roll out the chilled dough to approximately ¼ inch thick
place the 9 inch round baking pan on the dough, top side down
press the baking pan firmly into the dough, creating a circular shape in the dough- this is the outer edge of the wreath
place the 6 inch round baking pan top side down in the center of the previously made 9 inch circle, and press firmly to create the inner edge of the wreath
take a knife and trace around each circle marking, making sure the dough is fully cut
remove the excess dough from the middle and outer edges of the wreath shaped dough cutout.
bake the wreath according to the gingerbread recipe used.
roll out the remaining dough to ¼ inch thick
use the snowflake cookie cutters (in a small size, a medium size, and a large size) to make snowflake shapes out of the remaining dough. I needed 3 large, 2 medium, and 4 small to make the final wreath
bake the snowflake cookies according to the gingerbread recipe used
once all of the cookies have baked, allow them to cool completely
while the cookies are cooling, fill the piping bag with the royal icing
knot the piping bag and cut the tip off- the smaller the cut, the thinner the icing will pipe out of the bag, which allows for more detailed thin lines when decorating
decorate the snowflake cookies in fun designs!
allow the icing to firm up on the cookies before handling them- approximately 30 minutes
transfer the wreath shaped cookie piece to a platter or storage container- it's best to only move the final wreath as few times as possible!
using all 3 sizes of snowflake cookies, arrange them on top of the wreath until satisfied with the design
once the design is decided, pick up each snowflake cookie and pipe a pea sized amount of royal icing onto the back of every cookie
press the cookie gently onto the wreath piece and allow the icing "glue" to set up- about 30 minutes. do this part carefully so the cookies don't break!
the wreath is ready for display and munching on!! enjoy!