first try problems

by lynn draper
(tampa, fl)

I am making my first attempt at this. My problems are this; some of my pieces shrunk while baking and also my sides didn't stay straight. thoughts?

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Aug 28, 2019
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Shrinkage
by: Susan Rogers

Shrinkage is a nightmare...I'm still a victim of it occasionally after 20 years! Usually happens for me when I overwork the dough. After a few times rolling it out, it gets stiffer and I just roll it harder instead of throwing it out and starting a new batch. Some pointers:

Make sure your dough doesn't have a lot of fats in it. The dough I use for competitions has no fat in it at all.

When you are cutting out your shapes, do not pull the dough. Either use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife using short choppy strokes.

Cut your pieces on the cookie sheet. Don't cut them out and transfer them onto the cookie sheet. For very delicate pieces, I actually put the pattern up against the gingerbread one more time to make sure I didn't inadvertently distort it while cutting something else.

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