It's that time again to shine the spotlight on the top-trending cookies of the week! Woo hoo! With Easter just one day away, we've, of course, got the requisite number of bunnies and eggs on our hot list* today. But leave it to our Cookie Connection members...
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what better opportunity to talk about love? In this case, love for a cookie decorating technique: the crackle effect!
I know, I know, you've all been waiting with bated breath for this announcement! Yes, the nominations for the 2015 Cookiers' Choice Awards have been cast and tallied! Hurrah!
Okay, Halloween has now passed. Thanksgiving turkey preparations are about to get underway in the US. Christmas sweets and decorations are being set out in stores, and the smell of gingerbread is in the air! This can mean only one thing...
As I promised last night, I'm back with a belated, but much anticipated Saturday Spotlight: the grand reveal of the 2015 Cake Masters Magazine Cookie Award winner! (Some of you may have already caught the official Cake Masters reveal on...
The Toolbox Talk series will be a place where different strands of frustration, research, and suggestion come together like colourful yarn, hooked, woven, and sewn into an ever-growing blanket of comfort and understanding!...
Remember this cookie set I posted here recently? Well, since then, I've been asked if I could explain the steps to create it. What a great idea! Let's do a tutorial!
Even though it snowed two nights ago, we're lucky here in Missouri to have some flowers emerging, bravely taunting our fickle spring weather. I love the bright, sunny pops of color now polka-dotting my yard! Hopefully, you're also...
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...
[EDITOR'S NOTE: My apologies for another delayed Spotlight - two weeks in a row. The fault is entirely mine, and, this time, my excuse is recovery from an all-day video shoot on Saturday on top of a world class cold. Waaa! Onward to more pleasant things! ~ JMU] Another outstanding showing from everyone for the Practice Bakes Perfect 3-D cookie challenge! We were so excited to see how people just went for it, inventing new techniques and making cookie dough do amazing...
Now that we’ve got the business plan out of the way, let’s move on to why I made the decision to open a storefront. You might be wondering why I would make such a decision when my state already has a cottage food law in place....
Ooh, I love giveaways, and there's nothing better than one that comes close to Christmas time! I'm not sure I could ever part with the contents of this giveaway if I were to win, but they sure would make wonderful Christmas gifts for anyone who loves...
Well, you sure pieced together some cool cookie creations for last month's frankencookie challenge . I asked you guys to combine two or more cutters into one shape, and it was almost frightening how many cool shapes you came up with! Can't wait to...
National Cookie Month has been a blast, hasn't it? And just when you thought it was about to fade into distant memory, I'm bringing it all back with another giveaway! While definitely fun, this giveaway has actually got a very serious component...
Another great challenge!!! I'd like to thank Tammy Holmes for the idea for this month's challenge - cookies based on a single inspiration photo. I asked her to pick the photo, and she picked this picture of a gorgeous fancy lilac powder room ! I...
Every time I do one of these challenges I'm not quite sure what to expect. For this one , I just didn't know if people would be interested in taking the time to mix the colors, but I am so glad that so many of you did! What a splendid array of topics...
There is amazing work being regularly posted on Cookie Connection , which makes my job of finding an interviewee super easy, but also incredibly hard . . . how do I choose just one a month?! You all are so incredibly talented! The talents in this...
Ok, it’s not really that dramatic. But it’s also not a fabulous, perfect tutorial with a happy ending either. Despite the fact that this is one technique that didn’t work out as well as I had hoped, I do want to share what I learned...
I never cease to marvel at how many different interpretations there can be of the same basic shape. And nothing underscores this point better than the variety of Easter eggs that have graced the site this past week! While it's verging on too...
With all the detailed decorating I've been doing lately, it's no wonder I can't see the forest through the trees - with anything! (I say, as I adjust my glasses, hoping that the computer screen will soon come into focus . . .) So . . . in a...
This past month, I received the sweetest email from Belle of Belleissimo Cookies in Australia. She asked me how I "construct" a cookie. To explain her question a bit more, this is an excerpt from her email: “One of the things that stumps...
This week, we’re incredibly fortunate to be joined by party designer and cookier extraordinaire Angela Rudy of Oh, Sugar! Events . She’s also one of the lovely ladies who’s headlining at CookieCon in a few weeks. True to my word (at...
[EDITOR'S NOTE: It takes a small community to keep a large community like Cookie Connection alive with content, which is why I'm so completely thrilled to be adding another regular contributor to the site. I'm sure many of you already know our newest featured blogger - Kari Arroyo aka Yankee Girl Yummies - for her amazing cookie work posted here on Cookie Connectio n and elsewhere online. She's a top-flight decorator with a strong grasp of many techniques and an amazing...
Thank you for this opportunity to share a fun Christmas gingerbread collaboration project. For me, it started when I found the cookie community, nearly a year ago now, and just fell in love! I loved the art, the clear camaraderie of everyone blogging...
Hello! It's time once again to reveal this week's finalists in our Christmas Countdown Challenge. Reminder: This is no inconsequential contest - $700 in prizes are at stake! Thank you again to our sponsors Designer Stencils, Fancy Flours,...
Fellow cookiepreneurs, the holidays are upon us, and I hope this month’s post finds you in high spirits and looking forward to the coming days. Before I begin, I wanted to share that I recently received feedback that some of you would be...
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),...
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...
I don’t know about you, but I have faced many challenges in my lifetime, the biggest of which knocked me down so hard I thought I would never survive. Oddly enough, it was through that challenge that I found my true calling and built a small...
You've probably noticed that most of our Cookier Close-ups have focused on how people got started in cookies and the business of cookie decorating. (And that's because they have!) This is all well and good, perhaps, but I’ve decided to...
High on spice yet relatively delicate in texture, this dough is perfect for 2-D cookies and small-scale 3-D construction projects, like my sandwiched baskets and Fabergé egg cookies shown in the attachments. It also spreads less than my...
I was obviously a little obsessed with baskets this spring! Here's take two, a 3-D stenciled version, which is actually a tad easier than take one, the contoured baskets shared earlier this season. Heads-up: Take three, my needlepoint baskets, will...
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...
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...
Hello, everyone! Many of you have been asking about my 2024 competition - when it will be ramping up, what format it will take, when entries will be due, and so on. I'm telling you, the excitement is palpable! And I'm completely overjoyed by your enthusiasm...
When I was growing up, our silverware drawer was always filled with a hodgepodge of cutlery patterns. Some were modern and streamlined, others vintage and ornate. I was known to...
Yes, after a long hiatus, I'm finally back with another Cookier Close-up, and I couldn't be more thrilled to get to know our September 2023 site artist a whole lot better...
The other day I came across Craftsy’s gelatin bubble tutorial by Erin Gardner. The tutorial details a really simple technique using small balloons and gelatin to create whimsical bubbles to decorate a cake. It seemed like an easy jump to go from...
At long last, we’re catching up in depth with our wonderful July 2023 site artist Lori Todhunter, aka Cookies on Cambridge. (Aside: I always love finding out the real names behind cookies names, don’t you?! They seem so much more personal to me.) As we learned in...
I can't believe we are saying goodbye to another month. The summer breezes already feel like a distant memory. I guess I should clarify that those summer breezes were in my neighborhood. Though I am...
I am so thrilled with the cookies that have been trending on Cookie Connection this week. We have all sorts of celebrations. We also have color, texture, and dimension. Though this may be my personal interpretation, we also have...
Hi, everyone! I'm back from a most delightful trip to Morocco where I saw cookie inspiration absolutely everywhere, but particularly in the...
My husband and I have birthdays just three days apart. While we would be content to share the occasion, my children have always insisted that we...
Summer is still in full swing at my house. The lazy, hazy (and hot!) days have taken hold. Our stream of visitors has slowed so we're back to just me, my husband, and two badly behaved dogs. As a result, I'm not...
"Summer! Summer! Summer!" Such was the rallying cry of a recent house guest as he jumped in the pool. Buck naked. To give context...
Summer is in full swing in my area. It's hot and humid, and the farm stands are overflowing. My house has also been...
So this started four days ago...
This month, we get better acquainted with our May 2023 site artist, Chikako Fujii, aka Atelier Chez Malo. As we learned in her earlier forum introduction...
The hazy days of summer have arrived early in my area. Unlike the mid to late summer stretch that is supposed to be "lazy and crazy", these days are just hazy. With smoke! We have been...
