookie Glaze. No must panic — with simply plain white icing and a bit glowing sugar you possibly can create a flurry of chic and festive snowflakes which can be positive to unfold pleasure. 

Recipes to strive: Bake up a batch of Gingerbread Cookies or Vacation Butter Cookies, then be sure your lovely design stays put with Easy Cookie Glaze or Royal Icing. 

The way to do it: This video will show you how to discover the perfect icing consistency for piping. Use a pastry bag fitted with a small spherical tip, or simply minimize the very finish of the tip off the bag. 

To assist guarantee even strains, sift the confectioners’ sugar to keep away from lumps that would clog the tip, and use your free hand to regular the bag whilst you pipe. Apply piping on parchment or put aside a number of observe cookies (they’ll be scrumptious) to get the dangle of it. Regular motion and even strain are the keys to piping neat strains. Add glowing sugar whereas the icing is moist.

Don’t cease at sugar snowflakes — gingerbread appears to be like magical with white icing, too.

Tip: Ensure that to plan forward and let your cookies dry for twenty-four hours to verify they’ve set fully earlier than stacking or packaging them.

Superior: The (jingle) bells and whistles

So that you’ve dropped, rolled, stamped, glazed, piped, minimize, and sprinkled your cookies, and now you’re prepared for a brand new problem. Bake up a batch of your favourite cutout cookie shapes and let’s jazz them up! 

Recipes to strive: For traditional vacation cookies which can be straightforward to chop and bake into shapes, we advocate sticking with these Gingerbread Cookies or Vacation Butter Cookies. For adorning, Easy Cookie Glaze is my favourite icing for this kind of cookie design. 

The way to do it: Jump over to this weblog submit for the fundamental methods like flooding, flocking, and marbling utilizing Easy Cookie Glaze. On the lookout for coloration inspiration? Right here’s a information to utilizing our pure meals colours for a spread of pretty coloration choices. As soon as you recognize the fundamentals, you possibly can mix methods and customise your cookies nevertheless you’d like.

Tip: To create snow globe cookies like these, you’ll want mild blue, purple, and white glaze in piping luggage, in addition to sugar decos. Define and flood the globe portion with blue icing and place snowflake decos on the moist icing. Define and flood the bottom with purple icing. As soon as these layers have dried, add the mountain form in white icing and flock with glowing sugar. Pipe line particulars on the bottom and fasten sugar decos to the moist icing to type the holly. 

To make the little bears, minimize a really small opening within the piping bag (or use an 00 or writing tip) and a toothpick. Begin by piping a small oval to type the physique and use the toothpick to information the icing right down to form the legs.  Let dry, then add one other small dot for the top and use the toothpick to information out an ear form. As soon as the white icing has dried, use a toothpick dipped in black icing or a fine-tip black meals pen so as to add the facial particulars.

Cookie creativity for each baker

Any of those recipes can be nice for dropping off presents in your mates and neighbors or for an ideal family-friendly exercise for those who’re staying dwelling. I get pleasure from giving cookie present baskets that embody a number of sorts of mini sugared drop cookies packed into tea tins and a generously sized iced cookie personalized with the recipient’s title. (These snow globe and polar bear cutters are excellent for this.) My women love to assist embellish cutout cookies with all the coloured icings and sprinkles they will pile on, and we save these extra-special ones for Santa.

Do you may have cookie adorning traditions in your loved ones? Will you be attempting one thing new this yr? Please share your favourite methods to decorate up cookies for the vacations within the feedback under!

Within the cookie baking spirit? Comply with alongside right here for extra Cookie Week posts within the coming days! 

Cowl photograph by John Sherman