Bright and Beautiful Cookie Pops for Mom!

Today, I’m featured over on the Boy Trifecta!  Welcome! I’m so glad to have you here. I am honored by Emily’s spotlight, especially around mother’s day! She is definitely one of the coolest moms I know. Like Emily, I have a passion for crafts- just of the sugar coated variety. We’ve got flower and butterfly cookie pops, the perfect hands-on activity for moms and kids.  It combines a number of my favorite elements- namely bright colors, food on sticks, and cookies.

To start, check out my last post on sugar cookie basics. For this project, you will need roll out cookie dough, royal icing (in the colors of your choice), and 8 inch lollipop sticks.  You’ll also want a vase or basket to display your handmade beauties. For a big bouquet for mom, you’ll want about 12-14 cookie pops. I can fit about a dozen in a large vase filled with candy or raffia. (Extra pretty is necessary for moms, right?) A trifle bowl, sand pail, or terra cotta pot would also be perfect.

You’ll also need cutters, like these:

Daisy, Tulip, Flower cutters. I also used a butterfly cutter

Once you’ve let your sugar cookie dough chill, you are ready to start. First, roll out your sugar cookie dough a little thicker, about 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut out the desired number of flowers.

Push the stick gently into the pre-cut dough

Next, bake your cookies according to the recipe instructions. If you are using Sweetopia’s recipe (I highly recommend this), bake for about 14-16 minutes at 350. Allow the cookies to cool. I like to let them rest for about an hour before I start decorating.  I usually make my royal icing during this time, but you might want to make it a head of time so you can play around with the colors and consistency.

Using a clear piping bag and a #3 tip, pipe out the outlines of the cookie, like below. If you are making daisies, you can pipe out the outline and then put a dollop of icing in the center, too. To make the chrysanthemums, pipe the royal icing in random circles. You want them to look ruffled, without a defined center. You will need to let the outlines rest for about 4 hours. Chill out, drink a margarita, do some laundry, whatever. I usually come back to check on the cookies periodically, and to pop any bubbles that have formed with a toothpick.

After a wee rest, we’re ready to flood the icing. I’m flooding the chrysanthemums with pink and white. Then I use a toothpick to swirl the two colors, marbling them.

Chrysanthemum, in progress

The daisies are even easier. Just flood the inside and use a toothpick to get the icing in the nooks and crannies.

For the butterflies, flood the middle. Then add dots of another color (I think yellow or black or dark blue would look amazing). I’ve been studying butterfly pictures, and I hope soon I’ll be creating anatomically correct butterflies.

Allow the cookies to dry at least 4 hours before arranging them (or eating them). You want the icing to harden so that it doesn’t bleed.

Et voila! Colorful cookie pops for mom. Thanks to Nicole Hodac for photographing me in action!