DIY cookie bouquet

DIY cookie bouquet

Bake up some smiles with a DIY cookie bouquet. Hallmark cookie expert Bernard Shondell shares his chocolate chip cookie recipe and step-by-step instructions for crafting adorable cookie bouquets. We’ve also included free printable gift tags you can use to add your name when giving them out—because we all know the best way to warm someone’s heart is to share your own.

Inspired? Create and share by tagging @hallmarkstores.

Ingredients

Cookie dough, well chilled (see below for Bernard’s recipe)
Parchment paper
Craft sticks (about the size of tongue depressors)
Tube icing or favorite decorator icing recipe
Decorator bags and decorator tips #7 and #14 (optional)
Assorted sprinkles or sanding sugar
Large clay pot or wide container
Florist foam
Easter grass or shredded green filler paper
Large cellophane bag for transporting (optional)
Gift tag and ribbon (optional)

Bernard’s chocolate chip cookies

Gift tag printables

Directions

  1. Chill dough 3 hours or overnight.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place craft sticks on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
  3. Roll about 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball and place it on the top of 1 craft stick. Press down slightly to make sure the dough has good surface contact with the stick. Repeat with remaining dough.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. Do not underbake the cookies or they will fall off the sticks.
  5. Decorate cookies with store-bought tube icing or decorator bags filled with your favorite decorating icing. (For these cookies I like to use a round tip #7 and star tip #14 for decorating.) Add sprinkles or sanding sugar to the cookies before they dry.
  6. To make the bouquet, fill the clay pot with the florist foam, level with top of pot. Cover foam with the Easter grass or crinkle paper.
  7. When the cookies are dry, "plant" the decorated cookies in the pot by pushing the sticks through the grass and securely into the foam. Vary the heights of the cookies by placing the taller ones in the back of the bouquet.
  8. Optional: Add a gift tag and ribbon and then place the bouquet carefully into a large cellophane bag.
  9. To make individual cookies in pots, simply follow Step 7 with a small pot and plant a single cookie in the center of the pot.

Tip: Pour sprinkles onto a paper plate, ice the cookie, and then place it facedown into the sprinkles on the plate. Press very gently to make the sprinkles stick. Once you are completely finished using the sprinkles, fold up the sides of the paper plate to make a funnel shape and pour the unused sprinkles back into the jar.