If you’re new to baking and you’re eager to start your cookie business – you’ve stumbled upon the right spot! I’m here to be your cookie bestie and share with you all my tips and tricks on how to get started. I began my cookie journey in October of 2020 with no prior experience and have built an amazing business in just a few short years. If you follow along – I’ll share everything with you!
Let’s start!
In order to begin we need to do an equipment check. The best part about baking is that you don’t need a bunch of expensive or fancy tools right out the gate. You probably even have some of the tools lying around your kitchen – hidden in the back of your cabinets! The most necessary items are going to be a stand mixer, a rolling pin and baking sheets. I snagged my stand mixer during a holiday sale and it was the best investment I’ve made. I have a 5 quart mixing bowl and I’m able to make a double batch of dough in it. Even when I have 20+ dozen orders to make, I’m able to use my mixer just fine without any issues. Some bakers like to use larger mixers but I’ve never had an issue with the size of mine. You’ll definitely want the stand mixer and not the handheld mixer. The handheld (while powerful) will be a hinderance in mixing your dough. The stand mixer has the perfect settings for each level of baking and contains your ingredients in the bowl, whereas the handheld will fling ingredients all around your kitchen! I learned the hard way so take it from me! The rolling pin I use was purchased from amazon and it’s my favorite tool to date. I opted for the pin that comes with adjustable heights on the side which is soooo helpful when rolling your dough. You get even thickness every single time. It also comes with a non-stick rolling mat which I’ve also come to love and use it every single time I bake. It helps keep my parchment paper in one place and it holds my bowls steady while mixing my icing. The final necessity is a baking sheet. I had a few already in my kitchen but decided to upgrade after a few months to some fresh and larger sheets. I ordered mine from webstaurant.com but Walmart and amazon are 2 great places to buy them as well! I love having half sheet trays as well as 2 larger sheets. My half sheets get used on the daily and my larger sheets I use mostly during pre-sales when I have more cookies to bake. The thing I love about the half sheet trays are the click on lids! I bought them separate but they’re a life saver for saving counter space and keeping cookies fresh while you’re cleaning up or mixing icing.
I’ve linked the stand mixer, rolling pin, baking sheets and tray tops that I personally use. Please note that if you make a purchase through any of my links I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Let me know if you’ve tried any of my products!
What about the decorating?
Now that you’ve made sure you have the basic tools to bake sugar cookies it’s time to make sure you have the supplies you need to decorate. This list will grow with you as you continue to bake and decorate cookies and expand your creative mind! You’ll need to have tipless piping bags for outlining, flooding and detailing all your cookies. In order to use those you’ll also need some food coloring. I started with a smaller set of Americolor gel coloring and worked my way up to the larger set as I continued my craft. If you really want to elevate your designs – or if you’re OCD like me – you’ll want to invest in a projector. I use this for just about every design of mine because it offers uniformity and precision. I love a good clean line, nice crisp lettering and overall perfect designs. While it’s not a necessity for some – it’s truly my right hand man in the decorating process. Ever wonder how cookies get their lettering so perfect? 9 times out of 10 they use a projector! If you invest in a projector, make sure to get a stand as well. The one I purchased and use daily is very cost effective, no frills and gets the job done. Some other miscellaneous tools you can pick up as a beginner are scribes – to help wiggle icing around/detailing – a turntable and a mini desktop fan. I’ll have another post on some more in depth tools and supplies that I use, but for now, everything I’ve mentioned above are the basics and absolutely needed to start out.
Hands down the most important component..!
The absolute most important thing when it comes to your cookie business is to find a killer sugar cookie recipe as well as your royal icing recipe. When I started out I used Pinterest to find some free recipes. I tried out about 4 or 5 recipes until I combined all the parts I loved and omitted the ones I hated to make my winning dough. The dough you use and love will be 100% whatever you like. For me – I like a softer cookie, not too sweet and the recipe had to be as simple as possible. If I have to use more than 5 ingredients I’m immediately turned off. The same goes for your royal icing recipe! Once you nail your recipes, you’re ready to take on the kitchen!! Get in there and get baking!
