Hi! new to the board w/ a question. I've read where you let the flooded icing dry overnight... but doesn't that dry out your cookies??? do you cover them somehow? and if you're making a ton, how do you keep them stored while waiting for them to dry? I bake at my night job ( i'm a dental assistant and a baker.... job security) and i know that even letting my cookies stay out for about an hour or so while i'm cleaning up or making something else before i pan them up causes them to not be all soft like i like them, that's why i always put bread in my pans at work. anyway, just wondering! THANKS!

I don't know about everyone else, but I prefer a crisper cookie when decorating...especially in the humidity that summer brings. The cookies are crisp from the oven (well, like a shortbread cookie really) and in a day or two can get softer due to summer humidity. I try to ice/dry/package quickly before that happens because softened cookies are much more delicate and harder to package standing upright IMHO.

The rest of the year, they certainly don't seem to get stale within a week or so...even unpackaged.

Anyhow, my point is that I prefer my cookies be a bit "harder" for stability and less breakage...not soft and chewy.

As for drying, I lay my drying cookies out flat on the cookie sheets and those go in a baker's rack of 14-28 slots. These are ideal for drying flat and safely, with good air circulation to speed up the process. It also lets you store hundreds of drying cookies in a small amount of space. (You can get these at your local restaurant supply store. There are even clear covers if you want, but they dry faster without them on.)

So while you're letting the flood dry over night or so, do you just leave them all out (in the elements) or do you store them somehow. I just had a vision of my 2 great danes munching on my cookies that were for other people! LOL Thanks for the earlier tip!

Well, in all honesty, animals shouldn't really be allowed in the room where you make and store your customers' food anyway. Right?

my "job" is in a dining facility. i'm talking about making my decorating cookies at home. dogs that stand 6ft on their back feet can reach the top of the refrigerator! LOL great care is taken in my house to prevent counter surfing but unfortunatly they are like children! LOL

thanks for posting the pics of the racks. we have a closable (but not airtight) one at my work but i just meant for a more in home setting. sorry i should have specified! maybe one day i'll be able to need something like that! they are nice and handy!!

I personally find that the royal icing keeps the cookies nice and soft...they have a good bite to them...slightly crisp when biting, but nice & soft. One of my customers described my cookies as "fluffy and pillowy". To me I think when the RI hardens, it creates this barrier that keeps the cookies not too hard.

By the way (BTW)...welcome to CC. You are new!

That's okay, I understood that you meant home. I know you probably don't keep dogs at your work.

I was assuming you were asking for a good storage method because you're doing dozens & dozens of cookies, so I thought I'd just make the suggestion for a large storage unit.

I have these racks at my restaurant job and at home too. Not 10 or anything, just one in the corner of my kitchen.

Thanks for the welcome Jenn77777!!! i'm waiting for my new kitchen aid paddle to come in then i'll whip up a batch. got lost in a military move and try them out!!

Antonia74, where do you get your racks for at home??? thanks. ruby

I actually got "cooling racks" that have these drop down "feet". I just got "good" ones with stable feet. Kind of like these http://apexexpress.stores.yahoo.net/3pccorasetby.html

I can get a dozen or so one each one, but only 9 bigger ones. I have stacked these 9 high! Just be sure the "feet" don't hit the drying cookies. That way, I have as many as 7-9 dozen cookies at once.

But I am just a hobby baker, so I leave it to you pros....

Oh thanks Johnson! those aren't a bad price either for 3!!! THANKS!

I use royal icing to decorate my sugar cookies. The moisture in the RI keeps the cookies moist. Let them dry over night on cookie sheets or on wax paper layed across your counter. I use my center island for this. By morning they should be dry/hard enough to package. Either individually wrap in cookie bag or in a box with wax paper between each layer. Once they harden you can also freeze or put them in the fridge to make sure the stacked cookies will not bleed onto eachother. This shouldn't happen but in humidity it has happened to me. Good luck.

your welcome Ruby---- I love mine. I can use as cooling rack, "drip" rack for poured icing or chocolate (with cookie sheet underneath), and stacking rack to dry iced cookies. Feet fold, and I store away when not needed.

And mine fit in the dishwasher.... easy, easy, easy....

Rita