Kick Off the Year With an Edible Back-to-School Letter Board

It's that time again! Mark the beginning of a brand-new school year with this inventive and delicious twist on a classic charcuterie board.

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Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

School is officially back in session! Celebrate the big day (or console kids who aren't ready to bid adieu to summer vacation) with this colorful charcuterie board inspired by school supplies and letter boards. You might have seen similar projects made with cardboard letters, but our creation is completely edible! You'll arrange a sheet of black fondant and letter cookies surrounded by delicious treats and appetizers, including notebook paper cookies, apple pretzels, pencil crackers and juicy fruit skewers. Talk about the ultimate after-school snack!

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Needless to say, this isn't your typical charcuterie platter or cheese board. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher or student, you'll have a blast making our back-to-school letter charcuterie board just in time for those first few days of a brand-new academic year.

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Video: Kick Off the Year With an Edible Back-to-School Letter Board

Tip

To make letter cookies, you’ll need nothing more than mini letter cookie cutters (check out Amazon or Etsy) and your go-to sugar cookie recipe. If possible, use a cookie dough made with vegan butter, as it will spread less during baking. This is especially important for tiny letter cookies, which tend to turn into blobs during baking. Another option is to use white fondant, which will yield cleaner and crisper letters.

1. Apple Pretzels

Things You'll Need

  • Mini pretzel twists

  • Red candy melts

  • Green candy melts

  • Green leaf sprinkles

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Tip

You can use green M&M's instead of sprinkles.

1. Coat pretzels

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Microwave red candy melts according to package instructions. Using a spoon, coat pretzels with melted candy.

2. Add leaf sprinkles

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Place coated pretzels on baking sheet. Add a leaf sprinkle to top center of each one.

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3. Let harden

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Repeat with green candy melts.

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Let pretzels sit for about one hour or until candy coating has hardened.

2. Notebook Paper Cookies

Things You'll Need

  • Sugar cookie dough

  • White fondant

  • Red food-coloring maker

  • Blue food-coloring marker

  • Fondant roller

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez
Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper. Roll out cookie dough and then cut it into rectangles of preferred size.

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Tip

For rectangle cookies, you can use a knife or pizza cutter to create shapes. Otherwise, if you want cookies to be the same exact shape and size, use a rectangle cookie cutter.

2. Bake cookies

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Carefully transfer parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Separate cookies, leaving about 2 in. between each one. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes.

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Tip

You can also chill cookie dough first and then separate the rectangles.

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Let dough sit at room temperature for approximately five minutes. Bake according to time listed in recipe.

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3. Add notebook paper details

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Roll out a sheet of white fondant. Trim into rectangles using each cookie as a template. Place white fondant on cookies.

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Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Using food-coloring markers, draw horizontal blue lines and a red vertical line on fondant.

Tip

You can find food-coloring markers in the baking section of most craft stores, including Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Joann.

3. Letter Cookies

Things You'll Need

  • Sugar cookie dough

  • Flour

  • Mini letter cookie cutters

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

1. Cut out dough

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Sprinkle flour on a sheet of parchment paper. Roll out sugar cookie dough and then cut out letters based on desired message. We recommend cutting out multiple letters so you can choose the best ones after baking.

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Tip

Dip cookie cutter into flour before cutting out a shape. This will help reduce sticking. It also helps to chill the dough before cutting out letters.

2. Bake letter cookies

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Transfer parchment paper to a baking sheet. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes, let sit at room temperature for five minutes and then bake in oven.

Tip

Since the letters are so small, we recommend removing cookies before the listed time.

4. Pencil Crackers

Things You'll Need

  • Rectangle crackers

  • Cheese

  • Deli meat (like ham or bologna)

  • Sliced black olives

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

1. Prepare cheese and meat

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Slice cheese into rectangles using crackers as templates.

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Cut deli meat into small rectangles (for "erasers") and triangles (for "pencil points").

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Tip

The scraps of cheese and meat will be a game-changer for brunch; simply save leftovers and use them in omelets or quiche.

2. Make pencil crackers

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Layer a cheese rectangle on each cracker. Place small rectangle of meat on one end then add triangle on other end.

Cut a sliced olive into quarters. Add one piece to the tip of each meat triangle.

5. Fruit Skewers

Things You'll Need

  • Chopped fruit

  • Toothpicks

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Tip

Any fruit is fair game! We used strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, mango, kiwi and mandarin oranges.

1. Add fruit to skewers

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Add a few pieces of fruit to each toothpick. Set aside a few loose pieces of fruit to fill in gaps.

How to Make a Dessert Letter Board

You might have seen dessert charcuterie boards at baby showers or other gatherings, but a back-to-school theme is fun and unique. Check out the following tasty ideas, which would also make great gift box contents for your child's favorite teacher!

Graham cracker pencils: ‌Use graham crackers and sweet toppings, like icing, fondant and sprinkles, to make dessert pencil crackers.

Notebook paper cupcakes: ‌Top cupcakes with a circle of white fondant and then draw blue and red lines to make paper. You can even make fillable cupcakes by cutting out the center, adding themed sprinkles and replacing the top before adding fondant.

Chocolate-covered fruit:‌ Dip strawberries, mandarin oranges or bananas into melted chocolate and freeze until firm. So delicious and easy!

6. Letterboard Charcuterie Board

Things You'll Need

  • Apple pretzels

  • Notebook paper cookies

  • Letter cookies

  • Pencil crackers

  • Fruit skewers

  • Black fondant

  • Mini cutting board

  • Fondant roller or rolling pin

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

1. Roll out black fondant

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Roll out black fondant on cutting board. Trim each side to create clean edges.

Tip

To prevent fondant from sticking to cutting board, add a sheet of parchment paper (or food-safe wax paper) first.

2. Add back-to-school treats

Image Credit: Kirsten Nunez

Place letter cookies in center of black fondant. Arrange apple pretzels, notebook paper cookies, pencil crackers and fruit skewers around edges. Fill in any gaps with loose fruit; blueberries, grapes and mandarin orange wedges are especially helpful for this purpose.

Serve your tasty creation at a special event, like a back-to-school open house (consider placing ingredients in charcuterie cups for sharing) or simply have it waiting when your favorite student gets home after a successful first day back. Here's to a sweet school year!

Looking for another project the whole family can enjoy? Check out our stained glass glue art tutorial.

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