With one of the year's biggest cookie holidays barely behind us, it's already time to get the creative juices flowing for the next big one - Valentine's Day! Phew! The work of the cookier is never done...
Hi, everyone! For this challenge, I have a special guest, someone you know very well. She comes from Italy, and she has been one of the most active members of Cookie Connection for years...
In this edition of Toolbox Talk, I'm zooming in on another ingredient that can mystify cookiers outside of the United States (US): corn syrup. It is sometimes listed in royal icing recipes, but it is not available all over the world...
Hi, everyone, and welcome to a new Watch-Learn-Create challenge! In this 53rd challenge, our featured guest Laura Saporiti shares all of the tools, techniques, and tips needed to paint watercolor florals on fondant...
Hi, everyone! Thanks for cutting me a break last weekend and allowing me to get by without a Spotlight. Class weekends (like last weekend) are always super busy for me because I . . .
Congrats to this week's honorees! Most are still-high-trending Easter cookies, though a smattering of springtime and Mother's Day-themed cookies also registers among the hot list. Special kudos to...
Hi, everyone! Once again, I am taking over the Saturday Spotlight this weekend with the recap of Watch-Learn-Create Challenge #52. It featured guest Evelin Milanesi, also known as Evelindecora, and her signature Piped Crochet Technique developed in 2016...
Ah, summer. When my kids were in grade school, those first few weeks of summer vacation were like paradise. Sleeping in, staying up late, slumber parties, and lazy days - summer was everything they thought they wanted. As the days passed, however, they’d always reach a point when...
Phew! Time never stands still in cookie decorating land! With the New Year now squarely behind us (for all of five days), you folks have moved full speed ahead into Valentine's Day...
Hi, all! Surprise! I'm a little early this time! I'm traveling tomorrow during record-breaking cold temperatures (right now, it's -12°F in Maine, where I'm headed) so I'm expecting the trip to be rather complicated with no guarantee of actually getting there per plan. So rather than...
Hi, all! I'm back from my teaching trip and ready to kick into high gear on Saturday Spotlights again! I thank you all for your patience and understanding over the last two weeks as I worked through some big cookie commitments on this end. I think I've finally recuperated...
Well, it seems like we've finally emerged from winter here in St. Louis. Temperatures dropped below freezing only a couple of nights this week, my newly planted perennials didn't seem to object to the light frost on their leaves, and...
I'm sad to announce that this will be my final blog post as a tutorial contributor on Cookie Connection. I've got some personal matters that need my undivided attention and therefore I've decided to take a break from...
Some daughters give chocolates to pay tribute to their moms. Others send pretty bouquets of flowers . . . And then there are those rare others, like this week's honorees, who take the time to craft something uniquely special - a cookie gift that...
Hello, cookiers! After baking and flooding close to 300 cookies in the last three days (with a few hundred more looming on the horizon), I am in a deep and seemingly inescapable cookie rut. That said, I'm throwing caution to the wind and...
Some judge the onset of summer by the number of people in line at the local Snow Cone stand. Others know it's here by the labored "oomph" of their air conditioners as they kick into high gear, or by the mass exodus from city to shore that...
What makes the difference between a cookie aficionado and a cookiepreneur? Profit! Remember we are talking business here, and the bottom line is the bottom line. I am going to dive right into this two-part series. Part I, Creating a Successful...
Hi, all! I'm finally back with a Saturday Spotlight. I apologize for the many gaps in them, but I still haven't regained control of my life since my mom's move here in November. It's almost as if I have another entire life to manage. Having never had kids, I was definitely not...
I'm back! I returned early this week from summertime temperatures in Jamaica, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman (on Creative Cookiers' recent cookie cruise) to truly fall-like weather here in Missouri! Today, I had to...
Thank you all for participating in the first-ever survey of Sugar Dot Surveys! I wanted to find out what (if anything) you use to speed-dry your icing, and how you use those tools and why. You sure did come through. Those who participated range from...
It's not yet Independence Day, but you'd never know it around here! People in my little suburb are already staking out spots along the parade route; bunting and American flags are cropping up on every porch; and premature fireworks are sounding even as I write this post...
Ta da! I’m back – with another Cookier Close-up! This time, it’s with Noriko Forster, who goes by two cookie names on the internet - mintlemonade and Cookie Crumbs!
While there were still a few Christmas hold-outs topping this week's hot list*, like the lovely spruce sprig pictured above by Honeycat Cookies, it seems like the vast majority of you have promptly changed color palettes and moved from evergreens and snow onto hearts and roses.
Wow! Last month, we had one of the liveliest chats in recent history with Dotty Raleigh of Sugar Dot Cookies, another fabulous CookieCon 2015 instructor. The chat room was buzzing! People came craving solid, practical advice about how to launch...
Well, in case you hadn't noticed, it's 2015, and that means I've almost completed a year's worth of these tutorials! So to celebrate, I'm going to do things a little differently today. You might notice there aren't many photos . . . that's...
As I mentioned in last month's fairy princess release, I'm departing a bit from my usual seasonal releases, and adding a few more event-related and on-trend themes to my stencil mix. No unicorns or llamas though, I promise! There's a...
Wow, what fickle people we cookiers are! A couple of days ago, even before Valentine's Day had passed, chicks and spring flowers were beginning to lure us away from hearts, Cupids, and other love-themed sets. Or maybe it was just the sudden cold snap that turned us on to warmer, springier motifs? (It was 6°F here yesterday! Yikes!)...
Happy Saturday, everyone! Well, what can I say . . . it's full-on Valentine's Day here! Almost everywhere you look on this site, including this Saturday Spotlight, you'll see hearts, hearts, and more hearts! You name the heart, this hot list has it...
The cookie season is kind of relentless, isn't it? I mean, no sooner do Christmas and New Year's pass than we're dusting off our heart cutters and cranking the ovens and mixers in prep for Valentine's Day sets...
Following on from my wisteria and butterfly post, I’m still in a flowery, summery mood (ignoring the rain outside). Unlike many of my tutorials, where I plan carefully in advance, sketching out ideas, or even drawing out designs in detail...
Judging from your posts this past week, there's been an outbreak of spring fever! And it's a downright epidemic - with spring-y cookies popping up everywhere!
I would like to start by saying thank you. I was nervous about my first post, but you guys gave it an overwhelmingly positive response. For that, I thank you. And because of that overwhelmingly positive response, I wrote up a tutorial to answer the...
It's never too early to start planning for Christmas, especially when that planning involves a challenge with over $700 worth of prizes! (Yes, over $700. You heard me right!) Thanks to the very generous support of several sponsors (see below),...
Hi, everyone! What a charming round-up of cookies I have for you on this lovely Saturday night! All of our Spotlightees, with two exceptions, are veteran honorees. Special congrats to...
With Mothers' Day just around the corner here in the US, it seems only fitting to highlight the top-trenders in this clip category tonight! And because we all know moms everywhere...
This week, I'm changing things up again, all with the intention of casting the spotlight on a tremendously valuable, but sometimes overlooked area of the site...
This is not my first project with cookie spools. The first one, back in 2017, was my entry for Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #21 (the bimonthly challenge series organized by Bakerloo Station here on Cookie Connection). On that occasion, I learned to...
Top o' the morning to you! You must have found a four-leaf clover, because you just stumbled upon a huge pot of gold! This Spotlight is a veritable treasure trove of St. Patrick's Day ideas, about half of which are brand new to the site. The other photos...
Even though I am now living in Thailand where it is currently 85°F (29°C), I haven't forgotten the cold of winter, which many of you are now experiencing. So, I thought, what better way to get cozy than with felt warmers on hot cocoa (cookie) mugs?!...
The sun is shining; the birds are singing; it’s a warm, wonderful spring that's quickly turning into summer. It's a time for new beginnings! I’ve missed all things cookie while I’ve been away, and so it’s with great pleasure that I...
In real life, my tastes verge on plain. I’m a no makeup, jeans-and-t-shirt sort of girl. Naturally, my wedding ring is a simple gold band, and that’s exactly how I like it. Despite these tendencies...
When I was a little girl, every morning my sister and I would hop into my mother’s bed. We would sit there beneath her cozy comforter and eagerly wait for her to return. After what felt like an interminable amount of time...
When I first started decorating cookies two years ago, one of the difficulties I encountered was putting together a satisfying set of cookies with the harmony of shapes and colors that I admired in the sets of veteran cookiers. It was hard...
This project is halfway between a cookie platter and a 3-D cookie project. It is once again intended to be a treat to share with friends, with the 3-D mug offering a new and different way to arrange and serve cookies...
If you're still at a loss as to what to get Dad on this Fathers' Day, you're in luck! I've got another dose of top-trending cookie inspiration for you in this week's Spotlight...
Spring is in the air! Can you feel it? Flowers and trees are coming to life again, and everywhere you look the colors are changing from brown to bright green...
Phew! I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to spotlight the crazy-fabulous cookies that topped the hot list* this week. You see, I finally upgraded to a new computer last week, and transitioning from PC to Mac has been a lot harder than I thought...
Cream of tartar is one of the more mysterious yet most common ingredients in baking. It can also be one of the more elusive ones to find in some countries!
Deck the halls with bowls of cookies, fa la la la la, la la la la! See the blazing oven before us, fa la la la la, la la la la! Oops, wrong lyrics! What can I say, all of the amazing holiday cookies posted this past week have gotten me way into the yuletide baking spirit!
Hello, all! I’m Hallena and this is the Fantastic Bakes and Where to Find Them 's first tutorial. I will be showing you how to create your own Kopykake copycat for a fraction of the price. What is a Kopykake? According to the...
