First what type of frosting/glaze do you use (do you pipe) and do you use lollipop sticks or wooden dowels? Thanks. I am usually a cake person but we are going to a wedding party (3 weeks after wedding outdoor gathering for some who couldnt attend wedding, 350 + will attend) and my kids want to make cookies in addition to the cakes I am bringing. Any help would be great. I know they want them to look great (older kids so they are quite seasoned with me in the kitchen) Thank you for any help

OK one more question now that I think of it...can I use margarine in the NFSC recipe? I know I am probably sending some purists through the roof right now LOL. Just wondering. I use so much butter in my cakes I try to cut cost if I can especially since I am not being paid for this event. Thanks

You can either use lollipop sticks or wooden dowels, they both look great and work well.

As far as the icing, I use royal for outlines and detail work and color fill the large spaces. Hope that helps!

Have a fabulous day!

Do you bake with sticks in or out and do you use thinned buttercream for the fill in icing and if so is there a recipe you are fond of?

I would be no means consider myself a cookie pro, but I have made quite a few, so here are my thoughts:

I would use lollie sticks-you can get them in different lengths and thicknesses depending on the size of the cookie. I would roll the cookies out and insert the sticks, then bake. You can attach them to the back after cooking with RI as well (there are other ways of doing this, but this would be my choice)

You can use margarine, but it will effect the texture/taste of the cookie. I would suggest making a test batch to see if you like it. I only use butter, so I would suggest it, but I know that others swear by the margarine.

I only use royal for my cookies. I really like the taste and appearance on the cookies. It dries so nicely and is not as delicate as BC. I don't really like the taste of fondant, so I wouldn't put it on a cookie.

I hope that helps!

Stephanie

what royal icing recipe do you use? Thank you so much for your advice

Not a cookie pro here, by any means...but you can also use wooden bamboo skewers for sticks. I use them because they are cheap and they come in large quantities. I also use fondant on a lot of my cookies (depending on the design) as it is an easy method of decorating and gives the cookies a nice clean look. Antonia64's RI (recipe here on CC) is the best I have found so far for adding the details. HTH

can you put royal icing ON TOP of BC, on cookies?
I wanted to spread a thin layer of BC on some cookies, let it crust, then continue with RI work....does the BC affect the RI as far as drying etc? or does it work out if you layer the two?
tia

The BEST secret I learned for cookies is before you put the sticks in, dip about 1 inch of the stick into clear corn syrup, such as KAYRO, (spin off any excess so you don't get a mess) then insert the stick into the cookie before baking. This works well with any type of stick you choose as you will never get a "spinner" this way. Make sure you use parchment paper for this, you do not want anything sticking or you will not be a happy camper. Hope this helps a little.
amy

Again, not a pro, but I put sticks on the bags, just makes baking, storing and decorating easier. There's also toba's glace, and you can use RBC and detail with RI or Toba's glace immediately, and still be able to bag it. I would think regular buttercream would be difficult to bag, but never tried. My cookie recipe calls for shortning, so can't help you there.
Good Luck

I use Antoina's RI as well. You definatly can use bc w/ RI ontop. But there are some issues: RI doesn't like grease, so it may breakdown or leach the color of the BC underneath. The other being that even crusted BC will smoosh(push around, get dented). If you need the cookies to be durable and stay looking nice during bagging, transporting, ect. that could be an issue.

I hope that makes sense.

Stephanie

Can someone post the link to Toba's glaze. Im a littel slow on the uptake this morning and cant find it LOL Thanks

Here are the links for popular recipes:

Icings:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2119-Toba-Garretts-Glace-Icing.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1983-Antonia74-Royal-Icing.html
MMF (Marshmallow fondant)
http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Recipes&sort=recipename&sort_dir=ASC&op=search&chname=X&chingredients=X&searchtext=mmf&cat_id=-1&x=34&y=10
Rolled Buttercream
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1603-0-Rolled-Buttercream-Fondant-Alternative.html

Cookies:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2055-No-Fail-Sugar-Cookies.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-3993-Pennys-cookies.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6959-Dark-Chocolate-Rolled-Sugar-Cookies.html

How To bake & decorate Cookies
http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html

How To Make Your Own Cookie Cutters:
http://cakecentral.com/article73-How-To-Make-Your-Own-Cookie-Cutters.html

I love baking and decorating cookies, but I don't consider myself an expert as I haven't been doing it all that long. What I find works best for me is a slight variation of Toba's Glace. I like to add about 5 drops or more of brite white food color for every cup of powdered sugar I use. The white helps make the icing more opaque, and it helps prevent the icing from getting cloudy and spotty. Also, don't be shy about playing with the icing consistency to get what you want. I almost always add more powdered sugar because I like the icing a bit thicker.

I like to bake the sticks into the cookies, even though it takes longer to bake because of the space issue. I lay the stick on the cookie sheet, lay the cut-out on top, then gently press the dough around the stick.

Good luck!