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My First Time Using a Cookie Press: Mistakes I Made and What I Learned
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May 17, 2025
Cookie Press Trial & Error: What I Learned | Tips for Success! Ever tried using a cookie press for the first time and thought, "This should be easy"—only to end up frustrated with dough that won’t release, cookies that fall apart, and a sticky mess? Same. But after a LOT of trial and error (and maybe a few moments of wanting to throw the press across the kitchen), I finally figured it out. In this video, I’m sharing what worked, what didn’t, and all the lessons I learned so you don’t have to struggle like I did! And stick around to see how I put my new cookie press skills to the test in my next video, where I make Lemon Spritz Cookies with Cranberry Buttercream! What You’ll Learn: ✔️ The most common cookie press mistakes and how to fix them ✔️ The right dough consistency for clean cookie shapes ✔️ Why pressing directly onto the baking sheet makes a difference ✔️ How to choose the best cookie press disc for success ✔️ My go-to troubleshooting tips to make pressing easier Watch Next: 🍋 Lemon Spritz Cookies with Cranberry Buttercream: https://youtu.be/Y8g5C_6n4Do 🍪 My Best Holiday Cookie Recipes: [Insert link] 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe! Hit the notification bell so you never miss a new baking experiment.
View Video Transcript
0:00
if you've ever tried using a cookie
0:03
press for the first time you know it's
0:06
not as easy as it looks I thought I'd be
0:09
pressing out perfect little cookies in
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no time yeah that didn't happen instead
0:15
I got cookies that wouldn't release
0:18
dough that refused to cooperate and a
0:21
few moments where I seriously considered
0:24
launching the Press across the kitchen
0:27
but I stuck with it learn a lot along
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the way and today I'm sharing my cookie
0:33
press Journey what worked what didn't
0:37
and the biggest lessons I learned so you
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don't have to suffer like I
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[Music]
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did I started by inspecting all the
0:48
cookie shaped discs and putting the
0:50
Press together and of course I didn't
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want to look at the manual because in my
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opinion if a kitchen tool is so
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complicated that I need a degree to use
1:00
it then it's not worth my time I mean
1:04
it's a cookie press not a spaceship how
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hard could it be so naturally I went in
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blind fully expecting it to be intuitive
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spoiler alert it was not the first few
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attempts felt like I was solving a
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puzzle with missing
1:19
pieces the Press wouldn't click together
1:21
properly the dough wasn't cooperating
1:24
and I started questioning my life
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choices but I wasn't giving up just yet
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the cookies wouldn't release properly
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and I ended up scraping off dough more
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times than I'd like to
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[Music]
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admit I bake a lot especially during the
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holidays and I'm always on the lookout
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for new recipes to try if you're the
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same way you can visit my holiday cookie
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playlist for some inspiration so when I
2:00
came across a cookie press I thought why
2:03
not give it a shot it seemed like a fun
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way to make beautifully shaped cookies
2:11
without all the rolling and cutting but
2:15
before jumping in I wanted to learn a
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little more about how cookie presses
2:20
work and their history here's what I
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found out did you know the cookie press
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has been around for
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centuries it actually dates back to
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European baking traditions where Bakers
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used handcrafted wooden molds to press
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out intricate cookie designs these molds
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were often carved from wood and used for
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making beautifully detailed holiday
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cookies especially in countries like
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Germany and Scandinavia over time the
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cookie press evolved making it easier
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for home Bakers to create perfectly
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shaped cookies with less
2:57
effort the first modern
3:00
cookie presses made of metal started
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appearing in the early 20th century
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allowing for quicker and more uniform
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results today we have a variety of
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designs from manual presses to Electric
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versions that make the process even
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easier I love learning the history
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behind my baking tools it makes me
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appreciate them even more knowing that
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people have been pressing out cookies
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for Generations makes my own cookie
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press struggles feel like a right of
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passage now with all this knowledge in
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hand I was ready to take on my own
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cookie press Challenge and see if I
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could Master the art
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[Music]
3:50
myself I started with High Hopes loaded
3:54
up the Press picked the shape and
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pressed down expecting a perfect cookie
4:00
to appear instead I got nothing or Worse
4:06
half a cookie stuck to the Press while
4:08
the other half clung to the baking sheet
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like it was holding on for dear life
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turns out cookie press dough has to be
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just right too hard and it won't stick
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too soft and it turns into a shapeless
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blob rookie mistake number one but
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definitely not my last after multiple
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failed detest attempts and a growing
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sense of defeat I finally gave in and
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pulled out the manual not for fun
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reading but for survival I needed to
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figure out how to save my cookies before
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I lost my patience entirely armed with
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new knowledge and
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maybe a little
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humility I went back to my baking
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station determined to get this right
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here's what I learned along the way in
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case you run into the same problems
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Dough too soft chill it in the fridge
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for 10 to 15 minutes a slightly firmer
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dough presses more cleanly and holds its
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shape better on the baking sheet if I've
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already loaded the Press with dough and
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realize it's too soft I chill the entire
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press for a few minutes this quick fix
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helps firm up the dough without having
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to reload the Press saving time
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frustration dough tooo hard add a
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teaspoon of milk or softened butter and
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mix until the consistency softens
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slightly if the dough is too firm it
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won't press out evenly and you'll end up
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squeezing way too hard just to get
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anything to release I found that adding
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a little bit of moisture at a time is
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Key too much and suddenly the dough is
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too soft again the goal is a dough
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that's smooth pliable and presses out
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with just a bit of resistance but not so
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firm that you feel like you're giving
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your hands a workout baking directly on
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the sheet the instruction suggest doing
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this but from my experience it can leave
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a stain on the pan and make cookies
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harder to remove I stick to my trusted
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method using parchment paper for easy
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release and no extra cleanup filling the
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Press too much don't overfill it keeping
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it 3/4 full gives a better control and
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smoother pressing if the Press is packed
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too tightly the dough doesn't dispense
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evenly and you end up squeezing harder
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than necessary plus overfilling makes it
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harder to reload the Press when needed
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causing unnecessary frustration I found
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that but stopping at 3/4 full gives the
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best balance it's enough dough to get a
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good batch of cookies pressed without
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straining my hand or having to wrestle
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with a plunger less D also means fewer
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air pockets leading to cleaner more
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consistent shapes so as tempting as it
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is to cram it full to save time trust me
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leaving some space makes the process way
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easier room temperature
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is a game Cher when using a cookie press
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if the kitchen is too warm the dough
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softens too much making it lose its
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shape before it even hits the oven if
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it's too cold the dough stiffens making
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it nearly impossible to press out clean
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shapes I learned the hard way that
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keeping the dough at the right
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temperature between 68 to 72° F 20 to
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22° cius makes all the
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difference if my my kitchen is too
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warm I chill the dough for a few
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minutes before pressing to keep it from
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becoming too
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soft if it's too cold I let it sit at
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room temperature just long enough to
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make it pliable but still firm the
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balance is
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key and a few degrees can make or break
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the perfect cookie baking at high
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altitudes if you're baking at a higher
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altitude you might run into issues with
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dough consistency and spreading the
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lower air pressure can cause cookies to
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expand too much and bake faster than
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expected to fix this I reduce the sugar
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slightly add an extra tablespoon of
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flour to help the dough hold its shape
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and lower the baking temperature by
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about 10° F or 5°
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C I also keep a close eye on baking time
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since cookies tend to bake faster at
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higher
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altitudes a small adjustment makes a big
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difference in keeping spritz cookies
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looking as good as they taste with these
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fixes things finally started to click
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and my cookies actually looked like
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cookies no more shapeless blobs or
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cookies stuck in the Press just
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beautifully shaped spritz cookies
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exactly how I
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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imagined it was a proud Moment Like
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finally solving a puzzle after hours of
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trial and error I watched as the dough
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smoothly released from the Press forming
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perfectly shaped cookies that didn't
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crumble collapse or stick to the baking
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sheet I took a step back at admired my
10:00
work and maybe even did a little victory
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dance in my kitchen after so many failed
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attempts this felt like a wi worth
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celebrating now I was ready to bake them
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off and see if they held their shape in
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the
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[Music]
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oven just when I thought I had it all
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figured out I realized that not all
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Cookie press discs are created equal
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some shapes work beautifully While
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others just looked like a melted
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snowflake I found that simple shapes
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like the flower or star released much
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cleaner while intricate ones often got
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stuck or lost their details so if you're
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new to a cookie press like I was start
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with the easy designs first before
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getting fancy trust me your patients
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will thank
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[Music]
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you after a lot of trial and error and
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maybe a few Choice words I finally got
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the hang of it the right door
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consistency the right surface and
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picking the best disc all made a huge
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difference once I got into the Rhythm
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using a cookie press actually became fun
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I will experiment with different dough
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flavors and decorating techniques in the
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future something I never thought I'd get
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to when I was struggling just to get one
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cookie out of the
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[Music]
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press here's what I'll remember for next
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time make sure the dough is the right
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consistency not too dry not too sticky
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think Play-Dough but tastier room
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temperature is key when using a cookie
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press if the dough is too cold it
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becomes stiff and nearly impossible to
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press it's too warm dough softens too
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too much and turns into a sticky mess
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start with simple shapes before diving
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into intricate designs unless you enjoy
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frustration be patient it gets easier
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with practice and once you get the hang
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of it it's actually fun I
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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promise so that was my cookie press
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Adventure lots of trial and error a
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little frustration and a few near
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meltdowns but totally worth it in the
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end I finally got those Picture Perfect
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cookies I was hoping for and I learned a
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ton along the way if you've ever
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struggled with a cookie press before I'd
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love to hear about it what worked for
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you what didn't and any tips you swear
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by drop a comment below and let's swap
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baking battle stories and if you found
13:03
this helpful don't forget to like
13:06
subscribe and hit that that notification
13:11
Bell so you never miss another kitchen
13:14
experiment want to see how I put my new
13:17
cookie press skills to the test in my
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next video I'll be making lemon spritz
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cookies with cranberry buttercream and
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trust me you won't want to miss it see
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you there
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[Music]
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