At this time of year, most people (at least in the US) are dreaming of turkey with all the fixin's or pumpkin or pecan pie . . . but not us cookiers! Instead, we're conjuring up ways to turn our favorite Thanksgiving foods into cookies . . . or new...
In this challenge , we asked you guys to cookie a theme onto a terribly random set of cookie shapes: a gnome, a pear, a skull, a rectangle, and a fleur de lis. I thought for sure you'd either be bored or stumped. Boy, was I wrong. Each and every one...
Phew! It's pretty fair to say I'm on Mothers' Day overload - with my own cookies, that is. I just completed another day-long video shoot, and several weeks of the usual nose-to-the-grindstone, head-in-the-sand prep that precedes these...
[EDITOR'S NOTE: As many of you learned this week, Jill will not be appearing at CookieCon as planned due a death in her family. We at Cookie Connection send Jill and her family our love and sincerest wishes for comfort and healing at this most difficult time. We also believe that Jill's message of uplifting others - expressed here and in all she does in the cookie community - rings louder and clearer, now more than ever. With Jill's permission, we share these words from our earlier...
This month, we begin the first in our series of Cookier Closeups focused on the oh-so-talented presenters at CookieCon. Over the next few weeks leading up to CookieCon, and possibly some to follow, I aim to interview all seven of these lovely ladies!...
"How DID You Do That?” usually highlights the talents of one cookier who has achieved cookie nirvana with her (or his) unique style and technique. To change things up a bit, and in honor of the New Year, this post will highlight 11 cookie...
Sometimes you have a cookie idea, but you do not have the right cookie cutter, or you cannot find it anywhere. Don't worry; I bet that if you look through all your cookie cutters you will be able to find a way to put your idea in action. ...
It is fair to say that decorated cookies are quickly becoming the new cupcake. Cookies are showing up everywhere. People who never spoke to me about cookies or any other baked goods are now sending me photos of decorated cookies with comments...
Spring is definitely trying to hop on in. I should clarify. Warmer weather is certainly making an appearance in my area, but my sister out west is dealing with two feet of new snow. I'm not sure what...
I am feeling incredibly inspired these days. One reason is that I have been doing a deep dive into the many resources available here on Cookie Connection. Two tutorials have been posted recently...
Love is in the air! Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Even this year's Super Bowl has a love angle to it. And, let's be honest...
It's the start of crunch time for me (and many others, I'm sure)! There are a lot of cookies to be made and mailed, and a limited time to complete them. I feel like a...
In my family, we have two very different opinions regarding the holidays. Some believe that absolutely no Christmas decorating can take place until the day after Thanksgiving...
At the end of last week's Spotlight, contributor Lisa Foss mentioned feeling a heightened sense of urgency to get cracking on Halloween cookies after seeing the plethora of pumpkins in her local markets. At the time, I was feeling pretty chill about my Halloween decorating so...
Wow - what a stunning collection of fresh, new cookies! Thanks, everyone, for the active posting this week; your beauties have really livened up the site. This hot list has...
The change of any season is an inspirational time. For me, the transition from winter to spring is particularly so. There is so much new growth...
Do you ever get a cookie idea that stubbornly refuses to budge? The idea for this Rapunzel tower cookie popped into my head one day and set up camp. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the concept. It seemed cute but also...
The holidays are right around the corner, and I’m feeling mixed emotions. On the one hand, I have all of the joyful anticipation of family gatherings and delicious food. On the other hand, there’s the shopping. In real life, I haven’t even started. But in my cookie fantasies, everyone wants a...
When my kids were little, every Halloween we would make ghost decorations from cheesecloth and laundry starch. The process was simple: soak cheesecloth in the starchy liquid, drape it over a rough form of compacted aluminum foil, and allow it to dry. The gauzy cheesecloth would harden, creating spooky, semi-transparent specters. In this project, naturally-starchy rice paper stands in for cheesecloth to make an edible version of this Halloween craft.
Hello, all! I'm on vacation this week through next Sunday, so I'm going to keep this post short and sweet - and I mean that! Without further ado (I told you so), I present the cookies that topped our hot list this week. They include...
This month, we reunite with Ryoko Hayashi (aka Ryoko ~Cookie Ave.), our March 2022 site artist and longtime contributor to Cookie Connection and our Practice Bakes Perfect challenges. Ryoko, who hails from Fukuoka, Japan, joined Cookie Connection in June 2015 and, since then, has...
These delicate floral Easter cookies were inspired by a lovely (free!) vintage graphic from an old greeting card. The image depicts a cluster of daisies forming an egg shape, framed by a spray of dark greenery. I was immediately...
The internet is a vast and strange place full of endless inspirational imagery and ridiculous tripe. Every once in a rare while, I find something that is somehow both at the same time. The other day I came across...
'Tis the season for cookies! We have SOOO many festive Christmas cookies flooding the site right now that, even if you've just glanced at the home page photo feeds, there's no way they won't put you in the holiday spirit. Kudos to all who have been posting this delightful work - keep it up, please...
It's not autumn without some mum cookies! In fact, I've got one mum project for each year all the way back to 2017, when I shared how to decorate a potted mum in Step 2 of this Cookie Connection tutorial...
This month I have for you some colorful leaf cookies, inspired by macramé feathers. Macramé feathers pop up very often in my Instagram feed, and, since I appreciate leaf shapes more than usual during the fall season, I was inspired to...
At the start of this challenge, I asked you to take the traditional technique of brush embroidery and turn it into something completely new and unexpected. Admittedly, I wasn't sure how much could be done beyond the traditional ruffles, flowers, and beach scenes that we commonly see, but you...
After seeing all of the amazing entries submitted for our Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #39, I must say that our mission of turning Cookie Connection into "Food" Connection was a success! You managed to create some incredibly realistic looking "food" cookies, and I am...
Hi! I hope everyone is remaining safe and healthy, and that the required social distancing isn't driving you too stir-crazy. I had the first great day I've had since the quarantine began, and I think it was due, in large part, to...
Hi, all! Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic and associated health worries, event cancellations, and general world chaos have thrown a number of our lives out of whack. My March, April, and May went from...
Welcome to Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #36! I don't know about you, but with this cooler fall weather (at least here in the Great Lakes region), I am fired up to get my oven fired up to bake some cookies! And since it is also back-to-school season, I am ready to learn a new thing or two! As many of you know, I...
Vacation is wonderful in so many respects, isn't it? My one last week to the Amalfi Coast not only gave me the opportunity to spend time with my niece and to explore a new place, but it also gave me a newfound appreciation for the stunning work that you all routinely do...
It used to be, back when I was growing up, that moms memorialized their love of their kids in painstakingly traced and cut black silhouettes. Today (sadly), the immediacy of cell phone pics seems to have replaced that wonderful ritual of portrait-posing and the art itself...
I’ve mentioned previously my experiments with stained glass cookies. Cooked sugar was one of the obvious contenders to create the look, but I was hoping to avoid the stark contrast between crunchy, hard sugar and relatively soft cookie. So I set about concocting...
Fall, autumn, autunno . . . whatever you call it, it's one of my favourite seasons. I designed this project at the end of August, so to get the feeling of autumn, I looked at some old pictures of my yard in Italy. I love the...
While summer doesn't officially hit those of us in the Northern Hemisphere until June 21, it sure feels like summer today here in Kingston, Tennessee, where I'm attending a family wedding...
Man, dads always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to cookie decorating and gifting. While Mothers' Day cookies started posting here in March and April, and were even spotted as late as last week...
Well, I thought spring had sprung here in St. Louis . . . As recently as yesterday, the thermometer was hovering around 70 degrees, and the daffodils and magnolias, so weighty with blooms, were straining their branches and stems...
Phew! It's been a busy start of 2017 here on Cookie Connection. Just this past month, we had the largest month-to-month increase in membership since March 2015 with 260 new members joining us...
Well, after a very long fall season in St. Louis (my neighbor's golden gingko tree still had all of its leaves until last week), I can officially declare it's winter! I had to don triple layers today to...
As you may recall, back in April of this year, I announced the founding of Cookie Connection's Milestone Awards program, designed to honor the incredible volunteers who have stood the test of time by serving this community with outstanding content for more than one year...
It's curious how our most beloved memories can be a huge source of inspiration. Now that spring is here among us, and we can get out and enjoy the good weather, a wonderful memory came to my mind: my days in Tuscany.
Hi, all, as you may or may not know, to mark the site's two-year anniversary, I recently conducted a survey to collect feedback about how to improve your overall experience on Cookie Connection. At the same time, I also gathered input on the desire...
Holy cow! Where DID the summer go? Before you know it, it will be time to take out those Christmas cutters and start using them for (gulp) Christmas cookies! Before I get on with announcing the winner of Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #11,...
Since we're headed into a transitional cookie period with the next big cookie holidays (Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day) not for another month, it seemed like the right time to mix things up with a "Best of Category" Spotlight. Plus, I imagine most of...
I was completely floored when I caught sight of these “mix tapes” created by Danielle Lind of Dany's Cakes on Instagram. I mean, look at them! I was also stumped! Were they cookies? Were they edible? Were they real cassette...
I got hooked on the work of Lorena Marin of Au Claire de la Lune when she posted this clip for a Cookie Connection contest well over a year ago. My first impression of that entry was that it seemed to tell a little story. Further...
New Year's cookies in June? Why am I showing you these cookies now? Because this is where I got the idea for this next challenge. I love this set because of how it came about. I have a good friend in my town who also decorates cookies. We...
It's that ambiguous time of year when half the leaves are on the trees and half are off . . , when sometimes a jacket isn't enough and other times I can't shed my jacket fast enough . . . when the Halloween candy hasn't been gobbled yet, but in the...
Cookie blogs. They come in all shapes, sizes, and readership. They contain wonderful information on everything “cookie” and give you a peek into another cookier’s world. For me, however, there is just one hiccup with blogs: I...
