Visions of Christmas Cookies in July

                                         Gingerbread Cookies for my favorite time of year!

It's another very humid and hot day. I wish I could enjoy the warm summer days, but as a baker surrounded with hot ovens and cookies, my daydreams wander to the cooler days of fall and winter.
July is always the slowest month in the gift giving business and Country Cupboard Cookies is no exception. People are vacationing, swimming and grilling outside. Sending a gift of cookies is far from their minds. Yes, we do still bake daily and ship, though only 3 days a week, so the fresh baked cookies arrive without sitting over the weekend. But still....

 So, every July when the orders are slow, and I'm complaining a lot about the heat, my thoughts go to creating new Christmas Cookie Gifts. I fall in love with holiday ribbons and gift boxes. I think of new cookie flavors, a butter pecan shortbread cookie or maybe a salted caramel chocolate chip cookie. We just purchased some new grosgrain ribbons from a new supplier I found, Rabom, or Ribbon and Bows, Oh My! I just love the name, and their ribbons are fabulous. If you get some time, check out their site.  It's called Ribbon and bows oh my. Grosgrain ribbons so easy to use for tying gift box bows and we absolutely need EASY during the Holiday Rush. I will be posting a few gift boxes with the ribbons in the next couple of weeks.

                                          Holiday Cookies and Brownies Gift 

This is a deluxe cookie brownie combo designed for a Christmas Cookie Gift that will keep a large crowd happy. The variety is wonderful, including cookie flavors such as Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Cranberry White Chocolate, Decorated Gingerbread Boys, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Double Chocolate Chunk. Deep dish brownies keep the chocolate lovers content and the packaging is classic with chocolate browns and copper and gold. This size of gift is a good choice for a corporate gift or for a large family.

Cookies for Christmas! 

I love decorating sugar cookies with cut out shapes of Christmas trees, stockings and ornaments. But  old-fashioned chocolate chip, peanut butter and snickerdoodle cookies are also good choices as cookie gifts for holiday gift giving. The nostalgia of a favorite homemade cookie is especially wonderful during the holidays when family and friends visit. Combined with a cup of hot cocoa or glass of milk, a soft and chewy cookie is a perfect dessert or a welcome snack. 

So don't forget to bake up a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies this Holiday Season! A topping of red & green M&M's will bring a holiday touch if you like, or try adding a handful of premium chocolate chunks or cranberries to your chocolate chip batter. 

HAPPY BAKING!

Valentine's Day and Cookies!

 Valentine's Day is coming in a couple of weeks, so we've started baking some of my favorite Cookies of the season. We are already shipping yummy Valentine Cookie Gifts for Birthday and other gift occasions, but most of the cookie orders will ship the week of February 10th. These chocolate sugar hearts are not to be missed this year. The chocolate sugar cookie dough is not too sweet and is mixed with butter, sugar and Belgian cocoa, so they taste divine. I love the contrast of the white icing on the chocolate sugar cookie and the red and pink colors just pop on these hearts.

 Mini sugar cookies are very popular lately. They are the perfect treat for those times you are looking for a bite or two of something sweet! Plus they are just plain cute. I definitely overuse the word "cute" but it's the first word to come to mind when I see these little sugar hearts piped in royal icing and topped with sparkling sanding sugar. We offer these hearts in bags of 12 cookies and they are packaged with our classic cookies such as chocolate chip, white chocolate cranberry ( oatmeal based and so good), double chocolate chip and snickerdoodles! If you're looking for a Valentine's Day Cookies gift for someone special, consider a gift box with homemade cookies. You can't go wrong.

 {New} this year, are these mini ( cute, too) sugared hearts. We've baked the sugar cookies with a ruffled edge, frosted them with royal icing and dipped each cookie in a bright color of sanding sugar. I just love the bright new colors!  We decorate using classic valentine colors of red, pink and white sugars, but also blue, purple and orange. I can just imagine someone opening this gift box to find these colorful cookies inside! The 2 inch heart cookies are  perfect for sharing and there are 2 dozen in each gift box, so there are plenty to go around if you were sending to an office or family. Kids in particular, I think, would enjoy these Sugared Valentine Heart Cookies.

We love baking cookies for Valentine's Day, but the packaging can be just as much fun. This white gift box is stamped with a small heart and tied with red grosgrain valentine ribbons. We line each gift box with a valentine printed tissue paper and fill it with white or natural kraft shred. Each gift box is then wrapped in bubble wrap and packed in a sturdy shipping box for a perfect Valentine Cookie Delivery by February 14th!

Thanksgiving Cookie Greetings

A Wedding Cookie Bar

Homemade Cookies for a Wedding Cookie Bar in Sonoma

Beautiful Flowers for a Sonoma Wedding

A Wedding Cookie Bar with homestyle cookies & decorated sugar cookie

This summer of 2013, our daughter was married in sunny and fabulous Sonoma California. I wanted to help with a small Wedding Cookie Table. Baking the cookies was easy, transporting them along with the handmade cookie tiers and trays from Pennsylvania was a little tricky. We remembered to keep it simple and had a great time planning the table. Since it was a small wedding of 60 guests, we knew we wouldn't have to bake enormous amounts of cookies.

The cookie list included everyone's favorite, Super Chocolate Chunk, Cranberry White Chocolate, Salted Caramel Chocolate, Toffee Butter  Shortbread, Ginger, Chocolate and Vanilla heart cookies, Double Buttercream Hearts and lots of decorated Sugar Cookies. Some of the sugar cookies included Monogram Cookies, cute Daisy Cookies, Various Hearts and pretty brushed flower cookies.

Christmas (Cookies) in July

Decorated Gingerbread Cookies

Things are slow around here in July. So when I have free time in the summer I start thinking of the Holiday Season. It really isn't too early to start planning since we do about 25% of our Business for the year in November and December. Now is the time to dream about new Christmas Cookies and consider new Holiday Gift Packaging. Some items from last year will stay and some will go. The Gingerbread Cookies shown above in our jumbo size ( 5 1/2 inch) will definitely stay. It just wouldn't be the same without the "gingies" as we call them. But what else will be our customers want this Holiday Season?

Decorated Christmas Sugar Cookies

I can't imagine Christmas at Country Cupboard Cookies without a selection of decorated sugar cookies. The Christmas tree, Candy canes, Snowflakes, Stocking, and Christmas Ornaments will stay. We are considering another color palette in additon to classic red & green. Perhaps a wintery white collection with touches of gold? Maybe a collection of vintage colors with muted shades? Or sparkly silver and blue? These are all things we daydream about in the summer.

Winter Wonderland Sugar Cookies

 A winter wonderland collection of cute gingerbread houses, sugar snowflakes and snowmen with mittens was popular last year. We most likely will bring this collection back.

Shortbread Cookies for the Holiday Season

Shortbread Cookies have always been one of my favorites. Simply delicious with butter, sugar, vanilla and unbleached flour. I'm thinking a few new flavors this year? Orange slice shortbread? Buttery Pecan shortbread? We would love to hear from you with any ideas or flavors you would like to see this Holiday season, 2013.




Cookies for a sweet Father's Day

The bakery is slowing down as it always does in the summer. But we have one more busy Cookie Gift occasion this season before we settle down and start dreaming up new cookies to pass the time!

Father's Day!

 ( June 16th, this year, 2013)

 I've always thought homebaked Cookies and Brownies were the perfect edible gift to wish someone a Happy Father's Day. Especially if that special guy is in another state and you can't make the trip to visit. Once we receive your order at www.CountryCupboardCookies.com, we bake your cookies on the day you've chosen to ship, package them in attractive gift boxes and send them on their way via UPS, Fedex or USPS. Of course, we include your gift message with the goodies and all the favorite cookie flavors you've chosen. Cookies like Chocolate Chip, Peanut butter, Oatmeal Raisin are classic traditional favorites but we've chosen a few more interesting ones this year too.

Check out this new favorite of mine, a double chocolate ( that's white chocolate and dark Belgian chocolate chunks) with macadamia nuts baked into our basic cookie batter and topped with a sprinkling of Sea Salt. This is really a cookie with lots of pizzaz, crunchy outside, loaded with chocolate and nuts and the dark chocolate with the salt is a great combination. So we called it simply

Double Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies baked with butter, whole eggs and Belgian chocolate chips are still our most popular and we have them available ALWAYS!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I lost my father last year in 2012. One of his passions in life were his horses. He loved to ride and I miss those days horseback riding with him. He was a machinist by trade, but he wore western style shirts when he dressed up with bolos and cowboy hats around his farm even though it is in Pennsylvania. He always talked about buying a ranch in Colorado but was content I think to ride the hills of southwestern PA. We will baking this cookie through the month of June this year, it's a great Father's Day Cookie, loaded with chocolate chips, m&m's and pecans.

Cowboy Cookie

This cookie is the featured cookie of the month  for June every year and a staff favorite. Filled with chocolate chips and Heath toffee pieces with almonds and chocolate, it just melts in your mouth.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie

These cute #1 Dad sugar cookies are hand decorated and available to add to your Father's Day cookie gift. Dads, brothers, husbands, grandfathers, and new fathers will get a kick out of one or two in their special box of cookies.

Father's Day Sugar Cookies

My #1 Dad's Favorite Cookie

Oatmeal Walnut Raisin

Tea Party Sugar Cookies for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming soon, May 12th, 2013. This year we thought we'd experiment with some new colors for our Mother's Day Cookies.  We love baking and decorating Daisy cookies, this year we've added teapots and teacups for a cute Tea Party Collection of Sugar cookies. I'm very happy with the orange and creamy yellow colors, the electric green I'm not so sure. So we tried a new mix.

This mint green and pretty pinks combination is very classic and our favorite for Mother's Day 2013.  

The Orange and creamy white colors ARE nice. Just the wrong green.

Traditional and Classic. Pinks and Greens. Buttery Sugar Cookies.

I think we made the right choice for a perfect Cookie Gift to send wishes for a Happy Mother's Day!

Decorated Sugar Cookies for Easter Gifts

Decorated Sugar Cookies for

Easter Gift Giving

 After lots of red & green royal icing colors from Christmas and then more red along with pink for Valentine's Day, I'm ready for an array of brighter colors. The sun is actually shining here today in Southwestern Pennsylvania, so bright colors are inviting.

 I just love this blue royal icing used here on the bunnie and chick cookies. These sugar cookies
are packaged in a natural kraft gift box and tied with an adorable polka dot ribbon for shipping.
This is a wonderful cheerful and bright Easter Cookie Gift for anyone special in your family. The cookies have a slightly crunchy texture from the sugars and are just the perfect size for munching.

Speaking of blue colors, which is by far my favorite color, this Cookie arrangement of Easter bunny cookies also includes a cookie in blue, this time in a gorgeous shade of turquoise. Pastel Pink, bright yellow and a lovely lavendar complete this cute cookie collection. These cookies would make a nice addition to any Easter Basket or as a spring Cookie Gift for wishing someone a happy birthday or maybe just to brighten up someone's day!



Homemade for the Holidays

We had a change in weather here in the Pittsburgh area this weekend and it was just in time for us to really get started with our Christmas Baking. A little snow on the ground just adds to the Holiday season and makes us happy to turn on the oven in the bakery! We  don't know what our customers will be ordering in the few weeks for Christmas Cookie Gifts so it is sometimes difficult to plan but we enjoy the excitement and bake and bake and bake.

 So far this year, Cookie Assortments are the most popular item. Last year, Chocolate Brownies were very popular so we will just have to wait and see. Since we bake from scratch, we hope everyone orders early but we know we will be baking cookies & brownies until we run out of time for shipping!

This is one of our new Holiday Cookie Gift Boxes that we are offering for an assortment of Classic homebaked Cookies such as Chocolate Chip, Cranberry White Chocolate, Creamy Peanut Butter, Snickerdoodle, Double Chocolate Fudge and decorated Gingerbread Cookies. It's called the Merry Christmas Box & I love the Red, White & Ivory colors. Very festive. Tis the Season, Enjoy!

Treat someone with Halloween & Fall Sugar Cookies!

Halloween comes at just the right time of  year to keep our minds off the craziest Holiday

around our Pittsburgh cookie bakery, Christmas! Red and Green are Ok colors but  I especially love the Fall colors of cookie decorating, the oranges, yellows and merlot wine colors. I especially love merlot wine too which is why the comparison came to me so easily. I could have just as easily compared the deep purple colors we use to grapes. Or Cabernet or Burgundy.

But I am on the subject of sugar cookies, not wine. The sugar cookies below were baked just for fun. We don't offer these in our bakery, way too much food dye but these are easy to do at home. Just take your favorite sugar cookie dough and add a gel type food coloring. Work the dye in with your hands until you are happy with the color. I would advise wearing disposable gloves to keep from staining your hands especially with the darker colors of purple and black. Plop pieces of dough down on your work area, putting together as a puzzle and then roll lightly with your rolling pin and or hands. Remember your days of Playdough. Or ask your kids to help. Don't over roll or the colors will all run together.

Then cut as usual with your cookie cutter, sprinkle with a sanding sugar and bake. They are yummy right out of the oven, no further decorating necessary.

 Wouldn't these cookies look great in a Cookie Gift Box for a college student studying for exams, or as a way to keep in touch with friends and family before the busy Holiday season is upon us? Trick or Treat? I say treat with Cookies!

Fabulous Fall Cookies

 The cooler fall months of the year are wonderful for baking cookies. Cinnamon, Ginger, Raisins and Chocolate combine to remind us of our favorite classic cookie flavors such as Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin. When I walk into the Cookie Bakery in the early morning the aroma of these cookies baking puts a smile on my face.

We start to get busy after a lazy summer and  plans are starting to come together for our busiest time of year, Christmas! ( Holiday Cookie Gifts will preview soon) But for now, we are enjoying decorating Sugar Cookies in the shapes of leaves and acorns and baking our featured Cookie of the Month, Ginger Chocolate Chunk. Shown below, we've added both dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chunks to a classic molasses cookie which is then rolled in sugar and baked. Out of this world yummy, this cookie stays soft in the middle but has a nice crunch on the outside.

 Once the cookies are baked and decorated, the fun continues with creative Gift Packaging. Fall Colors of chocolate brown, ginger, golden yellows and burgundy reds are perfect for any gift occasion from a Happy Birthday Cookie Gift to a special Thank You Gift.

    Warm orange, golden yellow and chocolate browns combine beautifully for a delightful autumn color palette. Stacks of hand decorated sugar leaf cookies tied with Bakers Twine from the Twinery.

     Who wouldn't enjoy Coffee and Cookies on a sunny but cool Autumn Day!

We love our new mini fall sugar cookies. So cute and bite-size, they are hard to resist!

   Fall Cookie Gifts for Delivery
  

Pink Cookie Buffet




Pink Cookie Buffet

We designed this cookie table for my daughter's Summer Wedding this past June, 2012. Pink & Silver were the colors of choice. The monogram cookies were fun to do, hearts are always pretty & the little tiered cakes were time-consuming, but so cute! My favorite were the dark chocolate cookies with our double chocolate batter rolled in sugar and topped with a hershey kiss! We used a backdrop of pink, silver and ivory double satin ribbons for a elegant ribbon wall that really brings the colors together.



Cookie Sandwiches with fillings of vanilla creme, peanut butter creme and pink strawberry buttercream were a hit with this Cookie Table. Pink M&M chocolate chip cookies, zebra hershey kiss cookies and mini Chocolate Brownies in cute paper wraps added to the pink theme. We also included plenty of buttery Shortbread Cookies, classic chocolate chip cookies and a total of 12 other flavors from cranberry white chocolate to toffee almond and peanut butter with Reese's Pieces ( the brides favorite). It really was a feast of cookies!

New Cookie Gift Boxes

We are introducing new gift boxes this fall, a return to our original handmade look, back to basics.

We're so excited to offer these new natural kraft bakery style boxes filled with a natural kraft fill and wrapped with assorted ribbons, bakery twine and raffias. We've discovered a paper ribbon from  Paper Jacks a wonderful online company offering both paper ribbons and charming labels to make gift packaging fun and unique!

 We were looking for a gift wrapping idea to add an element of personalization and charm to our homemade cookies that we bake from scratch and package for gift giving. It's so exciting to start working with new packaging ideas and we plan to use a lot of this wonderful paper ribbon this fall and Holiday season!

 I just love the ability to make each gift box of cookies unique and personal for each special occasion. When our customers order a Cookie Delivery , we want to wow the recipient not only with the fresh baked cookies inside the boxes, but also with the first impression of the gift box. We use a lot of chocolate brown ribbons and I love the many designs we've been able to come up with so far. Watch for our homemade Christmas Cookies this year in our new handmade packaging!

Cookie Sandwiches

  We baked Cookie Sandwiches for my daughter's wedding last month and they were a hit! Chewy oatmeal cookies filled with vanilla buttercream flavored with just a hint of Cinnamon, Peanut Butter Cookies with creamy peanut butter buttercream filling and my favorite, Triple Chocolate Cookies with pink strawberry filling. I should have taken a photo of the chocolate ones, but just didn't get a chance before they were gone!

Cookie Sandwiches with Buttercream Filling



More Cookie Sandwiches





Cookie Sandwiches will be coming this fall at Country Cupboard Cookies!

Cookie Sandwiches are easy to make and a great way to create some wonderful flavor combinations. Take 2 favorite cookies, use a piping bag with a large tip, fill with your favorite buttercream frosting and top with 2nd cookie. I like the ooze of the frosting so I am generous with the filling. Get creative with your buttercream. I've added cinnamon for a spice cookie, peanut butter for chocolate cookies, cut up peanut butter cups, dried berries, mint with a touch a green food coloring, etc. Just be careful to use a large enough tip on your pastry bag if you add ingredients such as fruit and candies to avoid clogging. 

We plan on offering these cookie sandwiches later this fall and for the holiday season this year. I'm picturing a cute handcrafted kraft gift box with bakery twine and filled with assorted cookie sandwiches in flavors of gingerspice, double chocolate and peanut butter. We'll see what we can come up with this year for a new Holiday Cookie Gift. Yes, it is time to brainstorm for Christmas Cookie Gifts!

Black & White Wedding Cookie Table

Wedding Cookie Tables are very popular here in the Pittsburgh, PA area. We think traditional and homemade cookies such as chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies are wonderful for any event but decorated sugar cookies can add just the right touch of color and elegance to any Cookie Table. It's a great way to add texture, color and your own creative ideas.

Contemporary Black & White Cookie Table

Simple & delicious monogram sugar cookies

 Recently my niece was married and the colors chosen for her wedding were black & white.
 Contemporary and chic. Even her gown had splashes of black, just gorgeous. The bridesmaids carried gerbera daisy flowers with hot colors of purple, red, green and orange which added just the right touch of color!

Tuxedo & Bride Sugar Cookies

These tuxedo cookies are some of my favorite wedding sugar cookies. Simple design and yet so elegant. Decorated Sugar Cookies can add just the right touch of color to any dessert or cookie table.