Ingredients
Dough Disk:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Arrangement:
Decorative container
Tissue paper
Flower pots of various sizes
Long and short lollipop sticks
Jar of jelly beans in varying shades of green
Flower foam
Flower-shaped cookie cutters
Floral tape
Store-bought icing in various colors
Silk leaves
White Icing:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons whole, 2 percent fat or 1 percent fat, milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 colors food coloring
Directions
- Dough Disk: In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the granulated sugar, butter and shortening until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and baking powder and mix. Add the flour and mix. Shape the dough into a large flat disk, kneading briefly if necessary to bring the dough together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 to 2 hours.
- Line container with tissue paper and place all items inside.
- The recipe card should read as follows:
- Get started on your cookie bouquet garden by preheating the oven to 350 degrees, then butter a sheet pan. After that, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using the cookie cutters, cut out cookies and transfer to the prepared pan. Insert a lollipop stick inside each cookie and bake until light golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on the sheet pan.
- To ice the cookies, you can either use the icing provided, or if you're feeling a bit adventurous, here's a quick and easy recipe.
- For the icing: In a medium bowl, mix the confectioners' sugar, 4 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla until smooth. If still too thick to spread, add the remaining tablespoon of milk a little at a time until the icing is smooth and pourable, but thick enough to coat. Measure 1/4 cup of white icing into each of 4 small bowls. Color them 4 different colors. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
- When you're ready to ice the cookies, set a wire rack over a piece of waxed or parchment paper. Place the cooled cookies on the wire rack and pour the remaining white icing onto them. Using a metal icing spatula, cover the cookies completely with an even layer of icing. Before the icing sets, use forks or squeeze bottles to drizzle the other 4 colors of icing over the cookies to make spidery lines. Let harden 1 hour then store in an airtight container.
- To assemble the cookie bouquet, start by cutting out cubes of flower foam that will fit into the flower pots, then wrap the foam in plastic. Place a silk leaf against the stick in one of the iced cookies, then wrap the entire stick with floral tape, so it looks like a flower stem. Stick the cookie "flower" into the foam in the flower pot then cover the foam with jelly beans. ALL DONE!