MAKE A COOKIE BOUQUET FOR SANTA

Personally, the Santa that visits my home doesn’t seem to mind what kind of cookies are left out for him seeing as the plate is always empty in the morning. This year, why not surprise Santa with something new? Try a cookie bouquet! Making a cookie bouquet is easier than you think, but it does require some supplies that you may not have on hand. It’s also a great way to spend time with family or friends baking and decorating these cookies. The hardest part of this cookie bouquet is not eating all the cookies before Santa gets there.

First, pick a theme. If you already have some basic shaped cookie cutters, see what you can make out of them. (Remember, you can always decorate a basic shape to make it look like something else.) If you want to get creative, try heading to your local craft or baking store to see what they have. You may even find some cookie cutters in dollar stores or other odd places so keep your eyes peeled.

While you’re out shopping for cookie cutters, you’ll need to find a base for your bouquet. Again, this can be as simple, decorative, or quirky as you want. If you’re sticking to the holiday theme, don’t forget to look through your Christmas decorations for something you may be able to use as a basket, vase, or any other cookie base. Don’t worry if it’s sentimental, I suspect Santa will just eat the cookies and leave the plate. You’ll also want to get some foam to pack your base with so your cookies stand up properly. Many types of foam will work, but the green foam that people use for actual flower bouquets works perfectly for supporting cookies.

Now onto the cookie part! You can bake whatever kind of cookies your heart desires, but a good ol’ fashioned sugar cookie does make the best blank canvas for decorations. You’ll need to bake the supporting sticks into the cookies. If you try to skewer your cookies after they’re already baked, you’ll end up with a lot of crumbly messes. Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, kebob sticks or really anything that can be placed in the oven without setting it on fire can be used as supports.  It’s a good idea to have a general idea of how your cookies will actually be arranged in your base since you’ll want some short and some tall. Design and decide this ahead of time so you aren’t wishing you’d put that certain cookie on a longer stick.

After baking comes the decorating and final assembly. Decorate however you want! If you feel like getting fancy, you can buy some piping tips in different sizes and shapes. You can make your own icing or just get simple white icing pre-made from the store and add food coloring. If you’re going to be mixing lots of colors, get gloves so your hands aren’t tie-dyed come Christmas morning. Arrange the cookies in your base as you designed it, making sure to push the sticks firmly into the foam and making sure the foam is packed tightly inside the vessel so your cookies won’t fall over.

Once the cookies are arranged, add your final touches. If you went for a winter or Christmas theme, you can cover the top of your base in powdered sugar to look like snow. If you went outside the box with your design then choose something like tinsel or tissue paper to place between cookies. Anything can work, but your bouquet won’t look complete until you’ve hidden the foam with decorations. Add a fun Christmas tag, place it next to the tree with a glass of milk, and if you can stay up, try to sneak a peek at Santa’s face when he’s surprised with his very own cookie bouquet.

If you’re not the crafting type, don’t worry. CookieBouquets.com has the perfect Christmas bouquet to impress Santa (we won’t tell him you didn’t make it yourself). Choose simple winter-themed cookies like snowflakes and snowmen. Make Santa laugh with your crazy Christmas sweater bouquet. Or aim to impress with a mini-tree complete with cookie ornaments. Whatever you want for Santa this year, we’ve got you covered.