Adventures in embossing cookies

A few years ago, a company got in touch with an offer to send me one of their embossed wooden rolling pins for embossing cookies, hoping I would review it here on the Tea With Friends blog. They sent one in a very pretty leaf design, but it just didn't emboss very well. I distinctly remember asking Alex if he could detect a design in that first batch of cookies I made with the rolling pin, and he squinted and nicely said not really, which was just as I thought. When I wrote a woman at the company to explain the problem, she suggested I try another of their recipes. I did, and still, the rolling pin didn't work well. She suggested I try a third recipe, and I told her as politely as I could that I didn't have time to waste a third batch of cookies on a product that simply didn't work. Plus, I wasn't going to tell all of you to buy a $40 rolling pin that didn't perform. And I've said all that to say this: I had some embossing success over the weekend!

Recently, I spotted this $1.99 Wilton rolling pin at T. J. Maxx. Was I willing to risk $1.99 on a gadget that might not work? Yes, actually, I was.

The rolling pin was clearly designed for use with fondant, but while fondant is beautiful to see, I'm not wild about the taste. So, I tried embossing cookies made with this recipe that I found online. (I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.) The cookies were great with my afternoon tea, and I'm freezing some of them to go on Christmas cookie plates for friends.

And best of all, I can see some designs. Have any of you embossed cookies before? I'd love to hear about your experience!