Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Other Cookies’ Category

Cookies can be so ornate these days that they are actually works of art. If you are interested in creating your own little artistic masterpieces, consider cookie stenciling. Many stencils can be purchased online or in a kitchen store for cookie baking, but you can also make your own. Heart shaped cookies with the words "I Love You" stenciled across them would make a thoughtful valentine's day cookie bouquet.

It’s labor intensive, but fun to make a cookie stencil. Think of the stencils you used as a kid or stencils you see in art stores. You can, in fact, use any stencil that you find. You just need a clean stencil and a clean X-Acto knife to cut the cookie out.

Start with a sugar cookie dough. It’s best not to use a dough that is store bought. Those doughs are designed for slice and bake recipes. They tend to flatten out and burn in the oven if you try to do anything else with them.

Make your cookie dough batter from your favorite recipe. Then let it chill while you create your stencil.

You’re going to need sheets of acetate or vellum which you can find in office supply or discount stores. The acetate sheets are the ones that teachers use for overhead projectors. Vellum is just a clear sheet that artists use. It’s thicker than tissue paper so you can cut it, but you can see what’s underneath much like a tracing paper.

Find a design you like. It can be from a book or from online. Use a design that is not so intricate that you will be cutting until all hours of the night. You want to start with a simple stencil. Maybe a leaf or a bird.

Once you have found your design, print it out. Lay it down on your work surface. If it’s not the right size, you’ll want to reduce or enlarge it now on a copier. Place the acetate or vellum over the image. Trace it with marker. Remove the image and cut it out. Intricate parts of it will need to be cut with the tip of an X-Acto knife, so work on a rubber mat or a cutting board, never your table.

Once the design is cut out, you’ll be placing it on the cookie dough. Round up a ball of cookie dough and then press it flat. Or roll out a big piece so you have a whole sheet to stencil on. Place the stencil on top of the cookie area you want to cut out. Cut out the areas that make the design on stencil. Then cut around in a square or circular shape for the size of the cookie you want. Lift with a spatula carefully and transfer to a cookie sheet. Bake as per your recipe’s instructions.

If you want a less labor intensive way to use a cookie stencil, use food coloring powder and a stencil brush. You can tamp your brush into the powdery food coloring and stamp it onto the cookie directly. Cut the shape of the cookie out with a cookie cutter in a circle or other shape that fits your stencil’s design. Food coloring powders can be found at large craft stores or in cake supply stores.

It’s fun to make stenciled cookies. They’ll look like you spend a long time making them, but actually, once you cut the stamp they are very easy to do. Try cutting out flower shaped cookies and create a beautiful flower cookie arrangement. Have a stencil making party where you and friends get together and make a bunch of stencils. Then you can all trade stencils so everyone gets a chance to go home with a luscious batch of delicious and adorable cookies.

Another version you can do with a stencil is to make ornaments with it. Do the same thing you would with the cookie dough, but use home made salt dough or a baking clay. Of course, you can’t eat them, but they’ll look pretty on your tree or as package ties.

Cookie stamping is easily one of the most exciting parts of baking these days. You can buy a cookie stamp from any kitchen supplier. They come in lovely decorative designs from the simple to the ornate. You can use plain sugar cookie dough to turn out adorable and festive cookies with a cookie stamp.

If you don’t want to buy your cookie stamp, try your hand at making your own. It’s not that hard, but it may take a little practice.

If you’re a natural artist, you’ll have no trouble drawing your design. But if, like most of us, you’ll need a little inspiration in the design department, go online or look through books and find a decorative motif that you like. Make sure it’s not so intricate that you will have trouble getting it into cookie form.

The material for making a cookie stamp? The humble potato! Yes, with a simple potato you can carve out a stamp that will work for your cookies. Cut a clean potato in half. If you’re going to cut freehand, carefully start carving your design on the end of the potato. Be sure to remember that any raised surfaces will be indented in the cookie, so carve in reverse. What you want to stick out of the cookie should be carved into the stamp.

If you’re going to use the help of a printed design, go ahead and tape the design to the top of the potato. It will be a bit moist and slimy, so you will want to leave some paper overlap around your design and then use masking tape which will stick better than clear tape.

Once your design is taped down, begin carving away any white that is not part of the design. Your design should remain after you are finished carving. You should only see the black of the design. Remove the paper and you’re ready to stamp cookies. Choose a heart stamp for a perfect valentine cookie.

Use a favorite cookie dough recipe. You can find them online or in any baking cook book. Using rolled cookie dough from a store may present some challenges as those cookies are not meant to be anything but slice and bake. They tend to flatten out in the oven and will not hold a design very well. But try them if you want. You may just want to add some more flour to them by rolling them on a floury surface.

All sugar cookie doughs will need to be refrigerated so the butter can set up. Don’t skip this step or your cookies will not turn out the way you want them to. Roll balls of cookie dough out on your work surface. Dust your stamp in flour before each stamping. Then stamp into the cookie with moderate pressure. It should flatten out the ball and create a stamped design. It should not be so flat that the cookie is nearly see-through. Thin cookies like that will burn.

Once ready, line your cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake them for the time that is listed in the recipe. Create a flower stamp for a beautiful cookie flower arrangement.  But check them often to see that they are not burning. Every oven is different and stamps can provide an uneven surface that may bake differently from a flat cookie. Enjoy your efforts with a glass of milk!

What will draw the kids in even faster than a fresh baked cookie right out of the oven? A fresh baked cookie lollipop! Cookies on sticks have become very popular. When done in a smaller version with a small stick, they can be made to look like lollipops.

To make cookie lollipops, start by baking up your favorite recipe for cookies. You will want a cookie like a sugar cookie so that you can cut shapes out. Stars, hearts, circles and other simple shapes work best. Try to avoid using heavy cookie batters like chocolate chip, oatmeal, or anything with big chunks in them. You can use those types of cookies, but the heavier the batter, the more likely the cookie will fall off the stick.

You will need to purchase lollipop sticks from a craft store. They are very inexpensive and are found in the candy-making aisle. You will see them next to the candy molds. Grab a few packs so you have extras for next time you want to make them.

The whole key to the lollipop cookie is to insert the stick into raw dough only about halfway through the cookie. If you don’t insert the stick when the batter is raw, you’ll never get it in without breaking the cookie. And if you don’t insert it at least halfway in, you’ll risk the cookie falling off the stick. Make sure it’s sturdy and that the stick is not poking out of the batter anywhere. If your cookies are too thin, you may have a problem with cracking and breakage when you try to lift them.

Bake your cookies as your recipe dictates. You don’t have to do anything different. But you will want the cookie sheet to be greased so you won’t have to pry the cookies off the pan and risk breaking them. After the cookies have baked, resist the urge to pick them up by the stick while they are cooling. You will need to let them cool completely so they harden enough to form around the stick.

Once cookies are cool, you can decorate them by dipping them in melted chocolate and sprinkles or frosting them and dusting them with sanding sugar. If you want to add any candy elements to the frosting, you can do it after the cookies are cooled.

Have fun trying out different recipes and different shapes. You could create a cookie bouquet for any holiday such as New Years, birthday parties, or make heart-shaped lollipops for Valentine's Day cookies. Just be sure that you don’t roll your cookies too thin or you will have a hard time getting the lollipop sticks to stay in the cut-outs before and after baking.

When the pops are all cooled and decorated, get some florist foam or a Styrofoam block and stick the cookies into it. Then you can cover the Styrofoam with a cloth or bandana and insert them into a clean flowerpot and give a cookie flower bouquet. Once they are anchored in the foam they won’t move. You can even wrap the basket in clear cellophane so that they can be transported without getting damaged. Tie a bright ribbon and a tag on and you’ve got yourself a lovely homemade cookie lollipop bouquet. It doesn’t take much time and is much cheaper to do than buying a cookie bouquet.

What could be better than warm chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven? Unless it’s a piece of delicious cake. Oh, the choices! Now you can combine your favorite desserts into a cookie cake. Yes, this could just be the perfect dessert. Next time you’re sweet tooth is calling, answer with these recipes.

This recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake comes to us from Cooks.com. Judging from the reviews, we’re surprised the cake ever makes it out of the kitchen for guests. You’ll need:

• ½ cup butter

• ¼ brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 cup flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• Chocolate chips

• ½ chopped nuts (optional)

Prepare by preheating your oven to 375° and greasing an 8 or 9 inch round pizza pan or cookie sheet.

To make, cream the butter, brown and white sugars, vanilla, and egg together with a spoon. When this is creamy, add your dry ingredients. Blend this thoroughly to mix in the dry ingredients, and then add the chocolate chips and nuts, if you choose.

Spread the cookie dough onto your greased pan and bake for 10 minutes. Take it out, let it cool, and be prepared to receive compliments.

For an extra touch, place mini Hershey’s Kisses on top of the cookie cake (or chocolate chunks) and drizzle with chocolate or shape it like a heart for a Valentine's day cookie gift. At a bakery, this would cost over $40. You can make it at home for the same price as a batch of cookies.

When you are at a loss at what to prepare for a dinner party or gathering, you must ask yourself, “What would Martha do?” Martha would whip up a five layer cookie cake for 16 people, is what she would do. In fact, she has, and this recipe comes from Martha Stewart herself. It is a little more involved than the previous recipe, but it will not fail to impress.

You will need:

• 4 cups flour

• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

• 1 ½ teaspoons salt

• 6 tablespoons of butter, softened

• 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar

• ¾ cup granulated sugar

• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs, and 2 egg yolks

• ¾ cup heavy cream

• 3 cups chocolate chips (Martha says semi-sweet)

• 5 – yes 5 – packages of cream cheese, room temperature

• ½ confectioner’s sugar

Prepare by preheating your oven to 350°. Next, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, or a mixer, mix butter and brown and granulated sugars. When this is pale and “fluffy,” mix in the vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Continue mixing. Add half the flour, and then half the cream. Mix, and then add the other half of the flour and the other half of the cream. Stir in the chocolate chips.

You are making 5 layers for the cake. You want one level cup of dough for each layer. Drop it onto a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Put the other dough in the refrigerator while you’re working to keep it cool. Spread the dough into an 8 inch circle on the baking sheet (Martha actually traces an 8 inch circle onto the paper; you don’t have to, but you do want your layers to be as close to even as possible).

Bake this until the edges are pale golden, which takes about 12 minutes. Take it out and reshape your circle with a spatula. Put it back in the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat this for the other layers. If you have oven space and cookie sheets, you can do more than one of these cookie layers at a time.

As they’re cooling, mix the cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar until fluffy. Spread this mixture onto four of the cookies. Stack them, with the unfrosted cookie on top. Put the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting sets. This takes at least 20 minutes.

It is more work, but the results are fantastic.

Whether you use a recipe that is simple or one that is more elaborate, you cannot go wrong with cookie cake made from your own cookie dough.

Here's a quick and easy recipe to impress your friends and family!  Take the hassle out of preparing cookies by using refrigerated sugar cookie dough.

To created the wonderfully colored "nests", color your flake coconut by adding about 4 drops of liquid food coloring to 1 cups of coconut in a plastic ziplock bag. Shake until all flakes are covered.  (You may need to add 1 teaspoon of water to help disperse the color evenly.)

Ingredients:

• 1 package (16 oz) ready to bake sugar cookies
• 1 container (12 oz) fluffy white frosting
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• Food coloring
• Jelly Beans

Directions:

• Bake cookies as directed on package. Cool completely.
• Frost cookies, top with about 1 tsp. of colored coconut and a few jelly beans.
• Sit back and enjoy!

Continue on to visit more fun Easter recipes, starting with Easter Cupcake Creations.