Hi everyone-

As I have not made many cookies- I have a few questions-  I am making cookie favors for my cousins baby shower--

1) How thick should they be? -- I have NO idea about what is a good thickness?

2) How can I roll out NFS to the correct uniform thickness

3)-- I plan on decorating cookies-- about 50 total- with Royal and fondant-- how far in advance can I make and bag up the cookies-- I would like to be done the weekend before- but I'm not sure with using some 2 and 3d decorations in fondant- bows, butterflies etc- how will they hold up in the bags??

If anyone responds can you be very specific with your answers-as I said I am new to cookies-

Thank you in advance --

Mo

The easiest way is to roll your dough out between two dowels of the same thickness.  This way you have a guide and won't apply too much pressure in some areas and not enough in others.

I like 3/8" for cookies.  It's a nice thickness without being too thick.

i put down a sheet of aluminum foil sprayed with canned fat

i have a collection of flat rulers two of each kind (not the curvey topped ones flat on both sides)

using a matching set of rulers--so they are the same depth--

i place one of each on either side of the foil

placed so they are not any wider than the length of my rolling pin

plop the dough on the foil

roll roll roll so then the dough can't get any shorter/thinner than the ruler on either side

if i need it thicker i lay on another set of rulers

you might want to wrap the rulers in plastic wrap to get them to stay stacked once you determine the right sets to get the height you want--or tape them together--i just stack mine

or snuck them under the foil

cut out my cookies

remove excess dough

slide foil onto cookie sheet

chill on the foil bake on the same foil

perfect cut out cookies

my girlfriend mailed me a nfsc in a business envelope--it arrived fine--i'm still amazed

hers were very thick like a half inch

a week ahead is not a problem for this project--i'd add extra flavor to dough and decor myself

hardware stores have lovely cheap flat yardsticks

Thanks so much guys!!!

You guys are the best!!

So- you think that having them done about a week ahead and bagged would be ok right?-- I'm in NY so its not humid- actually a little chilly- 

K8- I think adding the extra flavoring is a great idea!!

I'm a little nervous about doing these--- ugh--- I don't know why but I would feel so much more comfortable with 50-100 cupcakes- ha!!

Ok-- of too do a practice run- plus I want to time out how long each cookie takes-- land on a 2 different designs and premake anything I can-- shower is Jan 20th-

Fingers crossed-

Thanks Again-:)

Mo

I use 1/4 inch dowels to roll my dough between. these cookies can be made in advance and frozen or stored in an airtight container (great for when you have huge cookie orders). I wouldn't suggest baking your cookies on foil though, I (and many other cookie decorators) use parchment paper. I roll on wax paper but you can roll on parchment paper also. Also before I place my cookies in the over I place the in the freezer for a couple of minutes, these reduces spreading dramatically. 

heres some photos of my cookie work so you can see:

Practally no spreading, and the ones on the bottom are almost all hand cut :). Hope that helps! Good Luck!

I went to Home Depot and got them to cut me to lengths  (about 2' long) of 1/4" plywood, 3/8" would work too.  I then covered then with contact paper so that I could wipe the down.  I place them on either side of my surface I'm rolling on (I use my Fat Daddios mat - works great!).  Unlike a dowel, I don't have to worry about it possibly rolling. I place my cut cookies onto  parchment on cookie sheets and put them in the freezer for at least an hour.  I often roll and cut me cookies one night, refrigerate them, then bake them the next.   I find this reduces any spreading.   If I don't have time, I will decorate the next might (if I this is a week night as I have a full time job) otherwise I start decorating once the cookies are cool.    I recently did cookies for my cousin's daughter's wedding. She wanted 40 large heart cookies bagged in pairs 2 weeks before the wedding to put in the out of towner gift bags.  I cover mine in royal icing.  They were still good two weeks later.  I've had sugar cookies last at least that long.  I also did other cookies for her for her lunch the day after the wedding which I delivered two days before the lunch. But they were done two days prior to that as I had other items to complete for her.  When I do royal on cookies, I allow for 3 days from the time I start icing to ensure that is is completely dry before bagging.

I don't use the dowels or sticks either.

I was surfing the net two weeks ago and came across this site that sells an 8 pc. rubber band set used with large wooden rolling pins, I will find the site and add a pic of what I am talking about.

The set is $2 and shipping is practically nothing.

I ordered three sets and paid a total of $9, including shipping.

They came in on Monday and fit my WM rolling pin perfectly.

4 different sized thicknesses.

These things are awesome!!!!!!

http://www.starcrest.com/product/kitchen/gadgets/rollingpinringssetof8.do

And the pic...

Nice!  I use dowels because I don't make cookies for sale and I didn't want to buy anything extra, but those would be great!

AI wanted to thank everyone for their advice and guidance- it was so helpful.

I was able to make beautiful baby shower cookie favors- they really looked professional and I would not have been able to do that without all your advice. I didn't get a chance to take pictures as I pulled an all-nighter and finished bagging hem 10 minutes before they were picked up-- I'm so mad that I have no photos!!! I had no idea how long they would take--

I tried to do them with royal icing but that was a disaster- whew--I definitely need practice with that!!! I used fondant ( that I added additional flavors to) I was very proud of the results-

I did get a quick shot of some of the cupcakes I made to go along with the cookies ( I will try to attach a photo- So hard with this Ipad) i will def add to my gallery though

Again- I can't thank you all enough

Mo

I just bought those yesterday. 

Would these rolling pin rings pictured above fit on my 18 inch aluminum rolling pin?  Thanks.

AYou need to measure the circumference of your rolling pin. I just measured mine and it is a little over 2-1/4" thick. I can stretch the bands over the pin, and they fit really well. I made 100 sugar cookies last week using them. The only drawback is that you need to keep your dough within the width of your rolling pin, or the bands tend to put grooves in your dough. But they work really well IMO.