Help me make these cookies

[Deleted]

Every year I enter a cookie contest and I'm the returning champion so this is high stakes here, folks.

I want to make these cookies:



recipe here - bakeat350.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-10-oclockdo-you-know-where-your-elf.html

These are her ingredients (and my questions):

cut-out cookies made with the template (can I just buy the premade dough or is there something better I should get that can withstand all the decorating/several days before I give them out?)
royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Bright White, Chocolate Brown, Copper, and Super Red (can I just buy royal icing or do I have to make it?)
disposable icing bags
couplers and #2 tips (tips I get but what are couplers? She never mentions them in her instructions)
squeeze bottles (she doesn't mention this either)
toothpicks
food coloring pens (black, pink, red and blue)

[KaraOrNot]

I don't know about the dough or icing, but couplers help switch tips w/o switching bags.

www.wilton.com/decorating/decorating-basics/using-couplers.cfm

[Deleted]

How could you enter a contest without making either icing or dough! That's cheating.

Admittedly I'm unhealthfully competitive, but if I were participating, I would be so annoyed.

I think the couplers are just little pieces that hold the tip on aren't they?

I have done a lot of baking in my life but his project seems way too difficult to mess with. Decorating that tidily is really hard if you've never used bags. I personally have never gotten the hang of it. But I do get tendonitis in my hand which makes it hard to grip hard enough--maybe it's easier for others.

I would choose something easier that tastes really delicious.

[lindyanne]

You need to make dough. You need a cut out dough bc store bought will spread and distort the shape. I have no idea if you can buy royal icing but it's super easy. I have never made cutout a bc I am too lazy to roll dough and couldn't do it evenly. I have had the special rolling pin with the rings for awhile. It's on my 'to do' list. One of these days.

[Pilsy]

Please post last year's winning cookie!

[Deleted]

^o)

How does one win a baking contest without actually making dough or icing?

Maybe this is because I just spend the last 4 hours prepping ingredients for my Christmas Day dessert but, are you fucking kidding me?

[wannabe]

Have you ever done decorated sugar cookies before? These are not something you can simply whip out if you're not accustomed to working with royal icing and piping bags. This is a pretty advanced design, and Bridget always makes it look much easier than it is. Plus, hand cutting from a template is a pain in the ass. How many do you expect to make?

She also has great recipes on her site for the cookie dough and icing. Premade dough ain't gonna win any contests.

[Deleted]

cookie: www.food.com/recipe/no-fail-sugar-cookies-108172
Couplers: fit into icing bag so you can change easily change tips since you'll use multiple tips for the same color (as the screw cap on outside)-purchase at Joann's or Michaels

Basically, make RI, outline in a stiffer RI, thin with water, and flood with thinned RI.

When dried, use the markers (Joanns or Michaels have them)

Expect to spend at least 15 minutes a cookie. I think I spent 30 minutes on my elf cookie. I did it one year and have never had the energy to do it again.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2012 15:55:36 GMT -5 Pilsy said:

Please post last year's winning cookie!

I will when I get home. There are two prizes - presentation and taste. I won the overall prize with peanut butter snicker doodles but my presentation won it for me. Other than the cookies people present them in crazy ways. One girl had a dancing hula girl with music to go with her coconut cookies.

[speckledfrog]

I would love to see a finished product. It would be fantastic if they turn out great but I see a "NAILED IT!" post in your future.

[dexteroni]

Both dough and frosting should be homemade. Otherwise it's not a cookie contest, it's a decorating contest. And if you've never piped icing before or rolled out dough, I wouldn't expect to reach prize-winning levels your first time out. It's not rocket science, but it can does some practice to get good enough at it to win a contest. I second the recommendation to choose another recipe if your goal is to win.

If you do decide to go for it, just give yourself plenty of practice time. Practice getting your icing consistency right, piping steady lines on wax paper, and outlining and flooding. And have you ever hand-cut the dough instead of using cookie cutters? If not, practice that too, as it can take a bit of trial and error to get the cuts neat enough to look good. I don't think this blogger has even done it neatly enough - she has raggedy edges and odd bits hanging off. But really - I just think you should make something else. Why do you want to make this particular cookie?

ETA: She does mention squeeze bottles - it's for doing the flooding icing. And you don't really need couplers for this recipe. Just get four #2 tips, one for each color icing.

[Deleted]

If you have to ask these questions, your skills are not advanced enough to make these cookies. That is a very advanced design for a royal icing newb. Also, how do you win a cookie contest with pre-made dough and icing?

[Deleted]

Such pessimism, lol. Actually the first year I entered the contest I drove H insane crying after hours of making those stupid snowmen on a stick that everyone says are easy. But I learned quickly that presentation matters most in this contest. BTW it's at my work holiday party - so not a whole wide group of people and no prize except a ribbon.

Last year I made the peanut butter cookies with the fun sized snickers in the middle but I put them in these jars and I had a backdrop where I printed out pictures of National Lampoon's Xmas vacation with pictures of my coworkers photoshopped in.

I have a few days to work on the decoration part but I want to get the actual cookies cut tonight. I bought stuff to make the dough so purists can rest easy.

[steph96]

I'm actually pretty good at cookies like that, but that is a ton of work. If this is your first time doing that, start off simpler. Like a plain single color cookie. My first time to do a design was a complete mess--everything ended up flowing over the edge of the cookies, my different sections weren't defined, I couldn't get the consistency right. It was a nightmare. It took a lot of practice before I could do something like that.

The lady at cookiecrazie.com does awesome cookies like that. Her most recent post is actually the method of icing them. If you dig around you can find her recipe. Everyone always raves about how awesome that recipe is when I make it. It is perfect for cut outs because it retains the exact shape.

What if you did a variety of shapes? That could help cut down on some work. Do a snowflake, tree, star, elf, and Santa. If you have to have samples, just give out stars. They are simple to make.

[MixedBerryJam]

I'll leave the cookie recipe you use to any pp's who may have offered one, but I may have some advice, as I'm a bit of a cookiephile myself.

Make the dough, flatten and chill it.
Roll the dough out, then chill it again.
Cut the shapes, place them on the cookie sheet, and chill them again.

You'll get the cleanest shapes with chilled dough. For some cookie shapes where clean lines really matter (the holly leaf comes to mind) like your elf's pointy hat, I bake the cookie almost done then take the cookie cutter to the shape again, remove the expanded edges, and finish up baking.

Use gel food coloring (at craft stores, not the regular market) for the deepest colors.

Royal icing is easy to make with meringue powder instead of fresh egg whites. I think it's stabler, too, but this could be my imagination. Before frosting, outline the cookies with the appropriate color icing with a fine tip, then thin the icing slightly, and fill in with a larger tip. You can see they did it in your photo, but it's not always obvious.

Also, is uniformity of results a requirement (do all the cookies HAVE to be identical)? Because that's a really high bar to set for a first attempt. If I were doing something like this I might try it with Christmas trees or weaths, where they will all be a consistent size, shape, color, etc., but the ornamentation can be changed up on each cookie.

If the contest includes a tasting, use almond extract or lemon juice instead of vanilla for the icing.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2012 18:21:38 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Also, is uniformity of results a requirement (do all the cookies HAVE to be identical)? Because that's a really high bar to set for a first attempt. If I were doing something like this I might try it with Christmas trees or weaths, where they will all be a consistent size, shape, color, etc., but the ornamentation can be changed up on each cookie.

There's really no rules but sometimes people will make one nice set of cookies for just the judges and give a more basic cookie for the pass around part.

Thanks for your tips!

[Deleted]

Well, this was a good read.

[chia]

HA! Good luck with that... especially if you don't know what a coupler is.

I can't wait to see a picture of the finished products.

[wannabe]

Absolutely you will have to post pictures of the finished product. I'm dying to see how they turn out!

[dexteroni]

What the heck?

You: "Hey I have no idea how to make these cookies or even what these supplies are. Tell me what they are and how to make them. Oh and they need to be good enough to win a contest."
Everyone: "Ooh, that's kind of an advanced recipe. I don't recommend it for a first timer. Stick to something you're comfortable with if your goal is to win a contest."
You: "omg you're all such pessimists."

You: "Hey can I use store bought dough and frosting for a cookie baking contest?"
Everyone: "No, for a contest they really should be homemade."
You: "omg ok purists relax."

[Deleted]

This post is bizarre.

[Deleted]

It's not a real serious contest. It's just for a work cookie exchange. Everyone calm down.

[karinothing]

All I got to say that those cookies are creepy and you should not make them.

Also, you need to make the dough and royal icing is pretty much the easiest thing in the world to make.

[LoveTrains]

They look like that creepy elf on a shelf. That thing is totally scary.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2012 20:38:14 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

If you're not morally opposed to using store bought dough and frosting, go the full banana and buy some amazing bakery cookies and enter those lol.

Ha!

The dough is made and chilling now. Tomorrow will be shape day and Tuesday I will start the decorating. I am still optimistic despite everyone's reservations. I mean, plenty of people make cookies, how hard can it be?

Worst comes to worst I only need six good ones and the rest can be jingle bells or something.

[dr.girlfriend]

I use the classic sugar cookie recipe from Joy of Cooking.

[cjeanette]

Lol at plenty of people make cookies so it can't be that hard. For wan maybe not. For me it would be a nightmare.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

[Deleted]

I also found this recipe which looks easier. Stay tuned. The party is either Thursday or Friday I forget.

www.thepartyanimal-blog.org/elf-shelf-inspired-cookies/

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2012 21:00:25 GMT -5 cjeanette said:

Lol at plenty of people make cookies so it can't be that hard. For wan maybe not. For me it would be a nightmare.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

I was just going to say, of all the people I know who can bake, only Wan can make cookies that look like that.

[dexteroni]

Dec 16, 2012 21:01:29 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

I also found this recipe which looks easier. Stay tuned. The party is either Thursday or Friday I forget.

www.thepartyanimal-blog.org/elf-shelf-inspired-cookies/

Those are some creepy f'ing looking cookies. You're way into this Elf on the Shelf thing, huh?