Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

Posts Tagged ‘cookie recipes’

You have a party coming up and want to make something a little different.  You’ve done cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, cake balls, cookies, brownies…what can you do that your guests will love, but won’t take you hours?  The smell and taste of homemade gourmet cookies is so tempting that you might just fall back on these old favorites and forget trying something new.  Luckily for you, you can.  When you make a cookie bowl, you get the best of both worlds: the scrumptious goodness of cookies and the novelty of something new.

There are various ways to make a cookie bowl, but rest assured they are all relatively easy and undeniably delicious.  This easy one comes from eHow and can be done with homemade or store-bought dough.  You will need:

• Rolled cookie dough.  This is in contrast to “drop” cookie dough, like chocolate chip.  Sugar or gingerbread cookie dough are good choices for this one.
• 1 ½ inch scalloped cookie cutter
• Ovenproof bowl or pan
• Foil
• Vegetable cooking spray

To make:

Start by covering the ovenproof bowl or pan with foil and spraying it lightly with the cooking spray.  Roll out your dough until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick.  Using your cookie cutter, cut the dough into the scalloped shapes (hearts and circles work very well for this particular project).

Begin the bowl by placing a row of your cookie shapes along the lower edge of the foil.  When this is done, place another row of shapes overlapping the first.  Press the shapes together lightly, and continue on to the next row.  Repeat until the bowl is covered.

Bake the bowl at 350° for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the bowl are firm.  Allow the bowl to cool completely on a wire rack.  Remove the bowl carefully by lifting it off the foil.  Once the foil is off, the bowl is ready for your party.

If you prefer chocolate chip, try this idea from Ruhlman.com.  You will need:

• a good chocolate chip cookie dough recipe
• two ovenproof dishes, one that fits inside the other, for each bowl you want to make
• vegetable cooking spray or butter

To make:

Spray the inside of the larger of the two ovenproof bowls, and then spray the outside of the smaller dish.  Press cookie dough into the bottom of the larger bowl, and then press the smaller bowl on top of the dough.  You want dough to begin to push up around the sides, but not all the way.  The dough will expand in the oven.

Bake at 350° for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and twist the small bowl to get it out of the larger bowl.  Ruhlman used tongs to do this – be careful!  Put the cookie bowl back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so.  When the bowls are cool enough, trim along the edges and run a paring knife along the sides to free it from the bottom of the ovenproof bowl.  Allow to chill completely.

With either variation, you can serve ice cream in these edible bowls or your choice of yummy treats, including yogurt, frozen yogurt, fruit and whipped cream, custard, or pudding. It is sure to be a fun, unique dessert that is as impressive as it is delicious.

Love cookies? Check out more great, creative dessert recipes!

If you’re throwing a garden party for the girls or for a child’s birthday party, bake up a batch of flower cookies for dessert time. Not only will they be tasty, but they’ll also be delightful to look at. All you really need to make them yourself is a set of floral cookie cutters. You can find them online or at cooking stores. Then, break out the store bought cookie dough and start rolling.

Flavorful flowers will look garden-fresh and also eliminate the need for any other decorations. You’ve got your party done. Just add some finger sandwiches and a few pots of tea and you can sit down and relax, too.

Here are some recipes to get your creativity flowing.

Flower Power Cookies (Courtesy of DivaVillage.com)

What you’ll need:

* Sugar cookies cut into flower shapes

* Frosting, tinted in spring shades of yellow and pink

* Mentos® Sours and Mixed Fruit flavors

* Airheads® Candy bars in Strawberry or Cherry and Green Apple or Watermelon

Directions:

1) Make or purchase flower cookies. If desired, insert lollipop stick or short skewer into each flower before baking for cookie pop.

2) Frost cookies with pink and yellow frosting. Place pink, yellow or green Mentos® in the middle of each cookie.

3) Cut each Airheads® bar into thin strips, roll strips to round edges.

4) For “looped” petals, fold Airheads® strip into teardrop shape fitting to petal, cut off excess and press into frosting with pointed end facing the center of the flower. Repeat for each petal.

5) For “curly” petal, wind Airheads® strip around a skewer or toothpick. Carefully slide curl off and press into frosting on the petal, repeat for each petal.

Cut Out Flower Cookies in a Pot (Courtesy of allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter flavored extract
• 7 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and flavorings and mix well. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to batter and mix well.
2. CHILL 3-4 hours or overnight before using.
3. Roll cookies out approximately 1/4 inch thick and insert cookie sticks at least 1/3 to 1/2 way into cookie.
4. Bake cookies at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes. This dough keeps well in a covered container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.
5. Decorate as desired. Display 3-7 cookies in a 6 inch clay pot (depending on size of cookie). Weigh pot down with dried beans and cut a circle of Styrofoam to fit snugly into top. Add ribbons and enjoy.

Whether you start from scratch or use rolled cookie dough from the store, you can create flower cut out cookies that look adorable on a garden table. Use them instead of real flowers and you’ll save yourself money while your table looks great. Send some cookies home with the guests so they can enjoy your party long after they’ve gone home.

Nothing is more festive than home-baked cookies. So for your next party, start early and make a little extra time for cookie baking. You’ll be so glad you did when you see the looks on your guests’ faces.

Once you've perfected flower shaped cookies, next task is making flower cupcakes!

Spritz cookies have been a Christmas staple in our family for at least 30 years.  My Mom has a really old-fashioned cookie press that you have to twist to extract the cookies....personally I like the trigger version, but mine has been replaced several times (because the plastic broke) while her old one just keeps going and going.  On the plate below, you can see some snowflake design cookies that we made and then just added green and red sugar.  You can also color the dough with food coloring (this is what we do to make green Christmas tree shaped cookies).

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer with the white paddle), cream butter and sugar together. Then add the egg, milk, vanilla, almond extract beating well. Stir together flour and baking powder in a separate bowl or on a piece of wax paper (to make it easy to add to wet ingredients). Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture, mixing to a smooth dough. If you are going to add food coloring to the dough, I recommend doing it when you have about half of the flour mixture added so that it is easier to mix in.  Do NOT chill the dough! Shape dough in small logs and place in a cookie press (see the video below for great tips). Choose the press die to create the cookie shape that you want.  Then press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degF for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on a rack. Makes 7 to 8 dozen Spritz cookies.

My Tips - If you are making Christmas trees or wreaths, you will likely want to color the dough green. I recommend using the paste type food coloring so that it doesn't change the consistency of the dough. No matter what the cookie shape, you can decorate them with colored sugars prior to baking in the oven.

Here is a great video that I found at YouTube.  It shows how to load and use a cookie press to make Christmas designs.  It also details how you can take those shapes and arrange them to create a Christmas cookie wreath.

Are you a little lost when it comes to these spritz cookies? That's okay! Here are some Tips for Buying a Cookie Press.

When it comes to baking and decorating sugar cookies for Christmas in my family, we do it assembly line style.  Each person in the family is in charge of a certain aspect of the baking and decorating process. That way we can make A LOT of cookies in a short amount of time.  My favorite job is decorating and each decorator is tasked with one shape so that you can get creative and try all kinds of fun decorations.  I personally like doing the Christmas trees, but my sister likes during the star and holiday ornament shapes.  We actually use a couple different recipes for sugar cookies depending on whether we want crisp cookies that are decorated with colored sugars or egg washes (shared in this post) or thicker more chewy cookies that can hold up to iced decorations.  If you are planning to make thousands of cookies like we do, I would recommend going with the easy-to-decorate cookies that are decorated with small candies and colored sugars.  Icing takes too much time when you are doing that many cookies.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda

Using a large stand mixer or glass bowl, cream the sugar and butter together. Add egg, vanilla and almond flavoring; mixing thoroughly. Sift flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda together and stir in to the wet ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Prior to removing the dough from the refrigerator, preheat oven to 375°F. Divide dough in half and roll out on lightly floured pastry board. Roll thin (1/4" to 3/8" thick), but thick enough to cut with a holiday shaped cookie cutter. Dip cutter in flour before each cutting. Use care so that you can cut as many cookies from each rolling as possible. Use a spatula to move cookies from pastry board to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Remaining dough can be rolled again to make more cookies.  Add cookie decorations such as red hot candies, jimmies, colored sugars, confetti candy, M&M's, and nuts. Bake in 375° F oven for 7 to 8 minutes or until delicately golden. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack.  Store cookies in an airtight container.

My Tips - These sugar cookies are light and crisp in texture so I recommend decorating them with colored sugars and confetti candies rather than a heavy icing.  I found this EXCELLENT video with fun tips and ideas for decorating holiday Christmas cookies with candies, colored sugars, gourmet nuts and more.

Find more Christmas cookie recipes!

Another family favorite are these peanut blossom cookies...they are best served with a cup of coffee as the cookies are crisp and crunchy (as opposed to soft and chewy).  I prefer to use Chocolate Hershey Kisses in the center of each cookie because I like the combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter.  Another tip is to heat them up in the microwave for maybe 10 seconds so that the chocolate gets a little melty.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Hershey's chocolate kisses or dark chocolate baking stars

Cream together the shortening, peanut butter, and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat well (I use a kitchen aid mixer for this process). On a large piece of waxed paper or in a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt) and then add them a bit at a time to the creamed mixture. Mix well between each dry ingredient addition.

Shape by rounded teaspoonful into balls (I prefer to use a #80 cookie scoop to achieve a consistent size). Roll each cookie ball in sugar and place them on ungreased cookie sheet. Be sure to leave a couple inches between the balls so that they don't run into each other. Bake at 375°F for 8 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven and place a solid Hershey's Kiss or Chocolate Star on the top of each one pushing down slightly (so that cookie cracks around the edge). Return the cookies to the oven and bake an additional 2 to 4 minutes. Remove cookies from the baking sheet and cool on a rack.

If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to try these Peanut Butter Cup Christmas Cookies.