How to Adapt Cookie Dough for 3-D Projects: A Series of Controlled Recipe Tests

Hi, everyone! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked if gingerbread is the only cookie dough that can be used for 3-D projects. Or why some doughs crack and spread, and others don’t, when baked over curved surfaces or molds. And so . . . I decided to create this video to answer these questions definitively, once and for all! 

This video is less demonstration and more lecture, controlled experiments, and food science, so I encourage you to get comfy, get rid of any distractions, and take out a notebook or laptop to record key points along the way.  You’ll learn general principles for adapting your own doughs, as well as how I adapted BOTH my gingerbread AND (BONUS!) sugar cookie recipes for 3-D baking!

Video produced with Two5:7North.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, dear @Julia M. Usher for another amazing video!!! Will sit and watch carefully. It is such a blessing to learn from you. And you are so generous in sharing it with us all. 🥰

Heather Bruce Sosa posted:

THANK YOU SO MUCH, dear @Julia M. Usher for another amazing video!!! Will sit and watch carefully. It is such a blessing to learn from you. And you are so generous in sharing it with us all. 🥰

Aww, thanks so much, Heather! It's comments like this that motivate me to keep making videos!

Thank you so much, @Julia M. Usher! It is a beneficial video! 🧡

PUDING FARM posted:

Thank you so much, @Julia M. Usher! It is a beneficial video! 🧡

Thanks for watching. So glad you found it useful!

Thank you so much @Julia M. Usher for all of this.  It was incredibly informative and helpful.  One question though - have you ever modified your construction gingerbread recipe for contouring? I use your regular gingerbread recipe for cookies but, as you suggest in your book, I use the construction gingerbread recipe for gingerbread creations meant for holiday display (not consumption).  I've been playing around with larger spheres and cylinders this year with mixed results.  I do reduce the leavening but have not modified anything else. As I mentioned, I am working with larger pieces (10" or so) and maybe the size itself is the challenge.  Any suggestions?

LisaF posted:

Thank you so much @Julia M. Usher for all of this.  It was incredibly informative and helpful.  One question though - have you ever modified your construction gingerbread recipe for contouring? I use your regular gingerbread recipe for cookies but, as you suggest in your book, I use the construction gingerbread recipe for gingerbread creations meant for holiday display (not consumption).  I've been playing around with larger spheres and cylinders this year with mixed results.  I do reduce the leavening but have not modified anything else. As I mentioned, I am working with larger pieces (10" or so) and maybe the size itself is the challenge.  Any suggestions?

I actually use my Cutout Gingerbread, modified as I did here, for most all of my 3-D work, with pieces that often get pretty big. Not sure why I took that direction - perhaps because I like its flavor better than the Construction Gingerbread, and I do want my pieces to be eaten. So it works; try it if you haven't. Otherwise, try the things I mentioned in this video to alter the other recipe - i.e., roll thinner, add more flour, etc. (I have not adapted that one, and probably won't.)

Julia M. Usher posted:

LisaF posted:

Thank you so much @Julia M. Usher for all of this.  It was incredibly informative and helpful.  One question though - have you ever modified your construction gingerbread recipe for contouring? I use your regular gingerbread recipe for cookies but, as you suggest in your book, I use the construction gingerbread recipe for gingerbread creations meant for holiday display (not consumption).  I've been playing around with larger spheres and cylinders this year with mixed results.  I do reduce the leavening but have not modified anything else. As I mentioned, I am working with larger pieces (10" or so) and maybe the size itself is the challenge.  Any suggestions?

I actually use my Cutout Gingerbread, modified as I did here, for most all of my 3-D work, with pieces that often get pretty big. Not sure why I took that direction - perhaps because I like its flavor better than the Construction Gingerbread, and I do want my pieces to be eaten. So it works; try it if you haven't. Otherwise, try the things I mentioned in this video to alter the other recipe - i.e., roll thinner, add more flour, etc. (I have not adapted that one, and probably won't.)

Will do.  Thank you so much Julia.  I so appreciate all of your insight and generosity.