Last year, I brought bite-size, sparkly cranberry cookies to the now-annual I’ll Bring the Cookies event, wherein every day in December a different blogger features a sure-to-be clever and yummy cookie recipe to over at In Katrina’s Kitchen.

This year, I brought gingerbread cookie rings. Is gingerbread too predictable for Christmas? Alas, I’ll say traditional, not predictable. And this gingerbread recipe is just right for cut-out cookies, making ornaments and building houses. It’s not too sweet, crunchy (so soft gingerbread lovers, be warned) and holds its shape oh so perfectly while baking. Decorate these rings, or wreaths, or ornaments, or whatever you want to call them, any way you please. I made curlycue rings with royal icing and sprinkles, but dots and stripes would be even easier.

For the full post with how-tos click HERE to visit In Katrina’s Kitchen.

And extra bonus, she’s giving away a signed copy of Sugarlicious!!

Be sure to enter over at In Katrina’s Kitchen!

I’ll also add this recipe to my cookie and icing recipe page for Christmases to come.

TO ENTER THE SUGARLICIOUS GIVEAWAY,

CLICK HERE TO GO TO IN KATRINA’S KITCHEN.

(any comments here, while always appreciated, are NOT entered in the giveaway, so be sure to click the link.)

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Meg! She won the book and prizes. And Congratulations to DD, Shannon, Elin and Ilissa! They won the cookie cutters and other Sugarlicious goodies. Thank you to all for participating!!

Just in time for the holidays! OK, so I’m too late for Halloween, but the other holidays. One last hoorah and trip to the post office before Baby 2 arrives in December. So I’m giving away a signed copy of my book, published earlier this year, Sugarlicious: 50 Cute and Clever Treats for Every Occasion (because you covet my autograph, right? Just humor me). AND I’m giving away some other things, like some Sugarlicious oven mitts, aprons, spatulas and Post-It notes. AND I’m giving away some Fall and Winter-themed cookie cutters for your baking in the next couple of months. It’s an all-out extravaganza, I think.

Read all about my book, Sugarlicious, HERE.

A peek inside the book:

(scroll to the end for the giveaway)

THE GIVEAWAY!

To enter: Leave a comment to this post before Thursday, November 8, midnight, EST. That’s it!

The Prizes: Five winners will be randomly drawn to win:

• •  1 winner will get a signed copy of Sugarlicious AND the Sugarlicous oven mitt, spatula, apron and Post-It notes AND the cookie cutters (leaf, turkey, pumpkin, snowman and snowflake).

• •  4 more winners will receive: The Sugarlicious oven mitt, spatula, apron and Post-It notes AND the five cookie cutters. (Sorry, folks, I only have one copy of the actual book to giveaway, so that goes to the 1st place winner.)

The Details:

Given my limited funds, I can ship to US addresses only.

Winners have 48 hours to respond after being notified before another winner is drawn.

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

pumpkin patch cupcakes from my book, Sugarlicious

 apple cake pop placecards from my book, Sugarlicious

Now that Halloween is officially over, it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Given my almost-bursting belly at 8 months pregnant, I might be relying a bit heavily on the old archives this season. As always, I’ll keep my SEASONAL button up there updated (or I’ll try to). Here are some favorites from Thanksgiving past. Click the photos or the captions to go to the original posts.

You can check out more ideas in this Thanksgiving roundup for Reader’s Digest I made awhile back and I have a few more treats at Celebrations.

 Thanksgiving Day marshmallow activity for kids

Give kids marshmallows and edible writers and let them make their own! Printable instructions included in the post.

easy pumpkin pie cookies

bite-size Fall cookies

falling leaves cookies

A note to all those suffering the effects of Superstorm Sandy… It feels very odd to post today on cookies and sweets when my mind is elsewhere. My heart goes to all of those impacted by the Storm! I’m in Washington DC, where we got by relatively unscathed. But my family is from the New Jersey shore, and I’ve been obsessively checking for updates. I’m extremely fortunate my family are all safe, but my brother and his family are without power indefinitely and still shaken by the storm. My dear cousin and her family lost their home to the storm.  Merely searching for a gas station is a many-hours long ordeal, and my brother has sadly witnessed violence and utter chaos in the wake of the storm. I hope you’ll all keep those who lost so much in your hearts as well!  Rebuilding will take much time and patience, and I, like many, I’m sure, are already seeking ways to help.  Thank you for visiting and listening!

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

For veterans of my blog and books, you already know this recipe, so forgive the repetition. But it’s buried on my recipe page, and I feel it deserves a bit of spotlight.  My favoritest ever, most super duper cut-out cookie recipe made it into both of my cookbooks because I’ll never use another. Don’t ever ask me to change it. Not only does it taste so good that I’ve seen people at parties hide these cookies in their pockets before the stash disappeared (really, their pockets), but it holds the cookie cutter shape flawlessly and bakes beautifully. It’s thick with an interesting texture, not too crunchy, not too soft. No spreading, no burned bottoms, no poofs or bubbles. It’s freezable, roll-able, bake-able. Paired with my favoritest ever, most super duper royal icing recipe, you get decorated cookie perfection. Am I being a tad overdramatic about my cookie recipe? Nope. Not one bit.

I have the original recipe posted HERE, now about six years old, along with my royal icing, cake and frosting recipes. And of course, this recipe is in Sugarlicious. But I’ll repost it below with some more notes. Check out my whole collection of decorated cookies from this blog HERE.

world’s best recipe for cut-out cookies

(pair with the world’s best recipe for royal icing)

sugar cut-out cookies for decorating

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional: 1 1/2 teaspoons of flavored extract (I highly recommend almond extract)

Briefly sift together the flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer with the flat beater, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, blend the butter and sugar together on medium speed until fluffy. Add the egg and blend well. Mix in the vanilla extract and optional flavored extract, if using. Gradually blend in the flour mixture on low speed. Cover the dough (I scrape mine out of the bowl and put in a gallon-size Ziploc bag) and chill dough for about two hours. When chilled, work with about one-third of the batch at a time. Briefly knead the dough and roll it out 1/4-inch thick, or 3/8 inch if inserting sticks for cookie pops (see below for cookie pops how-tos) on a floured surface. Cut out your cookies and place one-inch apart on a good quality baking tray lined with a piece of parchment paper. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. Thicker or large cookies may need up to 20 minutes. Cookies are done when the edges are golden brown.

Yields: 25 to 30 cookies (2 to 4-inches), 65 to 70 mini cookies (1 to 2-inches) or about a dozen large cookies (6-inch).

notes: You can make this dough the night before you bake with it. Just take it out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature until it’s still chilled, but pliable. You can also freeze this dough. After mixing, put the dough in a gallon size Freezer ziploc bag (or wrap well) and freeze. Thaw overnight or for at least a few hours in the refrigerator in the ziploc bag. If the dough is too chilled to handle, let it sit at room temperature for about 1/2 hour to 1 hour until it’s workable. Chilled is good, though, don’t let it get too mushy.

useful links:

For the royal icing recipe, click HERE.

For how-tos on making cookie pops, click HERE.

For basic cookie decorating how-tos, click HERE.

For tips on supplies and where to find them, click HERE.

For food coloring information, click HERE.

For tips on building a cookie cutter collection, click HERE.

To decorate these cookies… I originally made these swirly, sparkly cookie pops way back almost three years ago, HERE. You’ll find the link to the decorated instructions in that post. Using sprinkles makes cookie decorating so very easy, because sprinkles have the magic power of covering any mistakes.  To decorate, divide your royal icing and tint your preferred colors, including white, using Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Red Red, Orange, Egg Yellow, Electric Green and Sky Blue used here). Then, prepare decorating bags with couplers and size “5″ tips, fill with icing, and close tightly with rubber bands. Pipe a swirl on a cookie with one of the icing colors, and immediately coat with a coordinating color of sprinkles. Turn over to remove excess, then pipe a swirl of white on the cookie. Let the cookies dry overnight before handling or packaging.

UPDATE: Conversions for the rest of the known world!!!!

Because I’ve had some requests from those masses that live outside the US (wherein we stubbornly reject the switch to metric), I’m including some UNofficial conversions. I came up with this list ages ago based on what is printed on the ingredients’ packaging and some internet research. These have NOT been tested by me, but as soon as I finally get a kitchen scale, I’ll make sure they are accurate. Thus, if something feels off to you, go with your instinct (and feel free to let me know).

2 sticks butter = 1 cup = 8 ounces = 227 g
1 cup confectioners (or icing/powdered) sugar = 128 g
1 teaspoon extract = 4.2 g = 5 mL
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour = 312 g
1 teaspoon salt = 4.2 g
4 tablespoon meringue powder = 56 g
1/2 cup water = 4 ounces = 60 mL = 113 g
6 cup confectioners sugar = 768 g
1/4 cup vegetable shortening = 56 g
1 cup granulated sugar = 200 g
2 cup flour = 240 g
1/2 cup cocoa powder = 62.5 g
1/2 teaspoon baking soda = 2.1 g
1/2 teaspoon salt = 2.1 g
375 degree F = 190 degree C

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

Happy Friday the 13th! Nothing scary about today’s post, I’m afraid. It’s all good. One of my favorite party blog pals, Bird’s Party, is hosting a Sugarlicious giveaway!! You can win a SIGNED (yes, signed, by me and everything!) copy of Sugarlicious AND a Sugarlicious Prize Pack that includes a matching apron, spatula and oven mitt. Bonus: This contest is worldwide.

For details and to enter, click HERE to go to Bird’s Party.

(Make sure to enter over at Bird’s Party, any comments left here, while always appreciated, aren’t entered.)

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!