Heidi's Mix: A Cookie As Good As It Looks

When it comes to taste, fancy decorated cookies unfortunately have a bad reputation.

"I love how your cookies look but I honestly didn't expect them to taste delicious too," is what I hear time and time again when I serve my creations.

There is good reason for the skepticism, because in all honestly, most decorated cookies don't taste that great. They are often thin, dry, flavorless and over-iced, sometimes with more sickly sweet icing than cookie. And although they look pretty, I absolutely abhor cookies topped with gumpaste and fondant decorations. Ugh. It's like eating straight up sugar with an artificial aftertaste.

Because of the negative preconception of fancy cookies, I always offer samples when I sell my creations and surprise people when they discover that a decorated cookie can taste as good as it looks.

Making a delicious decorated cookie isn't hard, it just takes good recipes and consideration. Here are my best tips for making a delicious tasting decorated cookie:

*Most important is having a good cookie recipe. My favorite tried and true recipe contains all-butter, not too much sugar and a good dose of vanilla and pure almond extract. Click here for the recipe.

*When I roll out cookie dough, I aim for 1/4 inch in thickness. I want to be sure to end up with a product that's more cookie than royal icing, 3:1 is ideal.

Quarter-inch thick cookies ready to be baked.

*If I want to make a cookie with an intricate layered design, I go the double-decker route by topping a base cookie with another cookie. It's essential to have more cookie than icing!

For these Gardenia cookies, I went the double-decker route and added layer of "cookie petals" to keep the flower design from being all icing and making the cookie too sweet.

*As for the royal icing, powdered sugar is a necessary ingredient so I cut the sweetness with some tablespoons of lemon juice. The addition makes a world of difference and compliments the vanilla almond flavor of the cookie. Click here for my royal icing recipe.

*Remember that less is sometimes more. I've learned from experience that it's very easy to take a cookie into the realm of being overdecorated. Practice restraint with your decorating because simple is often what's most beautiful.