Johnstone - Smart Cookie: Transform Store-Bought Cookies Into Amazing Treats

Smart Cookie

CHRISTI FARR JOHNSTONE

E veryone knows the best part about making cookies is the decorating! Smart Cookie includes 50 simple and fun cookie creations made entirely from easy-to-find store-bought ingredientsno baking required! Projects include rainbows, monster pops, balloons, robots, ladybugs, and much more, with lots of ideas for tips, techniques, packaging, and displays.

From birthdays to graduations to baby showers, there is a cookie in this book for any and all occasions. If you love to decorate cookies and are looking for imaginative ways to celebrate holidays and special moments, this book is for you!

Disclaimer: The presentation of trademarks in this book is not intended to imply any association with or endorsement by the trademark owners, and no association or endorsement should be inferred. This book is not authorized by the owners of the trademarks or products referred to in the book, and neither the Publisher nor the Author maintains any affiliations with them.

2014 by Christi Farr Johnstone

Photography 2014 by Allan Penn

Photography 2014 (pages 20, 33, 63, 82, 86, 97, 114, 125, 170, 179) by Christi Farr Johnstone

A Hollan Publishing, Inc. concept

Published by Running Press,

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013958111

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-5253-8

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Cover and interior design by Susan Van Horn

Edited by Jordana Tusman

Typography: Alek, Bellota, and Neutra Text

Running Press Book Publishers

2300 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

Visit us on the web!

www.offthemenublog.com

Dedicated to my amazing daughters, Bella and Grace.

Thank you both for making my life so sweet.

Contents

IF YOU LOVE TO DECORATE BAKED TREATS; are always looking for imaginative ways to celebrate holidays, special occasions, and day-to-day events; and love wowing your friends and family with your creations, this book is for you! But this isnt your average cookie cookbook. Smart Cookie will show you how to make creative, tasty, and downright adorable treats using all store-bought ingredients. Leave the baking to the bakeries and focus on the fun partdecorating!

Time is such a precious commodity these days, and if youre like me, you have more events that you want to create something sweet for than you have time to bake. Smart Cookie offers a solution to that dilemma. Ive come up with all kinds of fun and easy ways to create treats that you will be proud to share. From birthdays to weddings to holidays, Ive created fifty fun projects that I know you are going to love, and you will be shocked at how easy they are to make. Even if you have no decorating experience, you can do this! Get ready to play with cookies, frostings, candies, and lots of sprinkles to create incredible treats quickly and easily!

When I sit down and decorate cookies with my daughters, Im carrying on the traditions that my mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmother started many decades ago. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of watching my great-grandma Josie make her famous cinnamon rolls, eating my grandma Joyces Texas sheet cakes at parties, looking forward to my grandma Robertas peanut butter balls at Christmas, my grandma Betty buying me Magic Shell to cover my bowl of ice cream, and my mom decorating sugar cookies with me. To me, the kitchen is a place to connect with the present, the past, and the future, and a place to spend quality time. Some days you might just be decorating cookies, but other days you might also be making memories.

The recipes in Smart Cookie are meant to be fun, easy, and enjoyable. I want you to be able to create amazing cookies that you are proud of. When I was developing the recipes for this book, I was constantly thinking, How can I make this easier? How can I save time? How can I keep this simple? We all lead busy lives, running from activity to activity. If youre like me, you wish you could create special treats for each and every event. You want to do something to celebrate a friends engagement; you want to surprise your kids with something on the first day of school; and you even think St. Patricks Day deserves something a little special.

My hope is that this book can help you with that. It can provide you with simple and clever ideas, made with ingredients you can pick up at your local grocery store, and recipes that you can throw together in no time. They are perfect for parties, holidays, and get-togethers, and I hope that creating them can even be a fun way for you to spend time with family or friends, decorating together.

If there is one message that I hope you take away, its that you can customize any of the recipes in this book and do what works for you. If you prefer making your cookies and frosting from scratch, then by all means, make your own! For most of these recipes, you just want to make sure you find a cookie with a similar shape and size. When it comes to cookie flavors, use whatever suits your taste! Get creative, have fun, and do what works for you. Dont drive yourself crazy looking for that one ingredient you just cant seem to find; just substitute something similar for it. Your friends and family will be thrilled with whatever you make, so dont be afraid to put your own spin on these recipes. More than anything I want you to have fun, and I hope these cookies bring a smile to your face and those of your loved ones.