When one cookie just isn't enough, a cookie set is the way to go! Intricate cross-stitch designs make for a stunning giftable set from @MyCookiesSF.
*
I'm a cookie decorating freak who enjoys a European grid-decorating style, and this year I prepared three exclusive pieces which I'm excited to share with you. These designs make for dainty cookies that would be perfect for baby showers, weddings, or simply as a thank-you gift!
What you'll need:
- Gingerbread Cookies (Recipe Below)
- Royal Icing in white and blue (CookieCutterKingdom recipe here)
- Piping Bags or Decorating Squeeze Bottles
First of all, you have to prepare the gingerbread cookies. I have an old family recipe that I always use.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup white powder sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons cocoa
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon grounded cloves
Begin by whisking together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, cinnamon and cloves until well blended. In a larger bowl, beat butter, honey and eggs until you get a smooth consistency and then mix to make the dough.
The great thing is that the dough doesn’t have to rest and you can work with that immediately. Dust your work surface with a bit of flour and start rolling out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Use CookieCutterKingdom adorable mason jar, love and heart shape cookie cutters to make lovely shapes and place them on the sheet.
Preheat the oven to 320°F and bake until you begin to smell the cinnamon and clove, which takes between 8-10 minutes. Make sure you don’t overbake the cookies because they can easily turn out to be too hard.
Tip: Don’t use more honey than listed! The more you add, the more harder the cookies are.
Royal Icing Directions:
While your cookies are baking, begin preparing the icing. For this project, I used regular white and blue food coloring, which was a mixture of blue, turquoise and green from Americolor. Once your cookies are baked and cooled, you can start decorating.
I started with icing the jar on the top and the bottom with the blue icing. I then piped a white strip to made a shade on both sides. You can color the whole jar with blue too. Then I colored the top with white icing and put a grid between.
While that dries, decorate the "love" cookie with a simple white outline and fill the heart with blue icing. I also decorated the heart with a simple white outline and thicker blue outline.
Once the icing on the jar has dried, I started to make the grid - line by line from side to side and top to bottom. It's a bit tricky because it requires steady hand, but after you get the hang of it you'll be able to create a really precise grid. It’s all about practice and patience.
When the grid has dried, you can decide what design you want to make with the dots to fill in the grid. I decided on hearts, but you can make other designs and ornaments as well, which is what I did for the heart cookies.
Finish the cookie jar with a tiny bow on the top and there you go, a perfect gift set!
Enjoy,