Okay, I have looked at lots of stuff on this website except for the cookie area. I didn't think there was anything exciting about cookies... until I looked at the gallery. Oh my! So I am thinking that this is like royal icing and color flow on a cookie. So I am sure I can find a cookie recipe but then how do you keep the cookie from going stale while waiting for the ri to dry? It seems that the cookie would get hard. With cake, you cover with buttercream and it stays moist. How do you keep cookies fresh?

What an intereting medium for a creative outlet!

OK - so here's my theory on this - the moisture from the color flow soaks into the cookie keeping it fresh and not stale. Depending on what icing you use you only have to let them dry for a couple hours to overnight before you can package them up.

I like Antonia74's RI recipe.

Good luck - they are a lot of fun to decorate!!

l definately try that recipe. Thank you for answering what I am sure is the most basic question. I am starting to think about what cookie cutters I might want to get. Exciting!

Its a whole new obsession!!!!

www.cookiecutters.com awesome website - inexpensive - easiest to navigate and they have everything!!

I copied and pasted some awesome cookie links and information that CC member Honeydukes had previously compiled. The first cookie recipe is NFSC (No Fail Sugar Cookies) which is a recipe I use most often except that I use only 1/2 tsp baking powder to help prevent spreading. If you want to make a good chocolate sugar cookie, the third cookie recipe is fantastic as well. Penny's is also very popular. I use Antonia74's royal icing recipe, which is the second icing recipe, but many others use Toba's and have beautiful cookies. I usually wait 24 hours before packaging my iced cookies and they do not get stale during that time. Your best bet would be to read the tutorial "how to bake and decorate cookies". It has all of the information you need to know to get started. Good luck!

Here are the links for popular recipes and information:

Cookies:
http://www.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

Icings:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2119-Toba-Garretts-Glace-Icing.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1983-Antonia74-Royal-Icing.html

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

In Antonia's RI recipe, she calls for 2.25lbs of icing sugar. How many cups is that?

Awesome! Thank you for sharing!

I don't know, I weigh mine. I'm kinda anal like that! haha

Thankyou Pebbles13 for posting the link for the DCRSC -

Sounds delish - will be trying that one very soon.

Bh.

I swear once you dip your toe in the cookie river you get swept away, welcome to your next stop on the obsession train I've always enjoyed doing cookies, but hanging out on this board oped up a whole new world to me, I haven't even made cakes or cuppies (gasp!) for the last few months! All cookies, All the time! Here are a few things from me,

I love Antonia's royal & Toba's Glace for decorating, Toba's gets a few more flavor points from my cookie eaters, so that's what I use the most.

NFSC work great for me, I use Creme bouquet in place of vanilla, roll it as soon as mixed, placing the sheets of dough in the fridge as I go, when I'm done with the last the first are chilled and ready to be cut and baked. I have no issues with spreading since I started doing it this way

Antonia's How to bake and Decorate Cookies (link in a prior post is great)

Karen's Cookies has awesome step by step tutorials and a great selection of cutters, she also sells these cookie idea cards that I just love! Great customer service & prouducts;
http://karenscookies.net/shop/

Other place I order tons of cutters is Off the Beaten Path, great service & prouducts as well;
http://cookiecutter.com/

My only tip, make sure you pay attention to the sizes, otherwise you will be dissapointed when you get a tiny little cowboy boot when you were expecting one the size of your palm

Cookie bouquets, I have recently switched to Shiney's method of attaching sticks to the bag vs the cookie and I swear it's like clouds parted and the sun shine came! So much easier and they always turn out now.

Finally my own cookie service message, if you can swing it, get a doboard! I will forever reccomend that sucker, I swear I don't know how I did cookies before. (It is pretty big and I have to store it in the basement, but so worth the money!)

Ok this got a lot longer than I intended, hope some of my babble helps someone out, like I said welcome to the world of cookie obsession! Andrea

Well my friends all make fun of me because when am interested in something, I go all out. I call it passion. They call it insanity. I spend my waking days researching equipment I'll need, and for baking, ingredients. I talk about it. I dream about it. It started with scrapbooking. That started me down a non-stop path of paper crafts which I think ends with stamping. And then after having a bad experience at a Wal-Mart bakery for a birthday cake I swore I would never buy a cake again.

Now in between cakes and paper crafts, I went on this tree-hugger kick. I started recycling, changed all my lights bulbs to save energy, and actually started vermicompsting, which is a nice way of saying a worm farm. It cuts down on stuff gong to the landfill and when the worms eat all the stuff, they leave this wonderful fertilizer. I am also into flowers and shrubbery.

Anywho, I took my Wilton class in February and have caught on pretty quickly. I love working on things to show my artistic side. I am a boring accountant by day so I need to have some fun. I love working with cakes and the different flavors. And I love decorating. My hubby gets so frustrated and I can't really blame him. But he reaps the benefits.

I am excited to try this. I have seen the word "doboard" (or is it dough board) once maybe on this forum,but I have no idea what it is. But if you think it is worth it, I will probably end up with one as well. If you can tell me what it is and where I can find it, I would appreciate it. I can google it, but I imagine that you all have a particular one in mind that has rave reviews.

If anyone comes back to this thread, I did look at cookie cutters. For someone starting out, wha would you recommend? The selection makes my left eye twitch. There is too much for me to make a decision. I can go all out later, but for someone starting out, what is something easy and cute. I need a recommendation. Thanks guys!

I would say with easter coming up I would do an Easter/Spring package - there are lots of flowers and suns etc which are pretty easy and give great creative license!!

I messed up earlier and posted the wrong website I was going for Off the Beaten Path - www.cookiecutter.com (I accidentally added the "s").

Good luck and I really want to see pics of your first cookies!!!

Can you watch a topic without posting to it?

yes - there is a box on the bottom that you have to check that says - "watch topic"

LOL, my friends and DH call my passion 'insanity' as well. You sound a lot like me, when I get into something I go all in, no matter what it is! I too started with scrapbooking

Here is a link to the Doboard thread that put me over the edge, I had seen it mentioned long ago, but once I got wind of it again and I was actually doing cookies, I had to have it and I am so, so, so happy with it!

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-614182.html

ME TOO ME TOO!!! I think Scrapbooking is the gateway drug - I mean...craft! haha!!

I really, really love my Dobord, but it is kinda expensive. To tide you over until you can buy one, just go to WalMart, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, etc. and buy a two foot length of doweling in the thickness you want your cookies to be. (I like 1/4"). Cut the dowel in half and use one piece on each side of your work surface. By rolling your rolling pin along the dowels, you will always have cookies of an even thickness. For an investment of less than 50 cents, it can't be beat!

"ditto" all that! I use the 1/4 dowels too! I had never heard of a Dobord but that is going on my wish list!

Ok cookie makers/bakers/decoraters..I'm thinking about starting to dabble in the cookie world! (I am a cake girl). I see there is some great advice on this thread. Is there anymore I should know before I take the plunge? I have brushed over the bottle vs. bag thread..these bottles can change tips easily? Im interested in learning your techniques on flooding, etc. Outline or not to outline? I would like to make logo cookies for my daughters competitive soccer team. Here is the logo..any suggestions? Or am I biting off much more than I can chew?

Do you do any image printing? I did a logo cookie for my granddaughter but I used an edible image for that. If I were doing those I would do the image for a 2 or 3 inch cookie and pipe an edge around it!