I love those cute, cut out cookies that look like the cookie cutters! But how many times have you rolled out your dough, stamped out your cookies, baked them and they become unrecognizable?
I have figured out what can be done to solve this problem. Bake your dough in a sheet, cut them out after they come out of the oven, while they are still warm. Don’t separate from the rest of the dough until it’s completely cooled.
I found the best gingerbread recipe. It makes the dough firm, easy to cut out, and its sturdy. I was able to make this dough very fast and simply.
Grab the recipe HERE before you begin.
Mix all your dry ingredients and wet together. Dry ingredients are AP flour, salt, baking soda, baking power, ground clove, ground ginger and ground cinnamon.
Wet ingredients in this recipe include egg, vanilla, dark brown sugar and butter. Mix those until they are all smooth. (Tip, make sure your butter is room temperature in order to make blending easier.)
Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into the wet. I use a stand mixer so that i can let that stir while I spoon the dry into the wet.
The recipe calls for letting the dough sit in the fridge for two hours and then return to room temperature before cooking. You do that in order to have a firmer dough. I did that with the first batch, but with the second, I cooked it immediately and didn’t have a different reaction. So, cook it how you’d like.
So, here’s how you fix it: roll your dough out (remember to put out flour, or your dough will stick to the counter). Put wax paper on your pan, put the rolled out dough on the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Immediately after you pull the dough out of the 350 degree oven, you are going to cut out your shapes. Tip: to remove the raw dough from the countertop before you cook and place it on the cookie sheet, use a flat or traditional spatula to keep the dough from ripping. Dough often will stick to the counter when you use a rolling pin to flatten.
You’ll want to use royal icing to decorate your cookies. You can also purchase Cookie Icing at a store, but honestly, it’s so easy to make this icing, why wouldn’t you? It’s made with powdered sugar and egg whites.
I like to icing the whole cookie, let it harden and then with a fine paint brush, draw on the details. If you are using candy pieces, make sure to attach them while the icing is soft, or use a little icing on the back of your embellishments to make them stick. Icing in this case works as a “glue”.
Whatever cookie recipe you use, whatever designs you decide to make, by utilizing these simple tips, you will be able to make the cutest cookies! Everyone who visits your home this holiday season will want to know where you bought them.
Join us for Gingerbread Week!
All week long we are sharing recipes, crafts, holiday decor, and gift ideas with one BIG theme: GINGERBREAD! If Gingerbread makes you say MERRY CHRISTMAS, this is your week! Come kick-off your holidays with us all week long HERE.
