Julia's Musings... On the Motivation for Her New Book

Step aside, cupcake! The decorated cookie has arrived!

Don’t get me wrong. I love cute cupcakes as much as the next baker, but can we be frank? They’ve hogged the spotlight for far too long, don’t you think?!

The present of a lovely decorated cookie is truly transcendent. We all know this instinctively. We bask in its fragrance as it takes shape in the oven. We ooh and ahh over the icing artfully laid on its top. We smile as its buttery crumbs caress our tongues. It’s a rare gift that not only tickles the fancy and teases the palate, but satisfies all the way to the heart.

What?! You say I’ve got a soft spot for cookies? I won’t deny it. It comes from years of cookie-decorating fun with my sibs under the supportive tutelage of my mom. Each Christmas we donned her frilly June Cleaver-esque aprons and tried our darnedest to outdo one another with the cleverest cookie design. Even when disfigured cutouts or errant icing blobs foiled our plans, we earned Mom’s unswerving praise—and, better yet, the excuse to eat our mistakes.

Warm and fuzzy memories aside, cookies are practical and infinitely adaptable, too. Dough can be made ahead, frozen, and then cut and baked when you’ve got the spare time. Cookies can be top-coated, flocked, stenciled, marbled, rubber-stamped, stacked, and arranged into countless 3-D designs. And once baked and decorated, cookies have the advantage of a relatively long shelf life. If you’ve poured your heart and soul into a fabulously decorated treat, it only makes sense that you should be able to admire it for a few days without it going stale or bad, right?

Okay, yes, a part of me hopes that Ultimate Cookies will spur the next crazy baking trend. But my bigger aim is to share my joy of cookie decorating and all the tools needed to bring this joy more completely into your life. If you smile while turning the pages, then I’ll smile, too, knowing that Ultimate Cookies struck a chord with you.

Live life sweetly, Julia M. Usher

Buy Now
Look Inside
View Book Trailer

Now available in bookstores nationwide!