I made these for the 4th of July and I did notice the dough was a bit dry, so I added just a bit of water. The first batch I baked turned out to be too crunchy so I baked the rest for about 10 minutes and they turned out fine. For the icing, I used two egg whites and a couple tablespoons of water and it turned out great.

they were good

My mother in law LOVES these. The problem is she's in New York and I'm in Texas. How the heck can you box these to ship or travel with so the pretty icing doesn't die in transit?

I made these for Christmas, using only the red frosting on the white. Using the toothpick, I drew 6 0r 8 lines going out from the center of the circle and then between them 6 going back in toward the center. Poinsettas!! They are gorgeous, with 6 to 8 petals. The only problem was that the cookies were so delicious, I didn't have that many to decorate after the kids went through. They were crunchy but sooo good. I wonder if the people who didn't like them substituted ingredients?

I am a seasoned baker and these have to be the worst cookies I have ever made. The dough was extremely dry so I tried to fix it, but it didn't work. Because they were dry, once they were cooked, they were very hard. (I dropped one and it shattered into pieces!) After I saw how the cookies turned out, I didn't even want to waste my time making the frosting. I am sad to say that I didn't bring them to the event I was going to and I probably will never make another Martha Stewart recipe again!

I made these cookies for the 4th, and they were a big success! Because everyone else didn't like the frosting recipe, i just searched for a royal icing recipe and that worked. The cookie part was delicious! When doing the design part, spread the frosting on the cookie and QUICKLY drag the toothpick through! Good Luck

I agree something is wrong with the frosting recipe-it does not set up on the cookies. They taste like meringue. This would probably work on cupcakes as is. There is too much water, or not enough powdered sugar. We were disappointed to not to be able to take these cookies to our picnic. They look lovely but crumple when picked up and taste not so good.

The icing recipe is incorrect! It should be 2 lbs sifted powder sugar, not 1 lb!!! I (like Ly1) made this for a 4th potluck, and almost cried at the merangue, sticky tops. I still served them (they tasted fine), but they were messy. This was the first time I used a different royal icing recipe that I normally use, mainly because the mag was on my counter when I was making the icing. They did look fantastic, and I will make them again - just with the correct icing recipe!

Frosting recipe was too thick and when I tried to dilute with water my frosting separated on me! Next time, buying store bought cookies so I can save energy for getting frosting right. Decorating was REALLY fun and I was shocked how good they looked- mess-ups and all. If I put each color frosting into a ziplock bag and cut the corner I could refill my squeez bottles easily. Mix gel coloring thoroughly or it will come back to haunt you as beading splotches. Pretty enough to try again!

Did this design on cupcakes! They are so beautiful! Thanks Martha!