Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I Don't Think It's Supposed To Take Me 3 Days To Make Sugar Cookies

Lately I've had the urge to bake something and I'm not talking Pillsbury open the package and pop it in the oven stuff here. I'm talking about baking something from scratch.

And it's all Amanda's fault.

Friends, you have got to check her blog out. She bakes and decorates the prettiest sugar cookies ever. She's even won contests for her cookies.

Oh yeah. I want to be an Amanda.

So, after thinking about trying my hand at baking and decorating sugar cookies for the past two weeks, I decided to start them on Sunday.

I used her recipe which was very easy. I've never rolled cookies before but I really got into it and felt like a Bakerista. No, that isn't a real word but it can be if you pretend along with me, can't it??

Here are my cookies.



They taste every bit as good as they look. At this point I didn't know how they were going to make it to the decorating stage of things because they were so good. The children kept eyeing them!

Baking and cooling the cookies were about all I did on Monday. I think I ate too many of them and started to feel sick and kind of bored looking at them, so I decided to go to bed.

On Tuesday I was all refreshed and ready to start the decorating process. Amanda also has a very easy recipe for a version of royal icing and it mixed up really easily. Step One was to outline the cookies with the icing. This is to form an edge so that when the rest of the cookie gets filled in, the icing won't run over.

I pulled out my disposable cake decorating bags and decorating tips and I was on fire to get started. I filled the bag, chose a tip and started to outline my cookies.

Everything seemed to go well until all of a sudden the bag burst. UGH! I didn't think I was squeezing that hard but maybe I don't know my own strength or something.

So, I moved on to a plastic bottle with a squeeze tip. This was really easy and I was gettin' things done when all of a sudden the top popped off and this is what happened...



I know. I couldn't believe it either. Imagine my frustration when this happened a second time.

Poor Katie...

I didn't know what was the best way to fill in the cookies. I really wanted to email Amanda to ask, but I email her enough to be on the fence between being friendly and being a stalker. So...I muddled through on my own. I used my defective squeezy bottle, I used a spoon, I tried to pour the icing directly. I wasn't having fun.

Here are a handful of cookies, filled in and ready for decorating.



At this point I had had enough and called it a day.

Today I planned to decorate my cookies. I looked at ideas on some of the baking websites I like and was pumped up with confidence and rip roaring ready to go. My first batch of icing was too thin and went right through my tip. I tried adding more icing sugar and that thickened it up too much. Frustrated, I started over.

Once I had a consistency that I could work with, I pulled out my food colouring. I am almost ashamed to admit this, but since we're all friends here I'll tell you. I don't know what colours mixed with what colours make new colours. First I googled the colour wheel but I couldn't make sense of it, so I called my children in to the kitchen to tell me.

I know, I know. Love me anyway.

I couldn't get the colours I wanted no matter how hard I tried, and the more food colouring I added in my efforts to produce my colours, the thinner my icing became.

By this time I took what icing I had and decorated a handful of cookies.

See?



I give up! I'm sending the remaining undecorated cookies to the cookie jar for consumption!

I did hold back two cookies for the children's lunches tomorrow...



I get that practice makes perfect, but I don't think that it should take three days to produce pretty cookies!

If anyone has any tips for me on how to make this process easier, bring it on! In the meantime, I'm going to go enjoy a naked cookie ;-)

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24 comments:

  1. Kate..you are hilarious!! I laughed outloud..They're actually pretty..and I love what you wrote on them!!

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  2. I seriously LOL at the cookie comments. I am all about the naked cookies. YAY to you for trying!

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  3. Oh sweet girl!! Your cookies look beautiful!! You are being so hard on yourself... I am impressed with how precise and wonderful they look!!

    You are a super mom and wife and baker and dont forget it!

    Blessings!
    Amanda

    And you are REALLY good at writing!

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  4. Oh Kate. I'm pouting for you over the SECOND explosion of icing. I'm sorry the cookies became a chore instead of fun.
    I use Wilton colors instead of liquid food coloring- they are a gel, and don't thin your icing. In the event you decide to try this again (and I think you should after you recover from this try, because the ones you did are adorable!) you might see if you can use that!

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  5. Kate!! You are way to hard on yourself! Those cookies are amazing...'specially for a first time attempt!

    I'd eat your cookies any day.

    And I think they're adorable! Just like you!

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  6. Amanda has had the same effect on me. I was just looking at her sugar cookie recipe and frosting the other day. I even bought Christmas cookie cutters. Well I hope that if I do actually venture out that I have more fun.

    BUT I think the cookies you did get done looked awesome and you know what they say, If at first you don't succeed try, try again!

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  7. Oh my Love, I'm basically crying I'm laughing so hard (WITH you, Dear, WITH you!). I absolutely LOVE the way the words turned out - such pretty penmanship and to tell you the truth, you've got so much more patience than me - I'd have whipped out a tub of frosting and gloped it on there and been done. You are amazing.

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  8. Kate my little bakerista...Girl your cookies look great!! Dont be so hard on yourself...Whoop up another batch.. second time will be a piece of cake ;)

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  9. Thank you very much for your kind words of support yesterday. It meant a lot to me.

    The cookies look great!

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  10. Ug, have you been to Bakerella's site recently? I die every time I do, and then I run to the kitchen ready to reproduce her art on my own. And, as I'm grabbing all the ingredients I remember my own failure story and put everything away. Some people have it, Lucky them.

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  11. Kristen9:12 a.m.

    Your cookies turned out beautifully. Paste food colouring is easier to use than liquid. I have an easy cookie icing that I use, because it hardens and you can stack the cookies, it also takes colour really well!
    2 cups icing sugar
    2 tsp corn syrup
    2 tsp milk
    Mix.

    :)

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  12. Kate they are beautiful! (okay so the decorating color was a bit on the pale side you'll learn to brighten things up in no time) Anyway, the colors just make them look "frosty and wintery". The cookies look terrific and your writing is beautiful. So there were a few spills....I'd call this first attempt a wonderful success! They are LOVELY!

    I usually use the "frosting" that you spread on with a knife, but after seeing how beautiful your icing was - - I may just have to try something new this year.

    Tonight though - Nolan and I will attempt to make homemade dinner rolls (yeah - the kneading and yeast kind). Bet you my mess is worse than yours! ;)

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  13. Those cookies look delicious and I would so eat them!

    I'm laughing that you took the time to write out how hard and not fun it was to write! :)

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  14. I think they look great!! Who cares how long it took you!! You are making me hungry for some sweets though!!

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  15. Sounds like they were quite a trial to make, but you did it! They really are quite cute, and I'm sure they're delicious, naked or no. ;)

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  16. All hail you.... I HATE BAKING let alone decorating. FORGTABOUTIT..... I will leave it to the professionals

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  17. Wait, you have never made roll out cookies before and they look that good?! You must be good with your baking in general then!

    I found you through Nancy's blog! (ps. I'm currently eating Christmas M&M's and drinking a diet pepsi)

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  18. Hello fellow peeper!!
    Your cookies look AMAZING, you had far more dedication than I would have had, especially after the second icing explosion.

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  19. Kate, they look amazing! You did a great job. Sorry it took 3 days though, and sorry I laughed. I can picture all of that happening in my kitchen. That is why I make naked cookies.

    When you try this again, can we see more pictures ;)

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  20. Kate, I think your cookies look great! You crack me up. :) And everytime I see the picture of those cute little feet on BF it just makes me smile.

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  21. LOL! hahah! Love your cookies about it not being fun. It does take such a long time!

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  22. I'm all about leaving cookies naked! Seems easier that way:) Your cookies a beautiful:)

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  23. Hello fellow peeper!!
    Your cookies look AMAZING, you had far more dedication than I would have had, especially after the second icing explosion.

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  24. All hail you.... I HATE BAKING let alone decorating. FORGTABOUTIT..... I will leave it to the professionals

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