Experts' Experts: 'Getting Sprinkles to Stick'

Finally — something useful here.

But I guess even an anosmic pig finds an acorn every now and then, what?

Cook's Illustrated's "Notes From Readers" Q&A led off its September/October 2007 issue's feature with the following helpful tip.

Getting Sprinkles to Stick

Q. When I make butter cookies, I have the hardest time getting decorating sugar or sprinkles to stick to the tops. Can you offer some tips?

Debbie La Rocca
Albany, N.Y.

A. Simply dusting decorating sugar or sprinkles on top of cookies prior to baking will not work: Most of the granules will fall off by the time the cookies are removed from the baking sheet. A moist surface is necessary to help bind the sugar to the relatively dry dough.

We applied several different liquids — water, beaten egg, cooking spray, and corn syrup — to the tops of butter cookies before sprinkling them with an even layer of colored sugar to find out which was the best adhesive. After removing the cookies from the oven and allowing them to cool, we turned them upside down and shook them lightly to gauge how well the sugar stuck. The water, egg, and cooking spray all did an equally good job; a negligible amount of sugar fell from these cookies. The sugar also stuck to the cookies brushed with corn syrup, but the tops of these cookies became unacceptably darker, crunchier, and sweeter.

We recommend the easiest method of all: Lightly brush the tops of unbaked butter cookies with water before applying decorations.

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The photo up top shows how colored sugar failed to adhere to cookies not moistened before baking; that below

shows the result of brushing with water prior to covering with sugar and baking.

Pretty convincing, I must say.