For as long as I can remember my family has been making and decorating sugar cookies from scratch every Christmas. It was a tradition on my mom’s side of the family that she continued with ours. I remember always looking forward to Christmas because of the cookie decorating, and I definitely took it very seriously. I would spend hours at the table meticulously decorating while my two sisters breezed through theirs (amateurs lol!). Now that I do cookies weekly, I realize how much work it was to keep this tradition alive: prepping the dough, rolling out all the cookies, baking, making all the icing and cleaning it all up afterward- with 3 messy kids?! My mother was a true saint.
When Mom got sick and passed, we made sure to continue this tradition even though we are no longer kids and probably don’t have as much fun doing it as we used to. My sisters and I still sit down together and decorate cookies every year. I always get tasked into making and baking the dough, but I enjoy taking the steps into Mom’s shoes. Our original recipe is very different compared to the one that I use now. We used Crisco instead of butter among other things. We also didn’t use royal icing. I had never heard of meringue powder until this year! However, every year I tried to get more sophisticated with designs. Here’s a look at some of the cookies I made for Christmas in 2017.
Yup! We all start somewhere! These were probably the best cookies I had ever made for us, and I was super proud of them.
As a starving college student, I really couldn’t afford to get people gifts for a lot of occasions, so I started making cookies as my contribution. And it also gave me an excuse to be creative for a couple of hours. I acquired some different cookie cutters and started diversifying our tradition to fit other occasions. For the Fourth of July last year, I made cookies for my boyfriend’s family as a thank you for letting us stay at their beach house and for feeding us a tremendous amount of food. Here’s a look at those from 2018.
Then, Christmas of 2018 came around, and the sisters all made and decorated cookies as usual. My dad’s girlfriend of 5 years, Leigh, really adores the cookies every year. She always boasts about how great they look. Planning to host a baby shower in January, she asked if I could make some sugar cookies for her. I agreed immediately because it seemed like an artistic challenge, since I hadn’t tackled the baby shower theme before.
I knew that transporting the cookies from my apartment to the venue was going to be an issue because the old-recipe cookies were so fragile. I started googling solutions, and that’s when I found out that people were doing this for a living! Stumbling upon the holy grail that is Sweet Sugar Bell’s blog (if you’re just starting, I can’t emphasize enough how great and informative she is!!), I read as much as I could. I delved deep into a cookier stalking hole and began following probably close to 300 professional cookiers. I saw how incredible these cookies could be, and I decided that I wanted to be able to create something just as great. I started trying out new things, tweaking my recipes, and using meringue powder. Below are a my first official “client cookies.” They’re a hodgepodge product of the new and old recipes. Looking back at them now, they look so childish.
After the baby shower cookies, I couldn’t stop making cookies, thinking about cookies, or researching cookies. I made a deal with myself that I would get my dough relatively perfect before Valentine’s Day so that I could go around and sell cookies to people at work (yes, I am entrepreneurial and needed cookie supplies money). I definitley didn’t sleep that week, but I accomplished that goal and made my first sales! My icing still needed a lot of work, but they looked good and tasted great. It was so exciting to see how happy people were to purchase and eat my cookies. That’s honestly my favorite part. Here’s a look at some of the Valentine’s sets I sold.
I have only grown from there. I’m constantly learning new techniques, becoming more efficient, and acquiring new tools for my cookie arsenal. I can’t believe that in 5 short months I’ve come this far. I never would’ve thought that this family tradition would become the accidental starting of my little cookie business, but I couldn’t be more thankful. It brings me a lot of happiness creating these cookies. I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon because I truly have a fondness for this labor of love.
Things to Remember When First Starting Out:
- It takes time! Be patient with yourself, but don’t stop trying.
- Trial and error is really the only way to learn.
- Find a great dough recipe! It took me at least 12 different recipes until I found one that works for me, and it’s a jumble of 3 that I liked.
- Consistency is KEY! Royal icing is hard to work with! If it’s not the right consistency, don’t keep struggling with it. Put it back in the bowl and re-mix it!
- Start off with what you have. Cookie supplies can get very expensive, but as you learn things, prioritize what you need first. I definitley couldn’t afford a projector or airbrusher at the beginning, but I also needed to focus on getting the right consistencies before I delved into perfecting my design.
- Invest in good food coloring. The Walmart 4 packs of primary colors only get you so far… I personally love the AmeriColor brand.
- TIPLESS BAGS! Splurge on quality tipless bags without the harsh seam on the side. No matter how well you cut it, you won’t get a circle when piping.
- Find your style. If you love wet-on-wet, then make more of them! If you love the airbrushed look, then perfect it! Make each cookie your own.
- Don’t sell yourself short. I will probably do an entire post about this, but your time is valuable! Set a price that makes it worthwhile!
- Make sure you’re still having fun!
Lacie The Cookie Cutter 