How to Make Cookie Arrangements
Want to save a fortune and earn bragging rights when you're next called upon to make a homemade gift? Design a cookie arrangement that rivals pricey ones sold at retail shops. Cookie arrangements are easy to make and decorate if you know the two secrets to success: a recipe that produces a solid, thick cookie; and royal icing, the favorite of pastry chefs who spend every day doing the kind of wizardry you're about to try yourself. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Sugar cookie recipe
- Royal icing recipe
- Vegetable dyes
- Bowls
- Spatula
- Large cookie cutters
- Nonstick baking sheets
- Styrofoam base
- Dowels
- Container
- Pastry bag and decorating tips
- Plastic grass or other craft fill
Instructions
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Prepare your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Use appropriately-shaped cookie cutters to suit the occasion and arrangement (for example, trucks for a boy's birthday, flowers for a spring bouquet). Roll out dough so it's at least 1/2-inch thick. Place cookie shapes on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake the cookies longer than your recipe indicates to make up for each cookie's thickness.
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Choose the right size dowel so your cookies are neither too tall nor too short for the container you've chosen. On average, a 12-inch dowel should do the job, but you can cut them down if you require less height. Consider using chopsticks if the stems won't show on the final bouquet, but avoid barbecue skewers, as they may not support the weight of these hefty cookies.
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Insert dowels into the bottom of cookies when they come out of the oven so the cookie dough contracts around the stick as each cookie cools. Mix a large batch of royal icing while you wait for the cookies to cool. Divide the icing into small bowls if you plan to use multiple colors for cookies in the arrangement. Tint each batch of frosting a different color using vegetable dyes found in the baking section of any grocery store.
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Use a spatula to slather royal icing onto each cookie to create a background color. Use the spatula edge to tidy up the sides of each cookie so there are no drips or lumps. Allow the royal icing to harden on each cookie before you begin decorating.
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Secure decorating tips to pastry bags. Load the bag with one color of royal icing. Make a few practice swirls on wax paper before you start "drawing" on the cookies themselves. Allow the decorated cookies to dry thoroughly before you begin to arrange them in the container.
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Prepare your container for the cookie arrangement by trimming down and wedging a block of Styrofoam into the container so it fits snugly. Fill at least half or more of the container with the foam so the dowels can be deeply seated. When you have inserted the cookies into the foam and are pleased with their location, cover the foam by adding plastic grass or another fill (some types of paper shred can transfer dye stains to the arrangement, so err on the side of caution when you choose a fill).
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Bag the arrangement in cellophane and add ribbons to match the cookie colors. Deliver immediately so the recipient can enjoy your handicraft.
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Tips & Warnings
Place a sheet of parchment paper on each cookie sheet and you'll find it easier to remove cookies after they are baked. Some professional cookie designers prefer to put the dowel into the cookie before it's baked. Both methods work equally well; try both to see which gives you the best result.
