Christmas: Cut Out & Decorating Cookies
Source of Recipe
Grandpoohbah
Recipe Introduction
12 Days of Christmas Cookie Baking Tips/2002 . . . Day 4
Recipe Link: messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-fdcooking&msg=3853.1
Grab your cookie cutters and a rolling pin, and listen up for the holidays. We decided to inject a little holiday spirit into your day by providing some thoughts and hints on cut out cookies. This is by far the most popular activity during the holidays. Get your kids involved, and have them be your jolly little helpers. Remember when your mom baked cookies with you? Did you lick the bowl and the beaters off the electric mixer? Pass on the fun to your children. Give them your version of this enchanting experience. Put on some holiday music, and have fun baking away an afternoon or evening. Here are some helpful hints to make it easier, and more delicious.
Dough:
Mix the ingredients together carefully and quickly. Do not overbeat the dough, or you will have tough, even rubbery cookies. Always chill the dough before rolling it out. This prevents the dough from being too sticky to roll. Divide the dough into halves or thirds for faster chilling. To save time, chill in the freezer for 20 minutes. If the dough, after removing from the freezer/refrigerator, is too stiff to roll out, let it stand at room temperature until it softens a bit. For those of you who like to plan ahead, you may freeze the dough for up to 3 weeks.
Roll 'em!
Of course, this is the fun part. Grab those kids you invited, and get them working! Be sure to roll dough out to the suggested thickness in the recipe you are using. Don't be shy with the ruler. Using a ruler to measure the thickness ensures that all the dough is the same for consistent baking times. It's a good idea to roll it out on a lightly floured surface; however, you may also roll the dough between pieces of parchment paper.
Cut dough with cookie cutters dipped in flour to avoid sticking. Make cutouts as close together as possible. Re-roll scraps left from the cutouts to cut more cookies. At times, re-rolling can result in tough cookie dough. However, re-rolling on a surface dusted with equal parts flour and confectioners' sugar will toughen it less. Using a metal spatula, transfer the dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Parchment saves you from having to wash the cookie sheet. Often a greased cookie sheet can cause the cookies to run out, and be too thin. For these reasons, we use parchment paper.
Before placing your beautiful creations in the oven, consider decorating them with nuts, raisins, or chocolate candy. Bake cookies until lightly browned around the edges.
Fresh from the Oven:
Once they are out of the oven, let them cool completely before you decorate or store them. Hopefully, you will have some cookies left, after all the covert operations by those little elves! Get creative with the icing; vanilla is not the only flavoring available. Gingerbread is really good with lemon or chocolate icing.
Try almond or orange flavoring, or get wild and try amaretto or orange liqueur. Decorating cookies is the part to look forward to. Make sure you have put some time aside to really be able to get creative. We have come up with a few ideas of our own.
Make cookies to hang on the tree for people to pick and eat. Before baking, poke a hole using a drinking straw. Afterwards, tie on some ribbon or wire, and voila, a beautiful and edible ornament!
Use a pastry bag to pipe your loved one's name, or a short Christmas greeting.
Use colored sugars, edible glitter, jimmies, or any kind of sugar decoration your heart desires.
Sandwich two identical cookies with icing and decorate top with icing and colored sugar.
Pop 'em in Your Mouth!
We know that most of you will eat half of them before you ever get around to giving them away, or even decorating them. Some of you may eat half of them before they ever become formed into shapes to be baked! Remember to save some for your friends and family. Make it extra-festive by placing them in a vintage tin, or a rustic basket.
It should be fun, not work. Here's the good news: You can freeze most baked cookies up to 2 weeks. They taste delicious frozen or zap 'em in the microwave for 30 to 50 seconds.
Decorated cookies fit into any occasion, but why wait to have so much fun? Try your hand at a few of these decorating styles and become the most popular person in your neighborhood! One batch of dough can even be decorated three different ways to seem like three completely different cookies. You can impress your friends and be the star of the party with a few of these basic techniques.
Frostings:
The most popular technique for decorating cookies is using frosting. This is a very versatile way for decorating. The simplest types of cookie icing are made using confectioners' sugar, butter or shortening and milk or water, such as Sugar Cookie Icing and Decorator Frosting. These icings have a somewhat softer texture than royal icings, which dry to a very hard crunchy finish. This is great for gluing gingerbread houses, but not very tasty.
Coloring and Flavoring:
Flavored extracts can be added for variety, such as vanilla, lemon, orange or almond. Juice can also be substituted for the liquid in a recipe. It's fun to make a different flavor for each color. The icing can be colored using liquid food coloring. For brighter colors, the paste food coloring works better. When adding color, first mix the color into about 1 tablespoon of icing then blend that into the rest of the icing. Frosting can easily be thinned to the desired consistency by adding liquid such as milk, juice or water. For a smooth glossy finish, warm the icing slightly in a microwave oven, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Be sure to stir frequently so that a crust does not form on the top.
Application:
The frosting can be applied using a pastry brush, or by simply dipping the cookies. Set the freshly frosted cookies onto a tray or waxed paper to dry. Once the first coat of frosting is dry, you can pipe another color of frosting over the top to add details such as stripes, spirals, faces or names. A plastic baggie with the corner cut works well, or disposable plastic pastry bags can be purchased at most cake decorating supply or craft stores. For smaller children, you can press pieces of candy into the frosting before it hardens, or sprinkle the cookies with different colors of sugar. Some stores even carry edible glitter.
Chocolate:
There is nothing quite as enticing as a chocolate-dipped cookie. Working with chocolate is fun, creative, and of course, you get to eat chocolate! Several flavors of chocolate are available. Dark, semi sweet, milk chocolate and white chocolate are the most common flavors. The darker chocolates need to be tempered to keep them shiny and firm. The best way to get around this problem is to buy a type of chocolate called 'coating chocolate'. This kind of chocolate is specially designed to hold a good shine without tempering. Most coating chocolates are of a lower grade and may not taste as chocolaty as the regular semi-sweet variety. These usually come in the shape of small discs for more convenient melting. White coating chocolate is also known as "almond bark". If you cannot find this type of chocolate at your local supermarket, it can be found at stores that carry candy making and cake decorating supplies.
Prepare to Dip
Decorating with chocolate is easy, but it helps to be organized. First you will want to put your chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Set this on top of a pan of simmering water. Chocolate burns very easily and cannot be melted directly on the stovetop. A microwave oven also works well, just be sure to stir every 15 seconds or so.
While the chocolate is melting, arrange your workspace so that the cookies you wish to dip are on one side of you, and a couple of cookie sheets lined with parchment or waxed paper are on the other side. When the chocolate is mostly melted, remove from the heat and stir until smooth. This will melt it the rest of the way, and it will also cool it a bit so that you do not burn your hand.
Dip cookies halfway into the chocolate, and scrape the excess off of the bottom using your finger or the side of the bowl. Then give the cookie a gentle shake and once again, scrape the excess chocolate off. This will keep the chocolate from forming a puddle around the cookie while it sets up. Place the cookies onto the waxed paper staring at the farthest end and working inward. This prevents you from dripping onto the finished cookies.
Be Creative
If you like nuts, dip one end of each cookie into ground up pistachios or peanuts while the chocolate is still wet. When the first coating has set up, another color of chocolate can be applied. Try dipping one half of each cookie in dark chocolate, and the other half in white. You can even color the white coating chocolate a nice pastel color. Striping also lends an elegant touch to the cookies. To avoid getting your hands dirty, you can spoon chocolate into a plastic baggie and cut one corner to the desired size. Twist the top to close, and squeeze the chocolate through the hole. A few cookies that are great dipped in chocolate are: Chocolate Dipped Orange Biscotti, Sugar Cookie Cutouts, and Chocolate Dipped Mocha Rounds. Of course the serious chocolate lover will think any cookie tastes better dipped in chocolate.
Decorating Before Baking
If you just want great looking cookies but don't want to make an all-day production out of it, there are a few ways to add a special touch before the cookies are even baked. One easy way to spruce up cookies is to roll them in colored sugar, finely chopped nuts, coconut, sesame seeds or sprinkles before baking. This looks wonderful on Sesame Thumbprint Cookies and Sugar Cookies IV. Even a light dusting of confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder, will give any cookies an elegant finish. Dust the cookies again, right before serving, to freshen their appearance.
Molds and Presses
There are also beautiful ceramic, metal, and even plastic molds and stamps that will emboss each cookie with a beautiful design. Sandbakelser is a traditional Swedish molded cookie. Springerle is a traditional German molded cookie, which uses a hand carved rolling pin or board to print the design onto the cookies. Some cookies are molded into beautiful shapes by hand such as the Greek cookie Koulourakia, which are braided or twisted, and the Italian Bowknot Cookies, which are tied in loose knots. For those Bakers who are skilled with a cookie press or pastry bag, Spritz Cookies can be made into a variety of shapes. Crescents, stars and wreaths are some of the most popular. A few sprinkles or a dot of jam will add a touch of color to any spritz recipe.
Novelty shapes
For the crafty baker, novelty shapes make fabulous conversation pieces. Some cookies are formed into the shape of fruit, which is great for garden parties. Austrian Peaches and Candy Strawberries are always a tasteful addition to the cookie tray. For a summer picnic, children and adults alike will be amazed when the Watermelon Cookies are served. They look like tiny slices of watermelon. For a dazzling centerpiece, or just eating, Cookie Pops on a Stick can be made and displayed in a vase.
Decorating cookies is terrific fun for anyone who enjoys being creative. Mix and match different techniques to fulfill all your cookie cravings. Frosted cookies striped with chocolate. Cookies on a stick dipped in frosting and decorated to look like bees and flowers. Dainty biscotti dipped in two flavors of chocolate. Most decorating techniques require little or no skill, so people of all ages can enjoy decorating together.
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