Gingerbread Cookie Decorating

If you know me, you know I'm not a great baker, at least I don't think I am. I can follow a recipe but sometimes I do things like estimating and eye-balling. Luckily, the things I bake are usually simple so it's easy to make it good.

I mention this because I don't want to take credit for the gingerbread cookie recipe I use; that goes to my friend Amy Andrews. Find her great recipe here on her blog. By the way, thanks to her, I was inspired to create this blog. She has been a big help to me this past year.

Ok, digressing again. I made a couple of batches of these cookies this year. For the first, I used the royal icing and decorated my gingerbread men, girls and bears with hair, faces, dresses, shoes, shirts, pants and all sorts of things. This time, I wasn't paying great attention and I added a wee bit too much water. Instead of making much more than I needed, I decided to approach the whole thing differently and use more of a glaze. It seemed to work out and one unintended benefit was a cookie that was softer and not too crisp.

I'm not even sure of the recipe I used for the glaze but I think it was about 1 cup of confectioner's (powdered) sugar and 1-2 Tbl of water. You could also use milk or cream. Mix until a paste forms and then use a pastry brush to brush onto cookies. Sprinkle right away as the glaze will start to harden immediately. Let these sit out for a few hours, maybe even overnight, to dry.

I put some of these into little holiday baggies with a candy cane and a packet of hot chocolate. It was very festive looking and from what the recipients have said so far, pretty darn good tasting, too. I know it's post Christmas and all but next year, I'll repost this entry in November or early December! Enjoy.