I suppose it’s only fair that if my brother had to work for his birthday cookies, my sister would, too. And I had to make sure my two, young nieces have my sister assemble these flowers before eating them, because she’s good at finding loopholes. For the record, she’s also good at throwing parties, being a mom, sharp jokes, discerning the character of others, giving advice and yelling while driving.

The cookie package contains four stems, five leaves, four flower centers and twenty-four petals. I included a note of explanation, but I think she might have even figured it out on her own. She’s a smartie. (I almost wrote “one smart cookie,” but then I figured you’d judge me for the bad pun.)

And by the way, to make sure these were assembled before eating, my nieces took the liberty of doing the assembling themselves. Here they are in action:

And here’s the final result. Interesting. I never thought to do multi-colored petals, but I like them much better than my own, boring, monotone ones. Kids are smart. (And these cuties are also available for any lucrative modeling gigs or Hollywood commercials.)

to make flower puzzle cookies

you will need:*

cookie dough

royal icing

circle cookie cutter

leaf cookie or fondant cutter

knife or dough scraper

heart cookie cutter

food coloring

disposable decorating bags

couplers

size “3″ and/or “4″ decorating tips

rubber bands

sprinkles (optional)

*Find the cookie cutters at specialty shops or in the craft store, perhaps as part of cookie or fondant cutter sets. You’ll also find the decorating bags, couplers, decorating tips and sprinkles in the craft store. I used a 1 1/4-inch circle, 2-inch and 3-inch leaves, and a 2-inch heart (the heart is for the petals). For the decorating tips, use any size you prefer. I chose a mix of “3″s and “4″s. For food coloring, I suggest Americolor Soft Gel Pastes, available in specialty stores or online. Leaf Green, Electric Green, Electric Pink, Orange, Turquoise, and Egg Yellow used here.

step one: Prepare the cookie dough according to the recipe. Chill and roll out on a floured surface and cut out your pieces: Circles for the flower centers and leaves for the, um, leaves. To make the stems, I used a dough scraper to cut out 1/2-inch by 4-inch rectangles. To make the petals, I cut a heart shape in half vertically, smoothing the sides with my fingers a bit. Bake and let cool completely.

step two: Prepare the royal icing according to the recipe. Divide and tint your preferred colors. I made yellow for the centers, pink, orange, and turquoise for the petals, and two shades of green for the stems and leaves. Prepare a decorating bag with coupler and tip for each color, fill and close the bags tightly with rubber bands.

step three: Decorate your cookies. Decorate however you like best. I outlined each cookie first and let set about 15 minutes. I then piped to fill each cookie. I used one consistency of icing, in between an outline consistency and a flooding consistency, so I could both outline and fill with the same decorating bag. For more tips on basic cookie decorating, click HERE. To make the flower centers, I piped and filled a circle with yellow icing then immediately coated with yellow sprinkles.  TIP: For easy decorating (where you don’t have to worry about the icing consistency, or seeing the “lines” of icing), just outline and fill the cookie and immediately coat in the same color of sprinkles.

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Just to give you one more option for the bite-size, mason jar, I heart you mom cookies… You can also fill your jars with mini daisies. So super easy to make, too. I make dot daisies a lot, since they are handy to have around for parties, too.

Find the original how-tos to make dot daisy cookies HERE.

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Some of you may recognize these daisy cookie pops from my post all the way from, um, yesterday. A common question I’m asked is how I get my cookies to stand so obediently on their own. I briefly cover how to make a cookie arrangement in Sugarlicious because, seriously, everything is covered in Sugarlicious. (This is on p. 198 if you’d like to go there now, should you own Sugarlicious, and if you don’t own Sugarlicious, why don’t you own Sugarlicious? See how I just linked five times in a row to make it super-easy for you.)

In the book, I primarily talk about covering Styrofoam blocks with tissue paper, and then arranging cookies, wherein the container is optional. Here, I’m going to give you lots more tips and details about making cookie arrangements using containers.

At the store where I decorated cookies for many years, Bundles of Cookies, the go-to shop for cookie arrangements, by the way, we used a different method. The cookies there are large, about six inches across, so the arrangements have to be much sturdier. But as long as you use relatively small cookies, no more than three inches across, you can make your own arrangements with Sytrofoam blocks.

First, you’ll have to start with some cookie pops or other treats on sticks. To learn to make cookie pops, click HERE and scroll past the giveaway info. For general cookie decorating how-tos, click HERE.  For these cookies, I’ll copy the instructions I posted yesterday:

To make daisy  pops, I first made cookie pops with a daisy cutter using the instructions found HERE. I then prepared my royal icing, divided and tinted white, yellow, turquoise, lime green and orange with my Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Bright White, Egg Yellow, Turquoise, Electric Green and Orange). I piped a circle of yellow, then I outlined and piped to fill the petals in white. Between each petal I added a little squeeze-and-pull petal with a color of icing. For basic cookie decorating tips, click HERE.

how to make a cookie arrangement

you will need:*

cookie pops

container

Styrofoam block

tissue paper

*The cookie pops. Use cookies that aren’t too top heavy, no more than three inches across. You may use a variety of size sticks, just make sure they are tall enough to show above the rim of your container. And try not to go too high, for the sake of stability. I find size six and eight inch sticks are the best.  And be sure your cookies dry well overnight before arranging so you can handle without smushing. The container. Choose a container with a flat bottom that is shallow enough so the cookies can be seen and large enough to fit your cookies. This container is seven inches across and holds six cookies. The Styrofoam block. Find these in a craft store and choose one that is larger than or just the same size as your container, as it will need to fit tightly in the container. The tissue paper. Find in the craft store or party store.

step one: fit your Styrofoam block in the container

I happened to find a circle Styrofoam block about the same size as the bottom of the container, but I have been known to cut, hack, chop and whittle squares of Styrofoam into circles.  In fact, squares are even better for circle containers because they fit more tightly. Whatever you can do, get the Styrofoam block over most of the bottom of the container. Then, fill in the gaps and crevices with balls of tissue paper. And when I say fill in, I mean fill in. Crinkle, push, shove that tissue paper in the sides so that Styrofoam is so jammed in the bottom of the container that it’s dang near impossible and terribly annoying to even try and remove.

step two: arrange your cookies

Carefully insert the cookie pops in the Styrofoam block, starting with the taller cookies in the back. Allow an inch or so of space between the cookies so they don’t bump and break each other. With spacing, you don’t fit as many cookies as you’d think in a container. This container is seven inches in diameter and holds six cookies.

step three: add tissue paper

Gently and generously add tufts of tissue paper in between the sticks to cover the Styrofoam. That’s it!

TIPS to REMEMBER:

• Allow your cookies to dry well overnight before arranging so you don’t smush the icing.

• Don’t make the cookies too big, or they will be top heavy. Stick with three inches across or less.

•  Make sure your cookies are tall enough to show above the rim of the container. I find six and eight-inch sticks are best for stability. You may also use four-inch sticks if you have a very shallow container.

•  Remember to allow for space between the cookies so they don’t jostle each other. Containers may hold less cookies than you think. This container is seven inches across and holds six cookies.

• These arrangements are pretty fragile, so take care when traveling with them. I pack them in open shipping boxes to help me carry them from place to place.

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These colorful marshmallow pops are up there as one of my favorites, and they took a few seconds to make. They are just so bright and colorful and have a sort of hippy mod retro ’60s type look. I can picture the Grateful Dead bears dancing among these flowers.

My friend, Liz, found these rainbow colored lollipop sticks from The Baker’s Confections, and they are the cutest things ever. They are plastic, so I’m assuming not cookie pop/oven friendly, but perfect for marshmallows. To make these I just used my food coloring pens to draw daisies and stuck the marshmallow on a rainbow stick. Super duper easy peasy, yes?

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So this is the last post I have from before I got sick. Luckily, I’m about able to get back in the kitchen.

I love a vase full of gerbera daisies. Cheap as I am, I usually buy my flowers at the local supermarket, and they always have gerbera daisies, so they are my go-to flower. (Though lately, I’ve really been into carnations, too, but I’ll stay focused on daisies for now.)

These fondant gerbera daisies can be used to top any dessert, really. I used them on cookie pops, but they would also be great as cupcake toppers or stuck to the side of a cake. I’m not a super huge fan of the taste of fondant, so as far as cookie pops go, the fondant to cookie ratio is a little too great for my taste. But gosh, I love the look of ‘em.

you will need:*

2 1/2-inch daisy fondant cutter

*Find the fondant and cutters at the craft store. Or, you may make homemade marshmallow fondant. For food coloring, I use Americolor soft gel pastes. Red Red, Egg Yellow, Orange, Electric Purple, Electric Pink and Electric Green used here.

step one: prepare your fondant
Divide fondant and tint preferred colors (I usually color a handful at a time). Add a few drops of coloring to fondant and knead well, adding more drops to achieve desired color. If fondant gets sticky from overhandling, let rest at room temperature uncovered about 15 minutes until easily pliable.

step two: cut out your daisies and circles
Roll your preferred color of fondant on a surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar to prevent sticking. Roll about 1/8-inch thick. For each flower, cut out two daisies and set aside. Roll out lime green fondant and cut out 1/2-inch circles, one for each flower.

step three: assemble your daisies
Place a dab of light corn syrup on the center of a daisy with your finger. Place the other daisy on top so the petals are between those beneath. Place a dab of light corn syrup on the center of the top flower and place the lime green circle on top. Let the flowers sit on a piece of wax paper several hours to overnight to stiffen.

you will need:*

cookie dough

icing

paint brush (optional)

*Find the cutter and lollipop sticks at the craft store.

step one: bake your cookie pops
Prepare cookie dough, chill, roll out, cut out circles, insert sticks and bake according to the recipe. Let cool completely.

step two: assemble your daisy cookie pops
If desired, paint the lollipop stick beneath the cookie using green food coloring and the paint brush. Spread a dollop of icing on the cookie and place the fondant daisy on top. I had a bag of white icing with a 5 tip handy, so I used that. Let dry completely before handling.

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