Making Perfect Cut Out Cookies

Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Cookie

Tips and Tricks for  Perfect Cut Out Cookies

A major complaint regarding cut out cookies is they lose their shape in baking.   I’ve had quite a few customers refuse to buy detailed cutters because they are afraid the design will be lost when baked.   The problem lies in the recipe used, not the cutter.  Find a recipe that results in a cookie that does not “puff” when baked.  One of my favorites is Swedish Pepparkakor, a thin spicy cookie that holds it’s shape very well.

The type and amount of fats in a recipe effects the amount of spread when baked.  Recipes with butter or shortening will work much better than those using oil.  The more fat in a cookie, the more it will spread out as the fats melt in the oven.  

The flour  and sugar used also effects the outcome.  While most recipes call for  all purpose flower, bread and cake flour tend to produce cookies that spread less.  White sugar makes a crispier cookie than brown sugar does.  You may have to experiment to find a recipe that works for you.

One of the best investments I ever made was in a set of insulated baking sheets.  They allow air movement that helps the cookies bake evenly.  I’ve never had to grease mine and clean up is as easy as taking a wet rag to the sheet.  Jelly roll pans work well too.  Thin cookie sheets are the cheapest, but the hardest to bake on.  Parchment paper is another way to get great results when baking.  It not only helps bake an evenly browned cookie,  there’s no messy pans to wash afterwards!  Just throw it away.

Cold dough is another must for a good cut out cookie.  Separate your dough into manageable sections. Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment or waxed paper and place it in the freezer for 5 minutes.  You can also chill the dough before rolling it out but only take out a small amount of dough at a time to roll.  

For the actual cutting use metal cutters for a sharper, cleaner cut.  Dip the cutters in flour between cuts and pull the salvage dough away from the cut cookies.  Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the cookies to your sheets.  If you prefer, you can cut the cookies right on the parchment paper , pull the excess dough off and place to parchment paper, cookies and all on a sheet to bake.

Wash metal cutters by hand. Never put them in the dishwasher.  The harsh chemicals used in dishwashers can corrode the metal.  Dry thoroughly and store in an air tight container.  Hand wash cookie sheet also, especially if you have a lot invested in them.   Dishwashers are nice, but they are hard on your metal bake ware.

Now, decorate your cookies in what ever way you like and enjoy!

You might just find the cookie cutter you've been looking for in our Art Fire shop.  We carry over 300 styles and counting.  If you can't find what you want ask about a custom cutter.  We might be able to make it for you.

http://www.artfire.com/users/CookieCutterGuy

OOAK Reclaimed Necklace with Swarovski Crytals

I just love to explore garage sales, estate sales and auctions.  There are treasures waiting to be found in just about every one of them.  I found a double strand white and blue faux pearl necklace without a hook and in need of restringing at one.  It was definitely something from the 50's.   At another I found a beautiful strand of Swarovski crystals, again, with no clasp.  I know they are Swarovski from the cut and the clarity.  No one makes crystals like they do.

Since I like a bit of bling in just about everything I create I decided to combine the two necklaces into one.  Here is the results.

This 18 inch necklace is available exclusively on Art Fire.  You can find it here:

Reclaimed Vintage Swarovski and Blue Faux Pearl Necklace

If you are looking for some real bargains, try our Etsy shop where everything is 50% off.

Just use the code WINTERSALE2011 when you check out.

New Styles for a New Year - Pearls

2011 promises to be the year that revitalizes the beautiful look of pearls.   Never out of date, and forever beautiful, sometimes pearls get put on the back shelf in favor of more "in" jewelry.  This year, to my delight, pearls are once again making it to the main showcases.   I have oodles of them ordered.  Here is the first one I created out of what I have on hand.  

The glass pearls used in this 20" necklace are advertised as white but they have a very slight light creamy green cast to them.  I centered the front with 18 Swarovski crystals mounted in 3 nearly invisible settings.  They add just the  right amount of sparkle to this already elegant necklace.

Because everyone thinks of pearls as expensive, I am planning on using only gold or sterling silver when assembling this line.  This necklace has a sterling hook clasp.

Whither you wear this necklace with your best evening gown or your favorite blue jeans, it is bound to bring complements your way.  The best part is - it's pearls, and pearls will always be a wise fashion choice.  If they go out of vogue for a few years, just tuck them away.  They'll be back!

This necklace is available exclusively in my Art Fire shop.  You can pop right to it by clicking here: 

Faux Pearl Necklace

If you are looking for a great bargain, I have put over 275 items on sale for 50% off on my Etsy site.

Here is the link:  The Earring Boutique

Use this code when you check out for your 50% off the prices shown:  WINTERSALE2011

Thanks for stopping by.  Leave me a note so I know you were here.

Clearnance Sale

Just in time to treat yourself with some of that money you got for Christmas!  We've lowered the prices on dozens of our jewelry items.  By lowered, I mean we've cut them in half!   Here are just a few to get you started.  See the rest in our Art Fire shop

Small Aubergine Purple Floral Earrings

Copper and Glass Bead Wire Wrapped Cuff Bracelet

Blue Coral Stitch Floral Bangle Bracelet - Hand Beaded

Green and Gold Beaded Chain Link Bracelet

The View From My Window

Good morning on this Winter day from Southwestern New York!  Every once in a while I post the view from my window.  Here is yesterday's!  The snow was late in coming, but boy is it ever making up for lost time.

6am

and then a little while later at 9 am....

Nice view eh?

Hope you are all keeping warm.

Oh, Get Real!

    I hate magazines.  The majority of them at least.  There are a few, like National Geographic or Smithsonian that I can tolerate.  Most of them are just fiction mashed in between ads.  Someone gave me a subscription to a couple of them last year for Christmas.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the idea.  I relish the time I can spend curled up with one of them.  It's a chance to forget some of the unpleasant realities of my life.  Open them and you can travel into a fantasy world of what their editors think is reality, or want us to think is reality.

    One that came in the mail this month is titled so you would think it was aimed at those of us living in the country.  What a joke.  One beautiful home owned by rich professionals who moved to a rural area within spitting distance of megalopolis areas made me chuckle.  I live in the country.  I mean IN the country.  There is a lawyer living near us.  She lives over her office and drives a little station wagon. That same wagon has been in the driveway for years.  No glamor there.   The writer glamorizes the goat herd housed in the pristine looking barn in the photograph  Perhaps it was unintentional, but they made it sound so profitable and wonderful. Believe me, there is nothing glamorous about goats!  They stink, they have to be milked every day, their stalls have to be mucked out and they can get downright mean.  There's no time for trips to the big city to buy all that fancy furniture that we country folks are supposedly decorating our homes with.   You can't have white rugs and couches if you raise goats!  Not unless your mud room includes a car wash strength shower.

    Okay, so I got over the goat thing.  Let that two income professional couple think they live the country life.  I'm sure compared to their Manhattan friends, they do.  I  turned a few pages to read something to the effect of "It only looks expensive".  There was a pretty model with a frilly blouse on for the holidays that "only" costs $89.  Eighty-nine dollars for a blouse?  Honey, in my book that IS expensive, especially when there's no way that shirt can be worn for much more than Christmas parties.  I was once told that the only difference between my Summer wardrobe and my Winter one was the length of my slacks.  The thing about it is, they were right, except that in the Winter I tend to wear a turtle neck under the Summer shirts.  IF I had $89 to blow on clothes it sure wouldn't be on a frilly blouse that can't be worn year round.  I might consider getting some new boots though.

   Somewhere in my holiday reading I saw a menorah made entirely out of salt and pepper shakers.  I don't know how many salt and pepper shakers most country folks have on hand, but unless they collect them, I'll bet not enough to light a candle every night of Hanukkah.   I'd make it through the 6th night if I dumped the salt and pepper out first..  Most country folk I know don't keep a lot of stuff they can't use on a regular basis.

   One more rant and I'm done.  A while back one of the magazines dedicated to keeping your house in good form decided it was necessary to advise me about my underwear drawer.  They had a beautiful picture of pretty colored panties all nicely rolled and lined up in a special divider.  Lovely to look at but who the heck looks in your undies drawer?  My white only collection is lucky to make it out of the laundry basket before I need to wear them again.  It only reinforced my belief that magazine editors have absolutely no idea what country life is like.  If you are going to be milking and mucking out the goat barn, you sure as heck aren't going to have the time, or the energy to line your underwear up in neat little dividers.

   When is someone going to write a magazine that is REALLY for the real country life?

One More Featured Bakery

The days when cookies must appear on our holiday dessert table are quickly approaching!  I can't believe Thanksgiving is over already.  I have one more bakery I promised I'd share with you.  I just popped over there and was wowed by her Christmas cookies as well as the rest.  You are not going to want to miss this one!  Hurry on over to Lori's Place on Etsy if you need to fill your holiday plates, but hurry.  She will be closing down December 13th to fill her holiday orders.  Lori's Place is a licensed bakery in the state of Florida, so no worries about the environment your cookies will be made in.

For starters, look at this wonderful Christmas Cookie Mix.

Do they look yummy or what?

This one is a great gift idea.  9 of these beautiful snowflakes come packed in a tin ready to give away. I love how they match the tin!

Look at the detail that went into decorating these traditional trees.  Oh, my.... sure beats the colored sugar I toss on mine!

Lori knows cookies are not just for Christmas.   Here's a peek at some of her other creations.  You will have to check out her shop to see them all.  There are just too many to picture here!

Luau Party Tiki Cookies

School Daze

Royal Frogs

This wraps up my featured bakery list, at least for now.  I hope you found some great places to order your holiday cookies!