Not Quite Right

Ever since Lisa sent along this recipe for gingerbread cookies I've wanted to make it. Well, the cookies plus the royal icing are truly an all-morning affair. I think it took me three hours to make all the cookies and ice them.

First, the cookies. Lisa said the dough was sticky and she was right. Also, the only holiday-themed cookies cutter I had was a star. As I didn't have enough parchment paper to make it easier, I needed to find a way to transfer the stars to the cookie sheets. I used a pastry scraper. In the beginning they ended up looking like starfish that were running away from something. As time went on, the dough became a little less sticky and it was easier to transfer them and then they looked more as intended. Also, I baked them for only 9 minutes after the first batch which, thankfully, was the batch that looked like fleeing starfish, came out a little toasty.  Some of the more toasty ones became my practice cookies for the icing.

The cookies cool very quickly and so I was able to do the icing at the same time. I probably could have used a wider tip on my decorating bag but I have limited options. Regardless, I made many variations on a star pattern and here they are.

Why is it not quite right? Well, I'll tell you. I spend a chunk of time this morning at the store picking out little tins that were not dented from a larger supply of very dented tins. Yup, you guessed it. The stars don't fit.