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Cookie Decorating A Fun Sideline Job
When Katelyn Engquist decorates cookies, she makes two types of icing. One thick for outlining, the other thinner for “flooding,” a technique she discovered on Instagram. How to make the icing is one of the things she taught 50 home bakers before Christmas during 2-hour classes she held in her hometown.
Selling cookies locally and teaching classes has become a creative sideline business for the young mother who works full-time from her West Fargo, N.D., home in market development and communications for an agriculture business. Her husband Kelly’s skills and 3D printer also make it possible for her to have a huge inventory of cookie cutters that she designs.
“I take inspiration from others, but I do a lot of themes that are unique and personal,” she says. For example, she decorated cookies with country song lyrics for a sister-in-law to match her baby’s nursery theme. She had her husband print out their daughter’s name, Kennedy, on a cutter, and Kelly made name-themed cookie cutters for other young relatives to use for cookies or playing with Playdough.
With her work and background growing up on a dairy farm, she decorates many cookies with farm-related themes also.
After posting some of her cookies on Instagram, some people wanted to buy them, so she started making them for local deliveries, according to North Dakota’s cottage industry rules. After taking a class to learn more, she taught a few online classes and a class for 4-H. In early December, she offered two classes with 25 participants each.
The timing was right for holiday baking, and each decorator received six cookies. Engquist focused on teaching how to make pretty cookies with items bakers have in their homes and how to make royal icing the right consistency. She also offered tips for making better cookies: find a good recipe that doesn’t spread too much and put the cut dough in the freezer for a few minutes before baking so the cookies hold their shape.
Engquist notes that because of her job and caring for her young daughter, she limits the time she spends on her sideline business. But Creations by Kate has proven to be a popular way for her to share her talents. She is open to requests for online or local classes as well as local requests for her customized cookies.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Katelyn Engquist, West Fargo, N.D. (Instagram and Facebook: Creations by Kate).


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2023 - Volume #47, Issue #1