I hate frosting cookies. Completely detest it. Not like different, extra forgiving features of baking, for me, cookie adorning has a well-proven zero-percent likelihood of success. I’m an honest baker (test it) however by no means, not as soon as, have I managed to drag off a cute woodland creature or Christmas tree or butterfly or no matter that bears even a slight resemblance to the unique. In different phrases, I Nailed It.
However the factor is, I’ve children, and children love adorning cookies. They stay for it. Actually should you gave them the choice of a visit to Disneyland (at present not an precise possibility), every week’s price of unfettered Netflix viewing (very a lot an possibility), and adorning a dozen cookies, it might be a tough toss up — which is simply somewhat ironic as a result of children are literally horrible at adorning cookies. My son as soon as glued three miniature M&M’s to the higher left nook of a star cookie with a smear of blue frosting and you’d have thought he was Rembrandt.
I form of get it. A elaborate cookie is barely extra fulfilling and impressive-looking than a non-fancy cookie. However the effort to success ratio has simply by no means been price it for me — sugar icing is sort of at all times too runny or too stiff and it sticks to every little thing, which is particularly crummy if you wish to pack and ship cookies to associates or household, the entire purpose you’re going via the difficulty of creating fancy-looking cookies anyway. And so I’ve to this point doomed my youngsters to a lifetime of squidgy spherical drop cookies and lumpy chocolate chips.
Enter: cookie stamps.
I had by no means in my life heard of those till just a few years in the past, after I went on the lookout for a sandwich cookie recipe for an Eater undertaking. I stumbled upon a King Arthur flour recipe for some maple shortbread cookies that, within the accompanying image anyway, regarded impossibly stylish, with lovely patterned, petal-like indentations that gave the shortbread a graphic pop however (and that is essential) with zero icing, frosting, or different annoying baubles.
Within the footnotes, the recipe talked about the “possibility” of utilizing Nordic cookie stamps to realize the identical look, which I instantly bought. For round $30 and some days wait, I turned the proud proprietor of a trio of stamps and set to work.
The very first thing I noticed concerning the superiority of cookie stamps is that there’s no must roll out the dough. (The rolling and slicing and re-rolling and re-cutting is another excuse why cookie baking is form of the worst.) With stamps, simply type a couple of tablespoon’s price of dough into somewhat ball and squish away. A number of critiques had warned concerning the dough sticking to the stamps, however a fast dip of each the dough ball and the stamp in flour or powdered sugar helped with {that a} bit.
The cookies do nonetheless form of stick, however that’s how I found what’s inarguably the most effective a part of cookie stamping: banging stuff! After you stamp the dough, give just a few rhythmic however strong thwacks of the sting of the stamp on the kitchen counter and watch your cookie come out like magic. This time of 12 months, any excuse to work out somewhat further aggression is welcome. Doubly so if it includes a bunch of sugar and butter. (Simply be certain there’s no one attempting to nap close by.)
All in all, I discovered the cookie stamp expertise not solely approach simpler and arguably fancier than frosting, nevertheless it was really enjoyable. Even the children (who saved asking when the rattling frosting was popping out) appreciated the enjoyment of slamming steel and quartz collectively just a few dozen occasions. The ensuing cookies baked up completely, regarded very spectacular, and the little red-handled stamps themselves double as cute kitchen vacation decor. And now I get to be the one to ship obnoxiously good cookies to family and friends to overcompensate for the remainder of my life that’s a hellscape. Greatest. $30. Ever.