Cookie Craft

Well, what can I say? Every year at about this time I get inspired by the colors outside and the holidays ahead.. If you can call Halloween a holiday.. and of course you can't forget Thanksgiving. I love to decorate with fall leaves, candles, scarecrows and pumpkins. This year I was inspired by Bakeralla to try baking cookies. She had purchased a new book called "Cookie Craft" and promised it was the easiest book to follow for baking decorated cookies. So of course I got on line and ordered it, and in three days there it was. And she was right, it is a great book to follow and get inspired by.

Now it was my turn to try my had at all these beautiful cookies, now keep in mind as you follow my process through the cookie wonderment of my kitchen.... I am no baker.. I enjoyed the process to these cookies ....(because they were crafty)... but I am no baker..

So after heading into Strathmore yesterday morning to get all (barely any, this is Strathmore) of my required ingredients and tools that I would need for my day of cookie concocting, I get started at about 12 noon. the process looked like this...

mixed my cookie dough with my mix master according the the 1 of 3 recipes in the book. Turned out tasty.
Learned a trick to cutting perfect sugar cookies.. roll it flat between wax paper then chill for 20 minutes. It worked like a charm.

Cooled completely on wire rack... Also my first time working with parchment paper.. Other than in grade 10 commercial cooking class.
Mixed two consistencies of icing, one for piping and one for flooding. This was my first time really working and succeeding with Royal icing. (excuse the picture.)

Letting the master pieces to dry.

and the finished leaf batch. they are very fun.. Not as picture perfect as the book but I am very proud of my first attempt at decorating cookies.

Now this is my pumpkins.. I think that they would have been cute... except..

The icing color turned out to look like the cheese that you get on nachos at the skating rink. Yuck.! the kids like them so what the heck..

a couple of tricks that she suggests in the book and that are very important.. when working with this icing the liquid is very important. My first batch of icing I used the "gel" coloring and the second batch I used the "food coloring". The food coloring is much more runny and made my icing way to runny and I had to add more icing sugar and play a round with it a lot... If you can find gel coloring.. the mixture is perfect.

Well, I loved the book so... much that I bought one to give away too.. All you have to do is comment on the bottom of the post with your favorite thing to bake this time of year is.

I will pick a name out of a hat next Friday Oct 17.. get your name and post in before than for your chance to win the book "Cookie Craft"

Happy baking