How to Make Edible Outdoor Christmas Decorations for Birds

Use Christmas cookie cutters to form the eatable outdoor bird treats

Make eatable outdoor Christmas decorations to treat the winter visitors to your garden. The birds will enjoy feasting on this holiday decoration and it will add a touch of whimsy to your outdoor Christmas decor. These are simple to make but do need to freeze for a number of days before you set them out for the birds. Keep that in mind when planning to make these outdoor Christmas bird treats. This is a no-cooking recipe and is a good project to do as a group or with children. Don’t forget the wildlife at Christmas.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Bright red yarn or ribbon
• Cookie tray or pie tins
• Large saucepan that will hold all the ingredients
• Mixing spoon
• Ladle or large spoon
• Skewer
• Waxed paper
• Frame-style Christmas cookie cutters (not press ones with handles)
• 2 cups lard
• 2 cups crunchy style peanut butter
• 4 cups dry oats
• 4 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup millet
• 1 cup granulated sugar

1. Cover the cookie tray or pie tins with waxed paper. This will prevent the bird treats from sticking to the tray and make it easier to pull them from the cookie cutters after they set. Set the Christmas-themed cookie cutters on the cookie tray or pie pans.

2. Mix the lard and crunchy peanut butter in the saucepan. Use a low heat to melt them. You aren’t cooking them. You are just melting the peanut butter and lard so you can mix in the other ingredients easily.

3. Stir the dry oats, cornmeal, millet, flour and granulated sugar into the melted peanut butter and lard mixture. Mix it thoroughly together.

4. Use the spoon or ladle and fill each cookie cutter with the mixture. Then with the skewer, poke a hole at the top of the Christmas shape. The hole is where you will be threading the yarn or ribbon through to hang them outside, so make the hole big enough to thread it.

5. Place the cookie tray or pie tins in the freezer and leave them there to set for 7 to 10 days. Once they are set, remove them from the freezer and take them out of the cookie cutters and pull off the waxed paper backing. Then put the ribbon or yarn through the holes and tie them to tree branches outside. The birds will love this Christmas treat made just for them, and they will look nice hanging on the trees outside.

Tips & Warnings

• You might want to make these ahead of time if you don’t have a lot of Christmas cookie cutters and will be using them for making your own cookies. They have to sit in the freezer while the bird treats set, so you won’t be able to use them while they are setting.