This is the story of my little cookie tree and how it came to be. It was an adventure. Like Snoop Dogg says…There will be ups and downs, smiles and frowns. The experience was really fun, though, and I’m going to tell you all about it!
This post is sponsored by one of my very favorite small businesses I’ve gotten to know over the past couple of years – Bakers Party Shop. They have a massive assortment of really funky cookie cutters, along with everything you need for baking up custom confectionery goodies, including sprinkles, sugars, glitters, flavorings, candy, cupcake liners, cookie cutters, party decor, packaging, and sooooo much more. Whether you’re a pro or a novice baker like myself, these ladies can set you up with everything you need. Check out their site at www.bakerspartyshop.com and TREAT YO’SELF.
I decided to make some sugar cookies with flood icing because I am obviously a glutton for punishment and I enjoy torturing myself. I kid, I kid. Flood icing is an amazing skill that requires patience and practice, which is not something I always possess. My cookies are most definitely not on the pro side – you might say I’m the newbiest noob that ever noobed when it comes to cookie decorating. BUT! I am here to tell you that it is hella fun and it’s something you should try, because sometimes the worse your cookies look, the more hysterically funny the whole experience is! Let me share with you a few things I did wrong and a few tips to make sure your cookies come out fabulous!
First of all, get some rad cookie cutters. I squealed with delight when I opened up my box from Bakers Party Shop and saw all the cute cutters! They are even better in person! Here are the cutters I used:
I also got the most fabulous Shimmer Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles and they are my FAVE! They are so pretty, I just want to put them on everything. I haven’t even put them away yet because I love seeing them sitting out! Look!
I also made sure to use a really good recipe for sugar cookies and flood icing. I’m not going to go into detail about how to make the dough or how to use the flood icing, because there are tons of very well done tutorials online. Still, even with tried and true recipes from a legit actual pastry chef, I ran into some issues. A couple of tips for good sugar cookies:
- Make your dough the day before. I don’t know why, but it seems to roll out better.
- Refrigerate overnight and then let it come to room temperature before you roll it out.
- Dip your cutters in flour to keep them from sticking to the dough.
- Bake just long enough for the edges to get a hint of golden brown.
- Cool them on a rack completely before decorating.
- And when removing them from the cookie sheet to the rack, support them all around to keep them from breaking! I broke one of my octopus cookies in half before I got it off the damn cookie sheet. Grrrr!
Oh, and here is my biggest flub – I thought I was being sooooo clever in poking holes with a straw in my cookies before I baked them, because these were actually going to be cookie ornaments for a cute little Christmas tree for my daughters. Well, I didn’t take into account the different shapes of the cookies so some of them ended up hanging really funny! One of my unicorns was hanging almost straight up and down, and all my arrows pointed the same direction, like a bunch of colorful downvotes. So if you do this, just take into consideration how your cookies will hang and poke your holes accordingly.
My only tip for flood icing is as follows: TAKE. YOUR. TIME. And don’t squeeze your bottle too hard, or this might happen. FLOOD ICING FAIL.
You guys. I had to pack it all in for the day. I had flood icing in my NOSE. It was all over my cute shirt. All the way across the room on the dishwasher. I was so mad! I threw the bottle! Don’t do this. Don’t be like me. Take your time and don’t squeeze the bottle too hard. And have fun with it! It’s actually really super fun. Look, here is TAKE TWO with the flood icing. Cuteness!
I love how startled this unicorn looks. Why so tense, buddy? His sparkly sprinkle mane is my favorite.
I tied ribbon to each one of my cookies (except the one I forgot to punch a hole in) and they turned out to be pretty cute ornaments.
Here they are hanging on the my girls’ teeny little tabletop tree. I don’t think they’re going to last long, though – I already saw Lexi nibbling on one!
Flood icing is fun! Do it with your kids. Do it with your girlfriends! Don’t be afraid to try it out! There are eleventy billion tutorials and quickie videos all over Instagram and YouTube. You can do it! You can make cool cookies! And check out www.bakerspartyshop.com for all the tools and decorations you’ll need.
Holster Brands – hold all your stuff!