Cookies plain and fancy 01 - country living

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Ingredients

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Directions

1. Garlands: Prepare and cut Gingerbread Dough into 1½-inch cookies. Wit small metal skewer, make 2 holes, ½ inch apart, in center of each cookie. Bake and cool cookies. Using 1-yard lengths of thin fabric-covered florist wire, string cookies. For longer strands, after stringing the cookies, twist ends of strands together.

2. Greeting Cards: Prepare and cut Gingerbread Dough into 7- by 5-inch rectangles. For jagged edge, use a ruler and fluted pastry wheel. For the ribboned card, punch holes with a straw about ½ inch apart and ½ inch from around edge of cookie before baking. Bake and cool cookies. Prepare and tint Royal Frosting desired colors. For the appliqued cookie, cut out and bake a separate small cookie from re-rolled trimmings; "glue" cookie onto card with frosting. Paint or pipe frosting to decorate cards. For the "stenciled" card, paint cookie card a base color first; let dry, then paint on one color; let dry; paint on next color. Pipe on the message.

3. Hearts: Prepare and cut Gingerbread Dough into 3- to 5-inch hearts. If hearts are to be used for trimming a tree, punch a hole in cookie dough with a straw before baking. Bake and cool cookies.

Prepare and tint Royal Frosting desired colors; use to decorate baked cookies.

4. Gift Labels: Prepare and cut Gin- gerbread Dough into 3 ¾- by 2 ¼-inch rectangles. For a scalloped edge, using a ½-inch round cutter, cut out half-rounds around edge of cookie dough rectangles.

Punch 1 or 2 holes in each with a straw so that it can be tied with ribbon on your gifts. Bake and cool cookies. Prepare and tint Royal Frosting desired colors; use to pipe onto cookies.

5. Nutcracker and Angel: Prepare and bake Gingerbread Dough for cookie molds. Prepare and tint Royal Frosting desired colors and thin frosting with water until it will flow from a brush. When painting cookies, begin with one color first; allow it to dry before adding another color. While frosting is still damp, insert seeds, nuts, dragees, or sprinkles for decorations, if desired. After painted frosting dries, pipe unthinned frosting lines on cookies.

6. "Tree" Centerpiece: Prepare 2 recipes of Gingerbread Dough. Roll and cut out 1 ⅔ recipe into 3-inch leaf shapes. Roll and cut remaining ⅓ recipe into 2-inch leaf shapes. Bake and cool cookies.

Prepare and tint some frosting made from meringue powder green and red. Pipe green around each baked cookie and pipe red frosting "berries" to decorate each. Let frosting dry. Using large cookies, make stacks of 6 cookies; arrange about 7 stacks around a 10-to 11-inch round plate. For the second tier, arrange 5 stacks of cookies between the first stacks. For the next tier, arrange 3 or 4 stacks between the second tier. For the last tiers, arrange stacks of the smaller cookies. Decorate the top with a ribbon bow, if desired.

Country Living/Dec/91 Scanned & fixed by DP and GG

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