Tuesdays are "I Tried It Tuesdays" where I'll tell you about something I recently tried -- an item, a movie, an activity, etc.
Today's topic: Betty Crocker Decorator Cookie Icing
What it is: Icing (frosting) for cutout cookies that you squeeze onto the cookie, let dry and voila.
Why I tried it: I don't like to cook, but I do like to bake and I really love to make cut-out cookies, but I could never get the frosting right. I always made it too thick or too thin (and then it would run off the cookie and all over the counter) or I made too little or too much. Ugh...what a pain. Sometimes I'd sprinkle the cookies with sugar crystals just to avoid having to frost them. When I saw the Betty Crocker Cookie Icing, I felt it and read the back which promised that it would "fill in" and dry hard enough to stack the cookies. For $3, I decided to give it a try.
Did I like it: Yes, yes, yes! Woohoo...I may never buy confectioners sugar again (used in making your own icing).
How it worked: You "knead" the tube a bit, snip the end off and squeeze it onto the cookie. I used a knife to smooth it over the cookie, but..if you left it alone it would (as promised) spread a little to fill in the gaps (without running over the edge of the cookie). I let the cookies dry for probably an hour or two and then (as promised) stacked them up in a container and they did not stick together at all (as promised). So...yeah...it lived up to it's promises.
Here are my puppy cookies (we had a dog-theme birthday party):
Colors, price & stuff: The tubes come in a few colors -- red, yellow, pink, blue and white, I think. And, there are other brands now making similar products. I went with the Betty Crocker brand because it felt thicker and less likely to run off my cookies. Cost is less than $3 a tube. I got mine at Wal-Mart, but I'm sure you can find them at any grocery store. They sell "decorator" tips that you can buy to put on the tube to do fancy stuff like flowers and leaves and stuff. They're about $3 to $5 for a set of tips and they can be used again and again.
BTW: Making cut-out cookies became MUCH easier a few years ago when I discovered the Betty Crocker cut-out cookie mix in the bag (yes...I'm all about shortcuts in the kitchen). The bag cookie mix is awesome because it doesn't require a wait time (when I made sugar cookies from scratch, I'd always have to refrigerate it for a while before it was hard enough to roll out). Plus...one bag of cookie mix makes a nice batch -- just enough cookies that you don't get sick of baking them.
You can often find this mix on sale for $1.50, which is a bargain compared to all the ingredients you need to make them from scratch.
Want to know more? Read this.