Entries| From all the fabulous comments and feedback that I received I know that many of you really enjoy my ‘bake me I’m yours….cookie’ book. It was a book I thoroughly enjoyed creating and I’ve still got the decorated cookie bug! I’ve found decorated cookies make excellent small gifts….. what I do, is make a batch of different shapes, shoes and handbags for my girlfriends, animals and cupcakes for my nieces and nephews, flowers for my mother etc. I decorate one or two for each and then once the icing has crusted over I pop each into a cookie bag and tie it with a ribbon. I find everyone is thrilled to receive their surprise gift and I love seeing the smiles of delight that are the result, a wonderful reward for just a little bit of effort. |
 Bake me I'm Yours ...Cookie book by Lindy Smith |
Decorated cookies are of course by their very nature, not as straight forward as cookies that has just been baked for their texture and flavour. A decorated cookie has to be made from a dough that doesn’t spread too much whilst baking and ideally one that keeps well, so that the decoration can be completed in advance. My cookie book contains 3 recipes that I have found particularly successful – if you’ve not tried them here’s a recipe to get you started::
Gingerbread cookie recipe
125g (4oz) butter
60ml (4tbsp) black treacle
225g (8oz) soft brown sugar
450g (1 lb) Plain flour
15ml (1 tbsp) ground ginger
7.5ml (1 ½ tsp) cinnamon
5ml (1tsp) bicarbonate of soda
15ml (1 tbsp) milk
1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/ 325ºF/ Gas Mark 3
2. Place butter, treacle and sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted. Cool slightly
3. Sieve the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Pour the melted mixture into the dry ingredients and stir.
4. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk and add to the mixture. Combine to make a dough, adding more milk if necessary.
5. Place the dough in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for 40 minutes.
6. Continue as for vanilla cookies then bake for 10-15 minutes depending of the size of the cookies.
| Decorating large number of cookies Cookies are currently very popular as wedding favours and for party gifts so if you plan to make and decorate large quantities, I suggest that you chose a design that is straightforward with decoration that is quick to apply, such as stencils or embossing. Also use production line techniques i.e. do everything in stages: 1- bake the cookies, 2- cover them, 3- Gradually add the decoration to all the cookies one step at a time, rather than trying to decorate the cookies one by one. |
 Decorated wedding cookies |
| Decorating special one off cookies For these special cookies, you can be very adventurous. I love spending time adding details that I know the recipients will really appreciate. The beauty of cookies is that they are much quicker to create than decorated cakes! Also they make an excellent canvas on which to be highly creative, something special friends always appreciate…… each cookie can also be different so you never get bored! |
 Shopping bag cookies for the girls |
Lindy
Tags: bake me I'm yours, book, cookie, cookies, decorated cookies
10 Comments
Hi Lindy
I loved the cookie book and saved myself a fortune at Christmas as I made cookies for all my nieces and nephews and my kids friends and put them in little cellophane bags to hang on their trees. Recession busting or what?? Nice alternative to selection boxes and less packaging.
Ticking off the days on my calender until I get my DVDs. I am going to have to book some time on my calender to sit and watch them.
Hilary
Hi Hilary
I’m pleased to hear my cookie book was a hit in Ireland. Some of the students on my spring cookie workshop did exactly the same as you and gave decorated cookies rather than the traditional Easter eggs at Easter – fantastic fun and as you say recession busting.
Just about to watch a rough cut of the Wonky DVD I’ll post my comments shortly!
Lindy
Absolutly love your cookie book and am completly hooked now, I have been making cup cakes for a while now – how about doing a book for them I would love to see your ideas
hi lindy
im going to be making the heart cookies for my brothers wedding soon ive got my stencils but i wanted to know how in advance should i bake and decorate the cookies also how should i store them i dont want going soft as im making 300 for favours?
sorry to ask sooo many questions
thanx
Jen
by the way LOVE your products and your site!!!!
Hi Jen
You can make your cookies a few weeks in advance. What I would do is let the icing dry on the decorated cookie and then pop each in its own cookie bag and seal it with a ribbon. Commercially cookies are dried in drying rooms but this makes them hard to bite into! It really depends on how you like your cookies as to what you do, I prefer mine slightly softer and find that by putting sugarpaste onto a dry cookie softens it just enough to give a very pleasant eating experience!
If in doubt experiment a little before hand.
Hope this helps
Lindy
Hi Lindy!
I’m portuguese, sorry my english. How can I store a large amount of cookies before decorating them? thanks
Hello Paula,
You can store your cookies in an airtight container before covering with sugarpaste or you can freeze them for up to a month.
Hope this helps
Lindy
Hi Lindy, I made your gingerbread cookie recipe last night after attending your class last week. I followed the recipe but the dough was very crumbly. i added another 1.5tbsp of milk and chilled it for 40mins. When I came to roll it out it just crumbled. I added quite a bit more milk and it did work but should I have to add that much milk? What sort of texture should the dough be like before you chill it? Thank you very much
Sarah
Hello Sarah,
I have the same problem when I use Lindy’s recipe, I add quite a lot more liquid, it may be my scales! Don’t knead it too much as this will make it tough. The mixture will be quite sticky if you are adding extra milk but will make good cookies.
Jane
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