This month I have a tutorial for a dimensional cookie platter comprised of two flowers whose petals, centers, and leaves are contoured. When I was thinking about how to decorate the cookies, I decided to...
What another week it has been. I completely agree with Julia's post from last week regarding the abundance of troubling issues worldwide and what we can be doing to help. I'll refrain from...
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...
Hi, everyone! My apologies in advance if you came here seeking sweet cookies, and only sweet cookies. I assure you, we will get to them, but I feel that it would be negligent of me to avoid the mention of more serious matters first...
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! Welcome to Watch-Learn-Create Challenge #58. The topic of this challenge is beautiful bows! What a great topic as we head into the Christmas holiday! I mean, what Christmas cookie set wouldn't...
Just a quick note to share some great news! Manu, Delorse, and I have decided to extend the entry deadline for Challenge #58 to Sunday, February 9 (5 pm CT) to...
I don't know about you, but the work that I put into Christmas preps is always at the last minute, and the energy I expend is often off the charts. Not surprisingly, I am...
With winter now in full effect, I've been thrilled to catch a rare glimpse of snow on the far hills across the valley. Snow angels are an iconic and joyful celebration of the winter season. I imagine happy children thrashing in...
The idea for this tutorial was sparked while working on "3-D Lantern Cookie Redux", my October tutorial, where I replaced the isomalt panes of my older "3-D Lantern Cookie" project with stenciled and airbrushed royal icing panes. I closed the latter tutorial by...
Hi, 2024 cookie art competition entrants! Just a quick update to say that I have completed all of the feedback forms that were requested by the June 30 deadline! Hurrah! If you didn't get yours and think you requested it on time, please...
The new year is always a time for fresh starts. It's also a great time for cookiers of all stripes to identify areas in need of improvement and new challenges to overcome. Personally, I've realized that I have to...
Last year I shared with you a dimensional cookie platter tutorial comprised of two flowers whose petals, centers, and leaves were contoured. This month I have another similar and...
Most of my cookie projects are inspired by my memories, and so is this one, inspired as it is by some beach huts I saw in La Mer, Dubai (UAE), a beachfront with restaurants, shops, activities for children, and more. It was...
As I am nearly on my way out the door for a week of vacation, I decided to bring you this week's Spotlight a day early! And, as turkey day is nearly upon us all (here in the US, that is), there's no more fitting subject matter for this Spotlight than Thanksgiving...
'Twas the weekend before Christmas and all through the house . . . sugar and wrapping paper were strewn - everywhere! I realize this is not how the story goes, but it is...
This month, I have a quick and easy 3-D basket cookie suitable for many occasions, including Easter, May Day, Mother's Day, weddings, and more! The basket is contoured and...
Thank you all for participating in the most recent questionnaire in my Sugar Dot Surveys series. In it, I wanted to find out how thick you roll your cookie dough. I also wanted to know if you use any tool(s) to help achieve a consistent thickness, and why you use the tool(s) that you do...
Icing sugar lies at the base of cookie decorating, be it with royal icing or glaze or buttercream. It was through Cookie Connection host Julia Usher’s comments about her teaching experiences in other countries that I realised that icing sugar isn’t the same all over the world...
The first time I heard about shortening was when an American colleague couldn't find it for a recipe she planned to make for Thanksgiving dinner. When she served sweet potatoes covered with melted marshmallows, I wasn't immediately...
The temperatures are still quite warm in my area so it's hard for me to say that fall is in the air. But, it's definitely on my mind! I can't wait for the...
As Taylor Swift (muse for this year's competition theme) would ask, "Are you ready for it?!" - "it", of course, being the grand winner reveal in the third virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™! From what I've witnessed online, I suspect so. And the good news is...
Ready for it?! The complete set of rules and theme description for the third virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ are here, which means you can safely start planning and even making your entries! And, since the competition is online, anyone (13 years of age or older) anywhere in the world can enter!...
We are in full Thanksgiving mode at my house. There will only be a small gathering this year but I am still pulling out all the stops. The bird, the sides, and, of course, all of the sweets! I like to do...
I am celebrating winter with a 3-D winter wonderland tree cookie, and I hope you'll come celebrate with me! This 3-D project doesn’t require any icing "glue" to stand, so it's more like a 3-D cookie platter. The concept behind its construction is similar to that of mug-hugger cookies, which are . . .
A few months ago, I made a water lily pond cookie set inspired by a couple of real ponds that I saw during a trip. One pond had pink flowers, and the other pond had white ones. That set was my...
Many years ago (almost thirty), a friend of mine and his girlfriend found a way to make some money by selling framed sailing knots. The knots, each labelled with its name, were glued onto a nautical chart together with other embellishments like mini anchors and ship wheels...
This Toolbox Talk tackles an ingredient that is so fundamental to rolled cookie recipes that maybe it should have been the first in this series. I'm talking about flour, people! Even an ingredient as common as flour has its differences around the world, which impact baking results...
A new movie is in theaters, which is getting lots of Oscar buzz: La La Land. Have you watched it? It's the story of a pianist and an aspiring actress who fall in love (and dance, sing, and dream) in Los Angeles, the city of stars...
There is something about painting on a cookie that I can't resist. People say it's a great stress release and outlet for self-expression and creativity. For me, painting is not only a very accessible and enjoyable...
It's spring! It's really taken its time, and I'm sorry to those of you who are still feeling chilly (and those who are heading into autumn!), but we've finally had some warm sunny days here and I'm in the mood for blossoms!...
That's right! Burlap is still a hot trend in the home decorating and wedding industries. What we used to call "gunny" back in the day (because gunny sacks were made from this material) has sure come a long way in the last...
It's hard to pinpoint the exact birthday of this (my beloved) site. It launched "softly" into cyberspace in Spring 2013 with different people getting introduced to it at various stages of development. About a month before I announced its birth...
While contemplating paths in the cookie world, a Cookie Connection member recently commented in one of our forums about the seemingly endless choices for cookie expression. Should she blog? Expand her for-profit cookie business? Teach classes?...
What the heck is dual-mode stenciling, you ask?! (So sorry - it's the former engineer in me who loves to make up pseudo-scientific names to explain cookie decorating techniques!) Anywho . . . it's a term I coined (I think) to indicate multiple,...
Despite scattered Thanksgiving and tropics-themed interlopers, we're all-in with Christmas cookies in this week's Spotlight! From Maggy Morales' jovial Santa in the cover image to...
Since featuring stenciled royal icing transfers in my past two tutorials, I have continued to experiment with their applications in 3-D cookie constructions. Stenciled royal icing transfers are rather fragile, but they are...
For many of us, December is "the most wonderful time of the year". Though, for most of us, it is also the busiest! I don't know about you, but...
Christmas is coming! My local grocery store started setting up the reindeer and fake snow in early September. The “holiday season” has become so lengthy that it lulls me into a false sense of calm...
Yes, I’m finally back with another Cookier Close-up, and I’m especially excited about this one with our June 2024 site artist, Dita Dortová aka Dita. Until recently, I only knew Dita through her forum intro from a few months ago and her stunning cookies that she posts quite regularly to this site. So it’s been my...
It's been a hot summer in Rome, and, even though I haven’t turned on my oven for a while, I've been working on this tutorial for you! It's one that needn't require much, if any, baking as its focus is on stenciled royal icing transfers. You will learn how to...
It's fall, y'all! The weather in my area is still a bit warmer than I would prefer, but I definitely have all the fall feels. It seems as though many of you do too, which is why this week's hot list is filled with such a wealth of...
Around this time last year, I made a treasure chest cookie and declared pirates to be my new favorite theme. This year, I'm sticking with the theme and tapping into pirate lore. What can strike fear in the hearts of the most hardened pirates? What can snap a ship in two like a twig?...
As I said in 2023, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" And, yes, those words pretty much sum up my judging team mantra again in 2024! Most of my 2024 judging team has been involved with Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ since 2019, so they...
I've found that the best way to keep the creative juices flowing is to be consistent with your baking and decorating. While you're creating one thing, other ideas will keep coming. And so...
The stretch between the middle of spring and the beginning of summer feels like a continuous celebration. Birthdays! Father's Day! Graduations! I've mentioned this before but...
So, at long last, no more waiting on pins and needles! Today I reveal the winners in the 2-D and 3-D categories of the 2021 virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™. In addition, I'll be unveiling the one entry that...
Yeah, yeah, I know, it's not even Christmas yet, but here in cookie stencil-designing land, I'm already gearing up for the next best cookie holiday - Valentine's Day! Or wait - maybe Valentine's Day IS the...
There's no ignoring the fact that 2020 has been a year like no other. It was the year that we went from living life outside of our homes to living life within our homes. Home became the place where we were...
At long last, we’re picking up where we left off in our June 27 (!) chat with Cookie Connection challenge host Sweet Prodigy, aka Christine Dutcher! In addition to organizing and recapping our bimonthly Practice Bakes Perfect challenges, Christine is a precision-piper extraordinaire, best known for her...
