Cookie Craft: From Baking to Luster Dust, Designs and Techniques for Creative Cookie Occasions

What a gem of a cookie decorating book! Many books have been written on this subject; some OK and others are great---add this to the "great" list! Bakers and writers Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer have turned out quite the encyclopedia of cookie design and here's why.....Visually, the photography is sharp, clear, and very detailed; this is necessary in any instructional book that needs to show you how it's product is to turn out. And instead of one page and one cookie, the cookies are grouped into a category and photographed all together on that page. Each cookie stands out alone, but as a finished photo, each category of cookies is lovely.On the opposite page of each grouping of cookies, they have made a outlined, numbered chart that describes how each cookie was decorated, step-by-step, so that you can't make a mistake. How much more could a cookie baker ask for other than having Valerie and Janice make them for you?Peppered throughout the book are sidebars and hints on all the little things that you can do to make your cookies just that much more perfect, along with all the trials and errors they've had over their years of baking, to help you avoid the same problems.Then, to make your cookie experience even easier, they made cookie templates that you can zerox and enlarge in order to make the shapes and designs you see in the book. This is a wonderful part of their book, but for myself, I don't have the time and patience to do that, so in addition, they have listed some sources for cookie cutters. My personal suggestion for a great cookie cutter company would be "Fancy Flours" at "[...]". This company literally has hundreds of the most unusual and adorable cookie cutters, and they have every single one used in this book as well.As a little sidenote, in Chapter 7, they teach you how to make cookies for construction pieces like houses, sleighs, gift boxes, etc. It is an excellent chapter and is worth the price of the book all by itself. It details what type of dough to use to withstand the weight of the project, how to construct each piece, etc.The book is sectioned as such:CHAPTER ONE: COOKIE CRAFT INSPIRATIONSCOOKIE CRAFTS for HOLIDAYS and SEASONSNew Year'sWinterValentine's DayWinter Into SpringEaster and SpringMother's DayFather's DayHalloweenThanksgiving and AutumnChristmasHanukkahCOOKIE CRAFT for CELEBRATIONSShowers and WeddingsMilestonesNew Baby or Baby ShowerKid's Celebration and SportsGirlfriendsPetsCHAPTER 2: INGREDIENTS, SUPPLIES, and EQUIPMENTFlours, icings (thickness, thinness, etc), cookie sheets, cookie cutters, color charts, how to use your suppliesCHAPTER 3: COOKIE CRAFT PLANNINGDesigning cookes (it even has a suggested sheet to use and mark your notes), color palettes, organizing your work area, cleaning upCHAPTER 4: COOKIE RECIPES for CREATING BLANK CANVASESRolled Sugar CookiesColoring DoughRolled Chocolate CookiesRolled Nutty CookiesRolled Gingerbread CookiesHow to cut the dough, how to roll it out, etcCHAPTER 5: PRE-BAKING DECORATING TECHNIQUESImprinting an Unbaked CookieCreating WindowpanesMaking Holes or Cut-OutsAdding Dimensions to CookiesPainting with Egg Tempera and Using EggwashSugaring A Cookie or Attaching Add-OnsCHAPTER 6: AFTER BAKING DECORATING TECHNIQUESRoyal Icing Recipes (how to's, the consistency needed, etc)Piping and Flooding (the quintessential skill for cookie decorating)Decorating TechniquesUsing FondantCHAPTER 7: SIMPLE TO SHOWSTOPPING COOKIE CRAFT CONSTRUCTIONMulti-Cookie CreationsStand-Up Cookies and Cookie Pace CardsCookie MessagesParty or Shower Favors, Cookie BoxesDouble-Sided Cookie PopsHalloween Haunted House Luminaria (awesome!)Santa's Sleigh CenterpeiceBaking Cookies for ConstructionCHAPTER 8: FREEZING, STORING, WRAPPING, and SHIPPINGCHAPTER 9: COOKIE CRAFT EVENTSBakesales, parties, cookie swaps, etcRESOURCESSuggested sources for cutter, baking supplies, etcThis is a very sweet book of knowledge, hard work, and creativity; you will be very happy with this as part of your baking library, thanks to Valerie and Janice!If after this endeavor, you would like to go to the next level of cookie creations, I would highly recommend "Creative Cookies" by Toba Garrett; the dimensions of this art are boundless, and Ms. Garrett will instruct you as she is a Master Cake Designer and Sugarcraft Artist.

Because I have not done cookie decorating for many years, I thought it would be fun to get back into the swing of things. Things have certainly changed and there are many more techniques and fun tools to use when I used to to decorate them.This book has a veritable wealth of information and a great deal of pictures that make it easier to understand topics covered in the book.The Chapters:1 - Cookie Craft Inspiration2 - Ingredients, Supplies, and Equipment3 - Cookie Craft Planning4 - Cookie Recipes for Creating Blank Canvases5 - Prebaking Decorating Techniques6 - After Baking Decorating Techniques7 - Simple to Showstopping Cookie Craft Constructions8 - Freezing, Storing, Wrapping, and Shipping9 - Cookie Craft EventsResourcesIndexI appreciated how there is an area that discusses how to organize your cookie cutters. Being someone who is highly organized, this fit right in with what I like to do with anything that I have. The book suggests something like Excel to keep track, which is a great idea, but I like to see pictures as well and instead of putting those pictures into Excel, I have all of the supplies and cutters organized into Microsoft One Note, just as good.Planning for making cookies is important to me. I know that some people have the talent of seeing a blank cookie and can turn it into a masterpiece. Not me, I need to plan and figure out what I am going to do. I appreciated this part of the book.This book really has so much valuable information, I am very pleased with it. The only drawback is in the resources area, not all of the links are valid, so perhaps some of the vendors no longer exist, and I also realize there are a great deal more than are mentioned in this book, but it is a good start for anyone choosing to pursue this fun craft.

Great book.Only suggestion would be to put a conversion table in the book - I made my own so it isn't a problem as I love the tips and authenticity of the authors. Thank you.

Unfortuntly for me it wasnt quite what I was hoping for nothing wrong with the book just not for me, my wrong choice.

I was looking for a book about cookies and i can say that this is perfect. I'm a starter and i found a lots of nice, interesting tips that helped me a lot, little tricks to keep the cookies safe and to treat them in the right way. If you are a collector of nice and helpful books as i'm, you can't miss this beautiful, helpful book.

This book not only gives you plenty of visual ideas for decorating your biscuits but all the practical information needed to carry this out. Yes, it is American but you can buy American measuring cups everywhere these days and Lakeland will provide any equipment you may not already have in your kitchen.I am off to experiment now.

Great book with lovely ideas and how to’s, can’t wait to try them out