Cookie Bouquets

I decided to try my hand at making a cookie bouquet. They turned out pretty cute. I need to figure out a way to make them more stable though. You could do them with any theme and even put a little sign that says "Happy 4th of July" or whatever the theme. It was past the 4th so I decided to forgo the sign.

Sugar Cookies (This is a recipe I haven't tried yet but I want to.)

1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sour cream
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix sugar, egg, and butter together. Add sour cream. Mix well. Add flour, soda and baking powder. Roll on floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

My Sugar Cookie Recipe

(this is the recipe I used)

1 cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 egg
¼ tsp. lemon extract or juice
¼ tsp. vanilla
2 ¼ cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ cup milk

Cream together with beaters: sugar and butter, add egg, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. Beat it into butter mixture alternating with milk. Chill at least 2 hours in fridge. Roll out and bake 8-10 minutes. Cool and frost.

Icing (I used this for my icing but with no almond extract. It was okay but not my favorite.)

1/2 c. Crisco
1/2 c. butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
dash salt
5-6 c. powdered sugar
Milk

Mix shortening, butter, extracts, and salt. Add powdered sugar and enough milk to make a good spreading consistency (I used a few teaspoons, but it could take a little more). Mix until light and fluffy.

How to make bouquet:

1. You have to cook the cookies with the sticks in them. I used lollipop sticks (you can find at any craft store). You have to make your cookies thicker than normal and carefully slide the stick in before baking. Let them sit on the cookie pan for a few minutes before moving to rack. Next time I want to try using bamboo skewers.

2. Frost cookies how you normally would. I use pastry bags so I can decorate them easier. Let them dry and harder for a while. Then you can wrap them. I just used clear treat bags and cut them a little shorter then put the twist tie on them.

3. You need to get some Styrofoam for the bottom of your container. I put rocks under the Styrofoam so it would weigh the bucket down. The cookies make it top heavy. Then just arrange the cookies so they look nice and put some decorative paper stuff in and ta-da, you have yourself a $75 cookie bouquet!

4. We found out the hard way that they are very fragile while in the car. The bigger cookies all broke so I would advise to assemble them once you get to your destination. The jiggling of the car just breaks them off the stick when they are standing up. The smaller cookies didn't seem harmed but we had lame cookie bouquets we had to give to our friends. They were sad looking when we got to their house but our friends loved them anyway.