Cookie Craft: Baking & Decorating Techniques for Fun & Festive Occasions

by Valerie Peterson, Janice Fryer

Elaborately decorated cookies fill the shelves of high-end bakery cases, tempting shoppers with bright colors and whimsical shapes. The cookies are beautiful, but buying them in a bakery can be shockingly expensive, and their flavor often doesn't live up to their appearance. Now home bakers can have their pretty cookies and enjoy eating them too!
Thanks to the clear instructions and practical methods developed by authors Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer, amateur cookie crafters can achieve bakery-quality design and homemade fresh taste. "Cookie Craft" gives readers access to the entire world of decorated cookies, beginning with an inspirational gallery of 150 colorful cookies guaranteed to start those creative juices flowing.
The authors go on to discuss ingredients, supplies, equipment and technique. They include four delicious recipes for rolled cookie doughs (Traditional Sugar, Chocolate, Nutty, and Gingerbread) that provide perfect blank canvases for decorating, and, of course, their recipe for versatile Royal Icing.
In the most important section, they share the design techniques accumulated and perfected during hundreds of afternoons spent crafting thousands of cookies. Cookie crafters will learn how to pipe, flood, and sugar their cookies, how to design color palettes that work with every season, how to make cookies stand up in fun 3-D structures, and much more!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

158 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2007

About the author

I'm a writer and a fan of smart writing, clever plot twists and all things procedural — preferably with a bite of humor. Currently finishing my own first novel (which involves several intertwining mysteries and at least two dead bodies), I'm a member of both the Jane Austen Society of America and the Mystery Writers of America.

My TV writing and screenwriting has been honored by the WGAE Made in NY Writer's Room Fellowship, the CBS TV Writing Mentor program, Austin Film Festival, Cinequest, The Big Apple Film Festival, and More Magazine; my short film, The Maid of Honor, was an Official Selection at the Sedona International Film Festival.

A lifelong food lover and the daughter of a fantastic home cook, I'm the co-author of Cookie Craft and Cookie Craft Christmas cookie decorating books, and the author of Peterson’s Holiday Helper and Peterson’s Happy Hour cocktail humor books. My articles and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Bride’s Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Pastry Art & Design and other publications.

I'm a proud native of Yonkers, NY and currently live in New York City.

Reviews

[Shavonya]

I am a cook, with a culinary degree and I am not a fan of baking. I am a horrible decorator. I can usually make things taste good, but not look good. With this book my first attempt came out pretty good, and I criticize myself harshly. It might seem like a lot of details and steps (it is), but if you read everything and follow every step it will come out really really good. Cookie slats, squeeze bottles, parchment paper, written out game plan,and doodling ideas, all worth having/doing. I made soccer balls, and that is not even in the book! Once I started to try and look at things like they do I realized "I have the power, I can make the rules". I made soccer balls with black sanding sugar. Even with all the work, it was fun, seriously. Awesome!

[Stacey]

This book has photos of delightful cookies and instructions on how to decorate cookies the fancy way. I'm debating whether to buy what I need to try it out or just return the book to the library.

I've decided to pass on buying fancy cookie decorations and equipment in light of the economy. I can see myself revisiting this book one day.

[Carol]

I received this book as a Christmas gift and am loving it. I've been perusing it when I have free time and have already leared some new tips. I'm exciting to bake a batch of cookies using my new tips!

[Happyreader]

I am not normally a baker or a promoter of fancy cookie-baking. For this book, however, I make an exception. I know Valerie Peterson and I know Valerie Peterson knows cookies and knows cookbooks. This book is a vision and a taste treat. It you are a baker, you want this book!!!

[Jennifer Choisser]

I really enjoyed the charts, templates, and tips this book had to offer. I know it's not realistic for my cookies to turn out as pretty with a 2 year old helping out but I look forward to building our cookie crafting skills together :)

[Jennie]

Awesome inspirations for decorating cookies. Very good instructions and ideas.

[Marian]

Beautiful creative decorated cookies, I haven't tried the rolled cookie recipe- I may save it.

[Slynne]

Lots of new ideas and tips in this book.

[Julie]

FUN.

[Elizabeth]

Has my favorite chart for types of royal icing!

[Dana Wright]

This book is a wonderful edition to my nook library. Check out my review on my cookbook blog.

http://bookgirlinthekitchen.blogspot....

[Ann]

this was really nicely done-very inspiring to the novice baker-like me.

[Donna Siebold]

I have decided that I need to be a better cookie decorating so I borrowed this book from the library. Apparently I need the more remedial version of this!

I made the sugar recipe contained within and the cookies were good. I did not find their technique for rolling first and cutting directly onto parchment all that easy to master. Well, I definitely did not master it - I had to move the cookies from the original parchment to another piece of parchment.

I also did not master the royal icing recipe. Both my piping frosting and my flooding frosting were too thick and I used far more water than their recipe indicated was needed. Now, the book does say this can vary greatly depending on the weather.

I am definitely going to keep experimenting with cookie decorating and may revisit this book again. Practice after all does make (if not perfect) definitely improved results!

[False]

By the same author who wrote the Christmas cookie book I finished last month. Plenty of details on how to create visually stunning (and edible) cookies for a variety of holidays and events. My only caveat against this or any book like it, is that it is a craft. Craft as in--you need to invest in special tools, supplies (edible coloring agents, sprinkles, etc.) measuring tools, brushes, knives, carvers, to create these effects. A lot of counter space would be a boon as well, though not a necessity. An ideal book for some0ne who wants to seriously learn the craft of making a decorative cookie like a professional.

[Anne B]

When I walk into high end bakeries, I am often amazed at the beauty of the foods. I didn't always notice such things, but I married someone who pays a lot of attention to the "look of food". I, on the other hand, am a person who tends to cook for flavor rather than looks.

Part of it is because I am often disappointed by the "look" of foods in bakeries because they don't match the taste I'm hoping for. Usually, they're drier. So, my solution when I really want to try and bake something is just to find a recipe and make it at home... which brings me to a fun cookbook I received in the mail recently. It's this book by Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer.

This book tackles and completely explains how to make those beautifully decorated sugar cookies you've seen in fancy bakeries.

What I love in this book:
--The recipes are clear
--All the vocabulary of cookie crafting is clearly explained
--Tons and tons of ideas for both shapes and potential detailing
--It makes sense. Above all else, this is important when tackling a new and complicated craft!

Why I love this book more than a Youtube video...
--You can flip back and forth to the info and directions you need
--It would take hours to watch enough Youtube videos that would give you all the info in this book
--I need ingredients written down--not on a screen--so I dont' forget what I've added!

Cookie Crafting is definitely a craft. I don't usually think of cooking and baking as a craft, but these cookies are not for the faint of heart. I would compare this craft to scrapbooking--it's time intensive, but you'll have a beautiful end product when you're done!

If you've ever wanted a book on cookie crafting or have wanted to know how to make those fancy, decorated sugar cookies, I'd definitely check this book out!!

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Storey Publishing.

[Janastasia Whydra]

Valerie Peterson's and Janice Fryer's Cookie Craft is beginning baker's recipe book on how to prepare, bake, decorate and store cookies for almost all occasions. The instructional book is broken down into these sections:

1) "Cookie Craft Inspirations" - Photos of end results.

2) "Ingredients, Supplies, and Equipment" - Lists of baker's terminology and tools of the trade.

3) "Cookie Craft Planning" - Tips on how to prepare to bake.

4) "Cookie Recipes for Creating Blank Canvases" - Includes recipes for Rolled Sugar Cookies, Rolled Chocolate Cookies, Rolled Nutty Cookies, and Rolled Gingerbread Cookies.

5) "Prebaking Decorating Techniques" - Tips on how to decorate your cookies before they go into the oven.

6) "After-Baking Decorating Techniques" - Tips on how to pipe-decorate Royal Icing onto cookies after they come out of then oven. Includes three recipes for Royal Icing.

7) "Simple to Showstopping Cookie Craft Constructions" - Tips on how to build 3D cookies.

8) "Freezing, Storing, Wrapping, and Shipping" - How to get your cookies out of the kitchen to where they need to be (eventually).

9) "Cookie Craft Events" - Cookie decorating party ideas.

[Lori Hooten]

This would be a wonderful starter book for a baker who wants to begin decorating cookies. There are recipes, decorating ideas, a few simple techniques (though different in a couple of places than others I have used and read up on), lots of tips, etc. I did really like the discussion about the different ingredients needed - what is necessary and what is bonus. Same thing for the information about decorating - some is simple and the basics of what is needed but they include what would help up the game.

I found this to be a nice refresher read, though it could be a game changer for someone who is not very experienced in baking and decorating cookies. The recipes seem to be pretty standard. The vanilla version is the exact recipe I tend to use except the one I have does not chill the dough.

I like the examples of various reasons you might decorate cookies and their pictures were clear and bright. I think I might need to use their showstopper ideas, modified to an Easter theme.

[Sandra Noel]

Cookie Craft is not so much a cookbook as a diy type book. There are a grand total of 4 cookie recipes and 3 variations of royal icing. Fondant is talked about, but no recipe is given--if you want to use it you'll need to find a recipe elsewhere or just buy it. That being said, there is a cornucopia of information, tips, techniques and ideas in this book to make gorgeous cookies on your own. There's even information on how to store, pack and ship your masterpieces!

Photography and sepia sketches are used to show the steps to use and the finished products, and the finished products are gorgeous! Give yourself a crash course in making beautiful cookies on your own with this lovely book.

I received a copy of this book from Storey Publishing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Courtney]

There's a lot of useful tips and cute ideas, so it'd be a great resource for beginners (and even those who are always looking for new tips and ideas). But the book is organized oddly, and seems to lack a lot of real substance. There's plenty of tutorials and inspirations available on the Internet/Pinterest that are better and probably more visually appealing. Still, it's a great hard copy resource, especially when you get it free (as a gift)!

[Sumi]

The book contained only four actual cookie recipes because its focus is on the decorating of cookies. The cookies are beautiful to look at, at least the snowflake cookies are. These are the sort of cookies that get made into cookie bouquets and edible party favors. This would be a good guide for people seeking to do the same for less cost.

[Sebah Al-Ali]

يحوي أمثلة عملية لبسكويت مزين/مقطع بشكل محترف بما يتناسب مع مختلف المناسبات؛ مع شرح عملي لكيفية إنتاج نفس الأمثلة.

أعجبني أن الكتاب يحوي وصفات أساسية للبسكويت و للآيسنج المستخدم للتزيين. فيه أفكار لطيفة للتزيين.

[Bookish]

There are three basic cookie recipes and some basic icing recipes - the rest is flourish, which is, of course, what makes decorated cookies so awesome. What's absolutely wonderful about this book is the detailed decorating techniques, including how to do decorate in stages.

[Erica]

Fun book

Lots of cute ideas, directions, and recipes. Honestly my biggest misgiving about this book is the number of times I found myself thinking some of the directions would be better as a video tutorial instead of written out.

[Donna Hutt Stapfer Bell]

Good resource for resources

Just the basics here, we're here for the decor. Both for recreating that look from a Pinterest post or updating something you once saw in a bakery...here are the methods, resources and advice to do it on your own.

[Taun]

Pretty great basic technique instruction, as jumping off points for personal creativity. Love the recipes (the basic sugar cookie recipe has effectively replaced my previous go-to). It’s visually helpful, with clear written instructions and thoughts of all things sugar cookies.

[Wendy]

Turns out I'm just too lazy to mix up, roll out and bake cookies that need twelve different colors and textures of icing...

[Jane]

So many great tips and ideas for making the perfect cut out cookies.

[Terrie]

So many ideas for cookies.Can't wait to try some of these for the big yard sale in May.

[Arlene Lauper]

Great source for beginners guide to cookie decorating techniques. So helpful and detailed!

[Joel J Brooker]

Great book !!

Great book , a must have for any beginner learning the art of cookie decorating, this book covers everything from prepping to packaging.