Sunday, February 12, 2012

How to Make Cookie Pops

Everything just seems to taste better when it's put on a stick... right? That's what our State Fair seems to think. So, for Valentine's Day, how about cookies on a stick??

What You Need:
One Recipe Sugar Cookie Dough
One Recipe Royal Icing
Cookie Treat Sticks
Rolling Pin

There are two "biggest things" to remember when making cookie pops.
#1- Use a cookie dough that will NOT spread while baking.
#2- Roll cookies at least 1/3"-1/2" thick.

My Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe is a good one that does not spread. So, that's what I used.

To roll it thick enough, I ended up using the cookie cutters themselves as a guide. Now, this only worked because these are the smaller, plastic cutters, big cutters would be too thick.
If you don't have these nesting heart cutters, you can find yourself any two objects that are between 1/3-1/2" tall. Set them on either side of your dough. When you roll the dough out, you won't go any thinner than the chosen thickness because the objects stop the rolling pin from going thinner. It's a great trick!
*Note: Yes, there are chocolate chips in there. More on doctoring up your sugar cookie dough to come very soon... I hope.

After you cut out the cookies, insert the stick about halfway into the cut-out. I didn't ever get a good picture of this because I need two hands to do it. Place one hand on top of the cookie, and use the other to twist the stick into the dough. Being careful to hold the stick straight. I tend to hold mine higher at the end, and it sticks out the back of the cookie dough.
A note about the sticks: You want to use "treat sticks" or "cookie sticks," NOT "lollipop sticks." The treat sticks are thicker, and hold a more substantial cookie. The lollipop sticks can work, but only if you make really small cookies. Otherwise, they tend to bust through the cookies.


You want to place your cut-outs with sticks in them into the freezer for about 10-15 minutes before you bake them. I always do this with my sugar cookies, but in case you're using another recipe, be sure you do this... and ONLY put them in the freezer after you've already added the sticks.

These cookies will take a little longer to bake. Mine took about 11-13 minutes at 350-degrees, instead of 8-10 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10-15 minutes on your cookie sheet before you remove them.
*!IMPORTANT!*
DO NOT try to pick the cookies up off of the cookie sheet using the sticks. Allow cookies to cool completely before you touch the sticks or they will come right through the cookie. Trust me. I've done it. Use a spatula to remove the cookies to a cooling rack, if necessary.

Once the cookies are cool, decorate them as you normally would. You can use any icing. I like using Royal Icing, just because it dries hard, so then I don't have to worry about the cookies being damaged while I'm arranging them into a bouquet of cookies. It also allows you to package or store them more easily.

Once the icing is dry, you can either arrange them into a bouquet of cookies...

Or place them in a treat bag and give them away individually.

Coming soon: 
How to make a bouquet of cookies (plus video from my local news visit)
How to make the "Love Bug" Ladybug Cookies
How to "spice up" plain sugar cookies to add some flavor

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3 comments:

  1. Great post! I was intrigued to see the picture with the cookie dough containing chocolate chips. I had been thinking the other day about putting things in my cookie dough...more specifically raisins (I adore raisins in cookies) but concluded that it wouldn't work for decorated cookies as the surface would be lumpy...but perhaps with choc chip that's not an issue?

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  2. You know, I was worried about that, too, but I didn't have that problem. I even did some with red-hot cinnamon candies, and those were fine, too when they were decorated. I say try it!!
    - Beki

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