It's time to make heart-shaped sugar cookies! What fun we will have making, baking, and most importantly, eating those beautiful Valentine Cookies. When it's time to decorate have you ever had a mind block? How should I decorate these? What do I want them to look like?
I've gathered together some photos of beautifully decorated cookies to share. Do you have any tips about making sugar cookies? Click on each picture to enlarge it. Here's one of Martha's Sugar Cookie Recipes Enjoy! Below the pictures are some excellent tips about making, baking and decorating sugar cookies from Martha Stewart.
Tips for Baking Cookies
Chilled dough will help retain the shape of the cookies; soft, warm dough tends to lose its shape when cut and moved. Rolling out the dough is to prevent sticking. Don't overmix the dough once you have added the dry ingredients. Overmixing will make the cookies tough. Dip cookie cutters in flour to keep it from sticking to the work surface. Rotate baking sheets halfway
through baking to ensure that the cookies bake evenly.
sometimes difficult. Roll out the dough in small batches, make sure it's cold, and use a light dusting of flour or sugar in the flour
Tips for Decorating Cookies
Keep sanding sugar (a large-grain decorating sugar) in a variety of colors on hand. Place the unbaked cookie on a sheet of parchment paper, and sprinkle the sugar on top. Tip the cookie upside down to remove excess sugar. Try coating your cookies with Royal Icing in a variety of colors. Use a #1 or #2 Ateco pastry tip fitted in a pastry bag. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, carefully pipe a border of royal icing. Then "flood" the outline using a thinner blend of royal icing to coat the cookies. Use a toothpick or skewer to help push icing into place. Allow the icing to dry completely, up to one day. Dragging is the process of adding a second color through flooded icing. Use a toothpick to pull the icing; pull in alternate directions for a marbleized look. Keep filled pastry bags upright in a glass lined with a damp paper towel or use squeeze bottles. To create raised designs, pipe icing on top of dried flooded areas. Pipe icing onto the cookies, and sprinkle with sanding sugar for a sparkling effect called sugaring. Tip the cookie to remove excess sugar. (marthastewart.com)
Now Click on this link to watch a video showing Martha Stewart and actress Aisha Tyler making the perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe Martha also demonstrates how to frost the sugar cookies.
And in keeping with the Valentine, Love and Heart theme......Do you want to put something romantic in your bedroom? We have quite a few "Romantic and Love" themed quotes.
