The Bloggy Cookies Exchange is Finally Here!!!

I'm so glad you're here! Pour yourself a nice glass of lemonade, or a cup of coffee, and enjoy some yummy cookies! This is the first Blog-Event I've ever hosted, so I hope you all enjoy it! I have the tips and tricks I promised to making perfect cookies every time, and I also have a surprise for ya'll just for showing up to read my drivel! I hope you enjoy yourself, and please feel free to invite your friends!

I chose to make Easter-themed cookies for the party, I hope you like them!



And, as promised...here is the secret recipe for my cookies.

Painted Cookies


3 cups Powdered Sugar
2 cups Butter (real butter works better than margarine)
3 teas. Vanilla
3 eggs (I use Jumbo, but large will do)
6 cups All Purpose Flour
2 teas. Baking Soda
2 teas. Cream of Tartar

Cream together the butter and powdered sugar.
Add vanilla and eggs.
Mix in the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.
Mix well and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour or two. (You can chill overnight as well, but if you try to use the dough before it is well chilled, it will be too sticky and you will have trouble rolling it out.)

After the dough has chilled, roll out to 1/8 inch and cut out using desired cookie cutters. Bake the cookies at 375 for 6-8 minutes depending on how thick the cookies are. The cookies are ready when the edges are golden brown and the middles are still ivory. Cool the cookies for a minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Wait until cookies have cooled before decorating.

Icing for Painted Cookies

1 - 2 lb. bag of Powdered Sugar
4 Tbl. Milk
4-6 Tbl. Water
2 Tbl. Light Corn Syrup
1 teas. salt
4 teas. Vanilla (I use clear vanilla to keep the icing white)

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth with no lumps. (A stand mixer is the easiest way to mix it, but you can do it by hand)
Separate icing into individual bowls to be colored as desired.
(Refrigerate unused icing to use at a later date)

And there you have it...the secret is OUT!!! Now, I believe I also promised ya'll some tips to make sure your cookies come out perfectly every time...well, let's get started.

Rolling and Cutting Out Your Dough: There are many different problems that can arise during this stage of the process, and this is my least favorite part of the whole thing quite frankly. But there are some tricks to make it easier, and bring about better results.

1. Place your dough on a piece of parchment paper and cover it with a large piece of plastic wrap (Saran Wrap, etc.) The dough will not stick to either the parchment nor the plastic wrap, allowing you to roll it out without adding any flour to the dough. This keeps the dough from getting dry and flaky as you continue to re-use the scraps.

2. When you cut your cookies out, leave about a 1/2 inch between each cookie, like this:


Then, remove the excess dough, leaving only the cookie cut-outs.




3. Now, instead of using a spatula to transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet to be baked, simply slide your cookie sheet under the parchment paper. This way, your cookies won't be at risk of being mis-shapen during the transfer.




4. Yes, you can bake the cookies right on the parchment paper! AND they won't stick when you go to remove them after baking either!



My final trick for perfect cookies is done after the cookies are baked. Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, use a spatula to press down and smooth the tops of each cookie. They will come out of the oven slightly raised, and this will give you a nice flat surface on which to decorate!




Now, if you have stuck with me all the way down here...congratulations! And, I have a surprise for you! I have made 4 videos on decorating the cookies. This first one is on coloring your icing. I'm sorry if this seems like common sense to you, but I didn't want to just assume that everyone has colored icing before, so I included it in the tutorial. If you already know how to color icing, just skip down to the next video!



This next video demonstrates how to "paint" your cookie. I prefer nylon brushes for painting cookies as they don't tend to "shed" as much as natural hair brushes. And I buy these brushes specifically for cookies, they have never been used for anything else...just in case you were concerned!



And finally, these last videos show some tips for adding details to your cookies. They are a little bit longer than the last one...just a little warning!



This is the last one...I promise! Oh, and please forgive the spots where I stop mid-sentence and maintain a moment of silence...the Princess was mouthing questions to me, and I was mouthing back the answers so you wouldn't be able to hear us on the video! Nobody said this was a professional job, people!



Well, thank you all for coming! I hope it was worth your time...you really had nothing else to do today did you??? Now, if you also made some cookies for this exchange, please sign the Mr. Linky below and please remember to link to your specific "Bloggy Cookie Exchange post", not just your blog. And don't forget to leave a comment and let me know you were here enjoying the cookies! If you didn't enjoy your cookies...you can keep your comment to yourself--LOL!!!

Again, thanks for stopping by!